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min read
LGBT Discrimination in the Workplace: When Identity Becomes a Dilemma
Writer
Muhammad Firhat
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LGBT discrimination and groups of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in Indonesia is a serious problem, especially in the workplace. LGBT discrimination in the workplace occurs from the early stages of recruitment to the working period. This includes blocking access to jobs, shutting down promotion opportunities, and the absence of access to social security.
What, then, is the root of this LGBT discrimination? Certainly, the lack of representation of minority sexual orientation and gender identity groups in the landscape of the Indonesian workforce plays a major role. Both in government structures and work institutions, gender and sexuality diversity is minimal, and this is rarely discussed. As a result, LGBT groups are vulnerable to discrimination, harassment, violence, and bullying; the resolution of these issues is often ignored.
Identities That Must Be Hidden
According to reports from the National Commission on Human Rights, the most common form of LGBT discrimination in the workplace is the lack of job opportunities for those who “defy” normative gender roles. Heteronormativity and the binary gender concept constructed in society affect the recruitment process, leading those with gender identities and sexual orientations considered abnormal to lose job access from the start.
To avoid discrimination, LGBT workers must hide their identities, which ultimately suppresses LGBT visibility in the workplace even further. Not to mention the psychological burden they must carry due to having to pretend at work, living two lives at once.
Ironically, discrimination and violence in the workplace haunt not only those who are openly LGBT. Those who conceal their sexual orientation and gender identity are not immune to harassment. This is closely related to coworkers' assumptions based on ways of dressing or daily body language, commonly referred to as gender expression. For example, a man expressing feminine gender will immediately be labeled gay. In reality, gender expression has no bearing on a person's sexual orientation. It is these gender stereotypes that serve as the basis for discrimination.
The issue becomes more complex in the context of transgender individuals. Many transgender people face challenges in changing their identity on ID cards, such as names and gender, which definitely poses challenges in obtaining employment and social security.
LGBT Discrimination Since the Job Search Process
Have you ever seen job openings that require “male or female”? Although seemingly harmless, whether acknowledged or not, this creates exclusion for transgender people or those with gender identities outside of binary constructs. Consequently, many of them are forced to work in the informal sector due to an unfriendly formal employment situation, which is also influenced by their level of education. Transgender individuals with low education levels and few professional skills often have to resort to becoming sex workers.
The Ministry of Social Affairs itself often conducts job training for transgender individuals to help them stop being sex workers. However, the training offered is always related to sewing or beauty practices. Indirectly, the Ministry of Social Affairs has amplified the stereotype that transgender people are only suited to exist within the entertainment and beauty industry. As a result, the working scope for transgender individuals becomes narrower instead of exploring other types of jobs.
In the recruitment process, LGBT discrimination often occurs as well. Based on interviews in the report PRIDE at work by the Population and Policy Studies Center of UGM, several transgender individuals must present themselves as “ideal” males or females. There is a story of one trans woman who had to cut her hair and wear a shirt to appear male. She still did not get the job because the interviewer suspected that she was not a heterosexual male.
Discrimination also occurs against men with feminine expressions because they are assumed to be gay, and women with masculine expressions because they are presumed to be lesbians. One story involves a gay man who faced remarks about his very gay appearance during a job interview. He concealed his homosexuality by denying the statement. Later, he was harassed with the comment, “I’ll join you at your boarding house, deh, to prove that you’re a man or a woman.”
Forms of LGBT Discrimination in the Workplace
Comments or jokes about the gender identity of LGBT individuals
Social marginalization
Bullying by other LGBT individuals
Intimidation
Physical violence
Upon further investigation, all acts of discrimination against LGBT individuals in the workplace stem from a low level of societal tolerance, particularly among colleagues. A survey by PRIDE at work (PSKK UGM, 2014) also found that only 3.92% of respondents felt that their treatment towards LGBT individuals in the workplace was very fair.
No Policies Protecting LGBT in the Workplace
Like sexual harassment, the majority of companies in Indonesia still lack policies to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination and violence at work. The legal ambiguity in Indonesia regarding discrimination and violence is the root of the issue. Indonesian law prohibits discrimination in any form or context. However, on the other hand, there is no clear and specific legal framework regulating gender and sexual orientation discrimination.
Articles 5 and 6 of Law No. 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower, for instance, state that discrimination in employment in any form is prohibited. Article 5 reads, “Every worker has equal opportunities without discrimination to obtain employment.” Meanwhile, Article 6 stipulates that “every worker/laborer has the right to receive equal treatment without discrimination from employers.” Therefore, discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation should likewise be classified as a violation of this law.
Furthermore, Article 28D paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution upholds equality for every person. Yet again, there is no specific reference concerning gender and sexual orientation.
89% of respondents in the PRIDE Survey (2014) indicated that there are no policies addressing LGBT issues in their workplaces. This shows a significant weakness in the protection of LGBT groups from potential discrimination and violence.
Supporting LGBT Inclusion in the Workplace
Stonewall Global Workplace Briefings 2019 has issued several recommendations that companies can implement to support inclusion and eliminate discrimination and violence against LGBT individuals in the workplace.
Introduce global anti-discrimination and anti-bullying and harassment policies that are explicitly inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity
Appoint senior staff to promote the importance of LGBT equality in the workplace
Build networks for LGBT workers and ally programs. In this regard, existing labor unions should support LGBT equality issues in the workplace
Have a diversity and inclusion team or position specifically monitoring issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Networking with LGBT Groups and Communities in Indonesia
In the face of negative tendencies and condemnation from various parties rejecting LGBT equality and inclusion, accessing resources and references related to LGBT inclusion in the workplace is certainly difficult. To address this, there are several NGOs in Indonesia linked to the LGBT community. These NGOs work on issues of LGBT rights protection in various contexts, including the workplace.
Bali Rainbow Community, a group in Bali supporting education, outreach, and financial assistance for people living with HIV (PLHIV)
GAYa Nusantara, an NGO conducting research, advocacy, and services to support the LGBT community in Indonesia
Arus Pelangi, a membership association working to promote LGBTI rights in Indonesia
Yayasan Srikandi Sejati, a local organization empowering transgender individuals in Indonesia
GWL-INA, a national coordination center for HIV control programs and advocacy for reproductive and sexual health rights for men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans women.
Written by Muhammad Firhat
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Gunakan hasil dokumentasi untuk bukti pelaporan.
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Just Pretend to Be Good: About the Well-being of Lecturers in Indonesia
Lecturers so far seem to have no problems, maybe it’s because we are in denial. We pretend to be okay. So it’s like (we need) awareness that we are not okay, awareness that something needs to change, awareness that we are the working class who are very likely to be oppressed in our work fulfillment relationships.” – Nabiyla Risfa Azzati, representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team (2023)
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Survey by the Lecturer Welfare Research Team (UGM-UI-Unram, 2023) shows that 42.9% of lecturers earn below Rp3 million. About 35% of them feel that their monthly income does not match their workload and qualifications as lecturers. Moreover, nearly one-third of respondents reported spending monthly living costs of Rp3-5 million.
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“This speaks about a profession that on one hand requires very high qualifications to enter, therefore its barrier is very high, while on the other hand, this profession also becomes the backbone of knowledge creation,” emphasized Nabiyla when met by the Never Okay Project (NOP) team.
Issues of Lecturer Welfare Rarely Discussed
Nabiyla revealed that the welfare of lecturers is rarely raised. This is why this research was conducted: to make this issue mainstream so that the parties concerned can be more open and acknowledge that there are problems.
“Because if we can acknowledge that there is a problem, we can start from there, we can look for solutions together. If we don’t even admit there’s a problem, it’s very difficult, right?” she said.
Nabiyla realizes that discussions about salaries are still considered taboo, especially for the teaching profession, which is considered noble and carries a certain social status. She also acknowledges that it is not difficult to find prosperous lecturers. However, that does not mean we should turn a blind eye to the 42.9% of respondents who earn less than Rp3 million.
“If my life is used as an example, lecturers are fine. But there are many other lecturers who are not okay,” she said.
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Nabiyla also mentioned the high resignation rate from CASN (Civil Service Candidates) lecturers. This indicates that something is wrong.
“This actually shows that there’s something wrong, we do not value people who actually want to dedicate their time to knowledge creation in Indonesia,” she explained.
Read also: Violence Against Journalists: From Sexual to KBGO
Ideal Salary Standards for Lecturers
Discussing ideal salaries for lecturers is quite complicated. This is because the benchmark for fair wages in Indonesia refers to the minimum wage, which in this context is the standard of Decent Living Needs (KHL). However, this context is considered less suitable when talking about lecturer salaries.
“Why? Because first, the barrier to becoming a lecturer is high, so this should be seen as a profession that should not be valued at bare minimum,” explained Nabiyla.
She compared it to other countries that generally do not value lecturer salaries at minimum wage. The reason is that lecturer salaries there are negotiated. In Indonesia, sector-based negotiations are nearly non-existent, so the Lecturer Welfare Research Team cannot answer how to provide an ideal standard for lecturers.
Comparing Lecturer Salaries with Neighboring Countries
The Lecturer Welfare Research Team attempted to compare lecturer salaries in Indonesia with comparable neighboring countries, namely Malaysia and Thailand. The results are quite shocking. The average lecturer salary in Malaysia is Rp 20-25 million and in Thailand is Rp 38-42 million. Nabiyla revealed that initially, the team felt those figures were not suitable for this job because they were too high. However, the main problem is that Indonesia does not have a standard for lecturer salaries.
“The comparison with Malaysia and Thailand should not be a very far comparison, but seeing that we currently do not have a standard, if we were to present at the Ministry of Education and Culture, we’d face ridicule. It’s strange how we don’t have standards; we are even afraid to mention a figure that isn’t too high at all, it’s actually quite normal,” said Nabiyla.
Lecturers are Workers Too: Fighting Not to be Oppressed
The survey results from the Lecturer Welfare Research Team also show that the lecturer profession is a labor profession. Therefore, it is necessary to fight to not be oppressed.
“Call us professional workers, call us white-collar workers, call us knowledge producers, whatever the name, at the end of the day, we are workers, we are laborers,” said Nabiyla.
Source:
Lecturer Welfare Research Team. (2023, May 4). How much do lecturers earn? Here are the results of the first national survey mapping the welfare of academics in Indonesia. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/berapa-gaji-dosen-berikut-hasil-survei-nasional-pertama-yang-memetakan-kesejahteraan-akademisi-di-indonesia-203854 accessed on May 21, 2023.
Interview with the representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team, Nabiyla Risfa Azzati. May 17, 2023.
Writer: Yanti Nainggolan
Editor: Imelda
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