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From Fear to Courage: Indian Lesbians’ and Gays’ Quest for Inclusive Ethical Organizations

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Abstract

This paper focusses on the experiences of Indian lesbians and gays (LGs) who are subjected to unethical acts of workplace bullying which get manifested through constant guesswork, comments and questioning about their sexual identity in the hostile Indian context. Given this, LG participants usually opt for secrecy and lead a double life, using ‘passing’ and ‘covering’ strategies to manage economic, social and psychological risks. Nonetheless, this paper rewrites the negative tenor of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transexuals research by underscoring how LG participants move from fear to courage in their endeavour to live authentic lives while considering the broader organizational and social context. We argue that their courage is manifested mainly through deliberate micro-disclosures and a sense of defiance which can be enhanced if organizations are designed to be more inclusive and ethical. Consequently, participants defined inclusive ethical organizations as having conducive environments with trustworthy, supportive, secure, fair, unbiased and safe non-discriminatory policies open to the idea of diverse sexual orientations. Our findings point to the fact that, first and foremost, organizations must be crafted and sustained to be courageous within a hostile social climate, for employees to overcome their fears.

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Notes

  1. Workplace bullying encompasses subtle and/or obvious negative psychological behaviours embodying aggression, hostility, intimidation and harm, generally characterized by persistence, displayed by an individual and/or group to another individual and/or group at work, privately and/or publicly, in real and/or virtual forms, in the context of an existing or evolving unequal power relationship (D’Cruz, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organizational Behaviour, IIM Ahmedabad, Wing 6F, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, 380015, India

    Ernesto Noronha & Premilla D’Cruz

  2. Human Resource Management, MDI Gurgaon, Sukhrali, Gurgaon, 122007, India

    Nidhi S. Bisht

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  1. Ernesto Noronha
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  3. Premilla D’Cruz
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Correspondence to Ernesto Noronha.

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Noronha, E., Bisht, N.S. & D’Cruz, P. From Fear to Courage: Indian Lesbians’ and Gays’ Quest for Inclusive Ethical Organizations. J Bus Ethics 177, 779–797 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05098-x

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