Deck 11: Sexual Orientation

Question 1

Thomas, a gay man who works at a large hotel chain experienced extreme verbal and physical harassment at work because he did not conform to his coworkers' expectations for men. Which of the following is most likely?

A) Thomas probably has no recourse.
B) Thomas may file a discrimination claim under the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
C) Thomas may file a claim under Executive Order 11478.
D) In the absence of prohibitions from sexual orientation discrimination, Thomas may have a claim under Title VII.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Gay and lesbian employees, but not heterosexuals, are more committed to organizations in which sexual orientation discrimination is not tolerated.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Regarding HIV/AIDS at work,

A) co-workers may resist working with someone who is HIV positive.
B) co-workers are very likely to contract the disease from working with an employee who is HIV positive.
C) HIV/AIDS is not a protected disability under the ADA.
D) it can be avoided through an initial medical exam prior to employment and then annual physical exams.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Straight allies can help set the stage for ___________ sexual minorities in organizations by modeling inclusive behavior and helping create safe and inclusive climates at work.

A) resistance of
B) non-discrimination toward
C) job channeling of
D) preferences for

Question 5

Recent estimates suggest that:

A) Nearly 30% of the U.S. population is gay or lesbian.
B) Between 4% to 17% of the U.S. population is gay or lesbian.
C) Less than 2% of the U.S. population is gay or lesbian.
D) Estimating numbers of gay men or lesbians in the population is impossible.

Question 6

Organizations with inclusive GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) policies financially outperform competitors with less inclusive policies.

Question 7

In implementing non-discriminatory policies toward sexual minorities at work,

A) Organizations should ignore negative reactions of coworkers.
B) Organizations should consider also offering equality in benefits for domestic partners.
C) Organizations should not consider any possibility that sexual orientation could affect job performance.
D) Get rid of all older employees since they are likely to sabotage any such policies.

Question 8

Which of the following is true of the term sexual orientation?

A) It is defined as being characterized by enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, and/or affectional attractions to individuals of a particular gender.
B) It is defined as being gay or lesbian.
C) It is defined as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
D) It is defined as a need for sexual stimulation.

Question 9

When domestic partner benefits are offered

A) large numbers of gay and lesbian employees enroll their partners.
B) organizations experience disproportionately higher costs.
C) costs are generally consistent with any increase in the number of plan participants.
D) similar benefits must be offered to international partners as well regardless of their sexual orientation.

Question 10

Gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of gender, but not how a person behaves or appears with regard to societal expectations of that person.

Question 11

Nearly half of the new HIV/AIDS cases result from heterosexual contact or the injection of drugs.

Question 12

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the U.S. military was passed as a compromise when resistance mounted to President Clinton's initial plans to repeal the ban on gays in the military.

Question 13

Which of the following is consistently related to attitudes toward sexual minorities?

A) Race.
B) Age.
C) Region of the country (e.g., north, south, east, west).
D) Some elements of religion.

Question 14

Which of the following is true of Cracker Barrel's formal policy that called for termination of gay and lesbian employees?

A) Resistance from shareholders resulted in Cracker Barrel changing the policy.
B) The policy was supported by a large proportion of shareholders.
C) Workers were actually hired because of their sexual orientation.
D) The only employees who left did so because they were planning to quit and not because of anyone being fired.

Question 15

Being "out" at work, defined as disclosing one's gay or lesbian sexual orientation,

A) is more frequently chosen by gays in high level positions as being in a high level position makes them less likely to experience discrimination.
B) is more likely among gay people of color than white gays.
C) comes with both positive and negative consequences.
D) results in greater conflict between home and work for gays and lesbians.

Question 16

Diversity in sexual orientation in the military has been controversial because some believed that it would result in

A) reduced cohesion.
B) extreme violence by homosexuals upon heterosexuals.
C) violations of the right to privacy by heterosexual personnel.
D) mutiny within the ranks resulting in an armed rebellion against the national government.

Question 17

Recent opinion polls indicate that ____ percent of Americans believe sexual orientation discrimination is acceptable.

A) 2
B) 11
C) 20
D) 35

Question 18

Which of the following is true of education and earnings of gay men and lesbians when compared with heterosexual men and women?

A) Wages and education of gay men are lower than those of heterosexual men.
B) Wages and education of gay men are higher than those of heterosexual men.
C) Wages and education of lesbian women are higher than those of heterosexual women.
D) There is not enough data to be able to make any comparison.

Question 19

Wages of gay men

A) are slightly higher than those of heterosexual men
B) are slightly lower than those of heterosexual men.
C) may be affected by gay men being channeled into particular positions.
D) is unknown since so many remain closeted

Question 20

Fortune 500 companies

A) are increasingly pursuing equity and fairness toward sexual minorities.
B) because of their public visibility, are unlikely to be industry leaders in offering benefits to same-sex partners.
C) are decreasing their offerings of health benefits to domestic partners of their gay and lesbian employees.
D) are attractive to many applicants, thus efforts to include gays and lesbians are not necessary.

Question 21

Cracker Barrel has had problems with discrimination against gay and lesbian employees and Black customers.

Question 22

Skin color is obvious but sexual orientation is invisible.​

Question 23

An estimated 2.5% of military personnel are believed to be gay or lesbian.

Question 24

Estimates are that about 20% of the people in the U.S. are gay or lesbian.

Question 25

Research has found that people who perceived sexual orientation discrimination in their workplace had more negative job attitudes and lower satisfaction.

Question 26

On average, gays and lesbians have higher education levels than heterosexuals.

Question 27

Generally, among non-Hispanic White men, 10% choose fields of study that are "typically female," compared with 44% of gay men choosing such majors.

Question 28

Hewlett-Packard offers domestic partner benefits to its employees.

Question 29

Practicing inclusion and fairness toward sexual minorities can be of benefit to individuals and organizations.

Question 30

"Passing," or not disclosing one's gay or lesbian sexual orientation at work, is easy.