Neha Dixit, who works for a large telecom company in Mumbai, shares her experiences of being a gay employee. Photo by Dinesh Krishnan

To be gay in Indian business

By Anuj Chopra

In her decade-long career, Neha Dixit has learned how to hide herself well. If an inquisitive colleague asks, marriage and kids are not for her--not after her recent divorce. It's not like she's not dating anyone, but she will only refer to her lover with a gender-neutral pronoun. If she can squelch all her natural tomboy instincts and "not look lesbian" at work, she will be just fine.

"If I have short hair, wear only shirts and trousers to work and have no boyfriend, there will be gossip about me," says Neha, 32, who requested that her real name not be revealed. "When I go to work, I leave a part of myself back at home."

Neha is a Mumbai-based executive with one of India's largest telecom companies exploiting new-fangled business opportunities in a rapidly accelerating market. But within the company, conservative mindsets prevail. Homosexuality, she has gleaned from conversations with several colleagues, is considered a mental derangement or a sex-crazed lifestyle imported from Western shores. Coming out in such an environment would be professional hara-kiri. Her sexuality could be a major stumbling block in her career advancement. "I will not be judged by my work alone." She also risks becoming an office joke; it could start off a trail of gossip and innuendo and her every friendly overture to female colleagues could be viewed with suspicion. Even worse, she fears her sexuality could be used as a weapon by some to blackmail or manipulate her.

The fear of being discovered is almost pathological. But Neha can't afford to be totally reticent about her private life either. "I could be labelled a snob or a stuck up, affecting the professional relationship with my team members."

She is forced to become a shape shifter, constantly editing and censoring herself amid pressures to fit within heterosexual norms. "I laugh the loudest when someone cracks a gay joke in the office," she says. "When colleagues talk about their weekends and heterosexual escapades, I cook up my own stories."

For Neha, and many others like her, the imaginary glass ceiling almost seems like an unbreachable barrier. A pervasive culture of silence has long bedevilled efforts to create workplace equality for employees who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT). For decades, they have waged a lonely battle for acceptance and visibility.

READ MORE: http://www.forbes.com/2011/07/01/forbes-india-gay-lgbt-business-mnc-equality-to-be-gay.html