We Asked Queer Women About The Challenges They Face in the Workplace for IWD 2025
This year’s International Women's Day (IWD) 2025 sees the world unite to #AccelerateAction – a theme calling for increased momentum to reach full gender parity and remove systemic barriers faced by women across the globe. But while significant progress is being made to address biases faced by heterosexual women in the workplace, the issues impacting queer women remain largely unaddressed. In fact, according to research by McKinsey, three in twenty LGBTQ+ women believe their sexual orientation could hinder their career progress.
In light of this year’s IWD 2025, we asked queer women from the LGBTQ+ community about the barriers to inclusion they have faced in their careers across various industries, from engineering and marketing, to retail and the public sector.
What Challenges Do LGBTQ+ Women Face in the Workplace?
“I’m always hesitant to share my personal life as a queer woman with my colleagues, which stops me from building rapport as quickly and seeming personable at work. Being well-liked usually helps you progress quicker in companies, and I know my reluctance to share affects this. I work mostly with men, and when everyone talks about their wives and nuclear family, I can’t really chime in.”
“I've overheard a lot of casual homophobia in the workplace, e.g. colleagues reacting against seeing pronouns in emails. I’ve also been part of LGBTQ+ staff groups where the diversity initiatives were really superficial; the focus was on producing content for internal communications, rather than advocacy. You’re encouraged to bring queerness into the workplace, but only if it’s positive. You can’t challenge the workplace in any way.”
“Two weeks into a new job at the Christmas Party, I came out to some colleagues over dinner. The two guys ‘couldn’t believe’ I was a lesbian because I ‘just didn’t look like one.’ They spent twenty minutes laughing between themselves. I had to leave the table for the starter and main course because it was so uncomfortable.”
“Me and my girlfriend at the time used to work together at the same place. One of my male co-workers would make sexual jokes every time he went past us – something he never did with any of our straight co-workers.”
“After I told one of my PHD colleagues at university that I was bisexual, they asked me if I would marry a man after I had finished dating the woman I was currently seeing. I think many barriers are around language – as soon as someone uses the word ‘partner,’ colleagues love trying to pry out a pronoun.”
Queer Women in the Workplace: The Statistics
Three-quarters of queer women and non-binary professionals are reluctant to fully come out [myGwork] while LGBTQ+ women are more than twice as likely as straight women to feel unable to discuss their personal lives at work. [Mckinsey]
Bisexual women are significantly more likely to experience microaggressions compared to straight women and men. [Mckinsey]
Queer women are more likely to experience unwanted touching and sexual assault at work. LGBTQ+ women of colour and queer disabled women report even higher rates of harassment and sexual assault. [The Guardian]
LGBTQ+ women of colour are eight times more likely than straight white men to report “onlyness”, being the only one on a team or in a meeting with their given gender identity, sexual orientation, or race. [Mckinsey]
Queer women are nearly twice as likely to feel pressured to “play along” with sexualised discussions and humour compared to straight women and male LGBTQ+ colleagues. [ Mckinsey ]
How Can Employers Support Queer Women at Work?
There are many ways companies and employers can make queer female employees feel safe, seen and valued in the workplace. Working with an independent LGBTQ+ businesses, like Rainbow & Co, is a great way to get advice and guidance on professional LGBTQ+ allyship that isn’t performative.
Find Out More
How UK Businesses Can Avoid Rainbow-Washing this Pride Month
We Asked the Queer Community for Their Favourite Real Life Examples of LGBTQ+ Allyship
Tilly Brogan
Tilly is a queer Freelance Copywriter based in Manchester. She balances her time between working with LGBTQ+ organisations and women’s rights charities - and people watching in various Manchester cafes. She is also a proud lesbian. You can read more of her work here .
