Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Labor Market Against Gay Men

The perceived social rejection of sexual minorities: Substance use and unprotected sexual intercourse

“…In Greece, there are no studies regarding sexual minority stress and substance use and unprotected sexual intercourse, as the main focus has been on HIV suggesting that the disease disproportionately affects gay men [9,10] (Nikolopoulos et al, 2019;Paraskevis et al, 2011). The empirical sexual minority literature is limited in Greece and focused on the labour market experiences of sexual minorities, showing that gay/bisexual men and lesbian/bisexual women face lower wages and job satisfaction, higher unemployment and adverse experiences in the workplace than sexual majorities [11] (Drydakis, 2021a). The reasons for the assigned differences have been attributed to stigma and discriminatory attitudes against sexual minorities [11] (Drydakis, 2021a).…”

“…The empirical sexual minority literature is limited in Greece and focused on the labour market experiences of sexual minorities, showing that gay/bisexual men and lesbian/bisexual women face lower wages and job satisfaction, higher unemployment and adverse experiences in the workplace than sexual majorities [11] (Drydakis, 2021a). The reasons for the assigned differences have been attributed to stigma and discriminatory attitudes against sexual minorities [11] (Drydakis, 2021a).…”

“…Nine years later, in 2019, the country's unemployment rate continued to be double that before the onset of the economic recession (9%), indicating a recession [15] (Eurostat, 2019). Since 2010, homophobia increased due to a rise of the far-right political party, with sexual minorities experiencing severe stigmatisation and a 'barrage of homophobic violence' in the capital city associated with the adverse political and socioeconomic effects of the recession [11] (Drydakis, 2021a).…”

“…During periods of economic stability, sexual minorities are already at risk of experiencing higher unemployment, poverty and underinvestment in health care [36] (Drydakis & Zimmermann, 2020). Indeed, the chronic experience of homophobia in conjunction with increased discriminatory attitudes and economic struggles due to recessions and austerity measures could be associated with substance use, risky sexual behaviours and adverse physical and mental health outcomes [13,14,37,38] In Greece, there was an increase in homophobic attitudes during the financial crisis, as well as annual aggregate unemployment enhanced employment discrimination against sexual minorities [11] (Drydakis, 2021a). During this time, there was a health/mental health deterioration that negatively affected both sexual minorities [18] (Drydakis, 2021b) and the general population [14] (Drydakis, 2015).…”

“…The raw statistics indicated that unemployment for sexual minorities was higher in 2013-2014 than in 2018-2019 and the estimates indicated that cannabis consumption for sexual minorities was higher in 2013-2014 than in 2018-2019. Greek studies have reported that homophobia and victimisation increased in the region during the EU financial crisis [11] (Drydakis, 2021a). Increased discriminatory attitudes and economic hardships due to the recession could be associated with the adoption of coping strategies [37] (OECD, 2019).…”