User:OsaRosa/7. LGBTQ Organizational Communication

Areas of LGBTQ+ Communication Studies
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LGBTQ+ Organizational Communication
LGBTQ+ organizing affects the way queer and trans folks communicate with each other and others. LGBTQ+ organizing is important within LGBTQ+ communication because it studies the importance, impact, and influence of the LGBTQ+ community by and for one another. It also impacts how queer people express themselves through intersectional identities and whether or not they face certain injustices because of it. LGBTQ+ organizational communication includes communication between LGBTQ+ community members who are working towards a common goal within an organizational setting, such as workplaces, nonprofits, and student groups. LGBTQ+ organizing also includes policies that relate to LGBTQ+ people like workplace discrimination and disclosure.

LGBTQ+ Workers' Communication
Researchers look at LGBTQ+ workers when studying LGBTQ+ communication to better understand the policies that negatively or positively impact queer and transgender workers. Researchers analyze how these employees are treated in the workplace, especially regarding heteronormative and traditional family values and expectations. There is an impact of discriminatory biases on what a family or employee should look and act like, and this directly affects the comfort and stability of queer folks in the workplace, according to studies. There is a dilemma that LGBTQ+ workers face when posting on social media, especially when deciding to be out or closeted on their personal accounts. There is a challenge of being "professional" and a question of why LGBTQ+ lifestyles are considered to be "reckless" or "inappropriate" for work.

Communicating LGBTQ+ Organizational Policies
There are many policies that prevent people within the LGBTQ+ workers from expressing their sexuality or gender. In the United States, some states that have policies and laws that do not protect LGBTQ+ people from workplace discrimination. This impacts their wages, the way they are treated in the workplace, their potential for promotion and hiring, as well as decreases their job satisfaction. Communication research on the United States military studied the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy until 2010 that kept people enlisted in the military from being open about their sexuality.

In academic settings like schools, colleges, and universities disclosure of sexuality becomes difficult for many teachers and professors. As of 2020 there are 29 states that have policies that do not protect LGBTQ+ people from workplace discrimination this makes disclosure a sensitive topic as being open about one's sexuality may lead to less productive work by students, discrimination by colleagues or parents, and can lead to teachers and professors losing their jobs. Many factors such as race, age, and gender can also impact how a teacher disclosure is received and helps teachers determine if it is safe to communicate about their sexuality and/or gender identity. Research shows that the United States does have some policies in place that protect LGBTQ+ people. The United States refugee laws say that LGBTQ+ people are recognized as a social group and can become refugees in the United States. The refugee laws in the United States have allowed for thousands of LGBTQ+ people from Latin America to flee from persecution in their countries since 1994.

LGBTQ+ Nonprofit Organizing and Communication
Although Facebook has a powerful influence, it's important to analyze the availability and ease of finding LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations through the popular social media site. Nonprofit organizations utilize social media to advocate for and promote their LGBTQ+ advocacy and challenge anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Because of this, there is an emphasis on the importance of the attention of social media to advocate for and promote nonprofit organizations for LGBTQ+ folks. Organizational communication has investigated an LGBTQ+ blog in China that looks through a co-cultural theory analysis and researches the types of communication within this blog. This nonprofit organization discusses a notable difference between gay liberation in the United States versus gay oppression in China, and how homosexuality/transgenderism goes against the main religions in China. Because of this oppression, they use blogs to communicate and support each other.

LGBTQ+ Student Organizational Communication
Organizational communication research investigates how LGBTQ+ students seek ways to create a sense of community and belonging through the implementation of clubs and organizations within their school campus. In the late 1990s, a study found that gay groups were denied recognition by their university because people feared that gay student organizations would corrupt the morals of their fellow students attending the university. Gay and lesbian students were not able to organize, be recognized by the university, or practice the act of associating with fellow gay and lesbian students until after the 1972 court case of Healy v. James. Universities denying the official recognition of gay and lesbian organizations made it difficult for gay and lesbian students to create a sense of community or belonging. Communication research has found that students join LGBTQ+ organizations within their school's campus to find a place away from the outside judgments from fellow students and concerns of acceptance at home. Creating and maintaining a culture of inclusion within an educational setting can create a safe space for LGBTQ+ students. Scholarship has found that the main activities within these LGBTQ+ on-campus organizations were conversations with school staff, faculty, and fellow students so that LGBTQ+ students could voice their wants, needs, and opinions.

Researchers found that it is important to maintain LGBTQ+ student organizations even when tensions arise. Communication scholars have researched the responses from universities, individuals outside LGBTQ+ student organizations, and individuals outside the LGBTQ+ student community can vary. Researchers have located three main tensions when it comes to the creation and maintenance of LGBT student organizations, difference and unity, apathy and commitment, disempowerment and empowerment. LGBT student-led organizations tend to think of the organization as a community regardless of the tensions identified.

LGBTQ+ Sex Work and Communication
Researchers and activists across fields have examined sex work and advocacy for sex workers, including sex workers' rights. The limited Communication Studies research on LGBTQ+ sex work has examined how it is criminalized, the potential of legalization, and the shutdowns the workers face. Scholars have also examined the impact of COVID-19 on pornography and sex work as it has moved to mostly online. Studies have noted the impact of transgender pornstars and pornography and how it relates to sexual desires/preferences and gender fluidity as well as how they communicate with one another.