WALKING THE LINE: FEAR AND DISCLOSURE OF SEXUALORIENTATION IN THE WORKPLACE.

We examined the antecedents and outcomes associated with gay employees' fears about disclosure of their sexual orientation in the workplace, as well as their actual decisions to disclose their gay identity at work. A national survey of 534 gay and lesbian workers revealed that gay employees reported less fear of disclosure in work environments with supportive coworkers, supportive supervisors, and gay coworkers. Decisions to disclose were significantly related to the presence of gay coworkers, but unrelated to the supervisor's sexual orientation or support. Prior experiences of workplace discrimination increased fears of disclosure, but were unrelated to disclosure decisions. While fear of disclosure was significantly related to work and career attitudes, psychological strain, work environment, and career outcomes, the actual decision to disclose was not significantly related to any of these outcome variables. The utility of the fear of disclosure construct for future research is discussed.