Employmentweb_low

eMployMent relations and health inequalities: pathways and MechanisMs
would go to local gay bars in santiago de chile. however, staff rearrangements in his company made him redundant, leaving
him without resources. thus, he was faced with choosing between emigration and going back to his family home and its
“unbreathable” atmosphere, as he has called it, which involved being pressured to marry. he decided to go to spain and chose
barcelona because of its reputation as an open and cosmopolitan city. in chile, he was leading a double life, “closeted”, hiding.
in spain, he presented and manifested himself everywhere from the start as gay, including at work where he reports “feeling
comfortable and performing better”, since he no longer had anything to hide.
Four years ago, the catalan regional government set up an equality programme for homosexual, transsexual and bisexual
persons, an exemplary and pioneering institution which promotes their normalisation and equality in the community. this is an
ongoing experiment, with institutional involvement and backing, in an area which is largely only tackled in legal terms and by
voluntary organisations (to date, never by the administration, with the single exception of sweden’s homosexuals’ ombudsman).
José carreño is currently president of acathi (asociación catalana de homosexuales inmigrantes), whose aim is the
integration of immigrant homosexuals, who find themselves doubly discriminated, even facing triple discrimination if they are
carriers of hiv/aids.
Conclusions and proposals
despite recognition of the rights of persons of homosexual orientation in the european union and other regions of the world,
a large number of people still suffer situations of homophobia, discrimination and stigmatisation in their family and occupational
settings, which generate vulnerability and problems. there are currently no systematic studies which permit obtaining a
complete, global view of the impact of these problems on health and inequality. the present division in the united nations (with
about 50% of countries in favour of homosexuality) paralyses the realisation of studies, policies and international encounters
similar to those organised in the case of women and gender problems. the most immediate political proposals are as follows:
(1) that local and national public administrations should facilitate the resources necessary to allow studies to be conducted, as
well as the diffusion of current problems and set-up of policies that would lead to improvements in the social and occupational
situations of homosexuals; (2) that a global observatory on homophobia should be created which, in collabouration with ngos
such as the international lesbian and gay association (ilga) and amnesty international (ai), as well as professionals and
universities, should perform a global diagnosis of the state of homophobia and its effects on health in the world (examples of
which include problems such as occupational mobbing, the “invisibility” of lesbian women or the socio-occupational problems
of homo-parental families); (3) creation an international policy institute which would help to eradicate homophobia and
elabourate programmes of international advisory to countries intended to aid the legal and social normalisation of
homosexuality, including the problems of bisexual and transsexual persons.
acknowledgments: our thanks to journalist alba payàs; to Mr. daniel borrillo, lecturer on civil rights, university of paris-X
and member of centre national de la recherche scientifique (cnrs) in France; to Mr. José carreño castro, president of acathi;
gay-lesbian coordinator for catalunya (http://www.cogailes.org); and to the international lesbian and gay association
(http://www.ilga.org).
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