While at work today, I completed an employee survey put out
by OPM. It was the kind of survey that
asks about the effectiveness of management, how important you feel your work
is, and other similar type questions. However,
under the demographic section, I saw a new question – sexual orientation. The options were straight, homosexual,
lesbian, transgender or don’t wish to disclose.
This line of questioning didn’t sit well with me. Whose damn business is it what my sexual
orientation happens to be? The survey is
(supposedly) anonymous, but I still don’t consider this question
appropriate. And why is the gub-mint
keeping statistics like this in the first place? They didn’t ask about my preferences for wine,
motorcycles, or shotguns. Is there
something special about my sexual orientation that deserves a proper accounting? Doubtful.
I’d be interested to know if any other folks out there have
been asked this line of questioning.
Seems to me it’s none of their damn business!
This appeared on some employment surveys I've done too. I view all personal questions of this sort intrusive. The only ones I'm willing to answer are the ones you could observe publicly (height, weight, color, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThey are obviously maintaining sexual orientation statistics for a reason - I'm just not certain why. I suspect that in the future, they will concoct new laws to define a new protected class or similar action. Seems like the gub-mint, already being obsessed with your personal safety, is also increasingly obsessed with other personal aspects of our daily lives.
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