Why are gay flight attendants and lesbians truck drivers? The gayest professions are not surprising, but florists and hairdressers are not among them
Finding out which professions are the hottest is not as easy a task as it might seem. While we all "know" that they are hairdressers, florists or fashion designers, in terms of science, statistics are needed to confirm these popular impressions. And statistics on a large number of people.
Which, thankfully, in 2021 the experts who were planning the UK census figured out. This included, for the first time in history, a voluntary question on sexual orientation. It could be answered by anyone who was at least 16 years old at the time of filling it in, giving the data compilers an extremely interesting insight into, for example, just how true some gay stereotypes are.
The hottest occupations
In a statistic of how many gay, lesbian, bisexual and other non-heterosexual (LGB+) people work in which job, published by the Independent, we find 321 different occupations, from grinders and caregivers to salespeople and managers. Yet these are not all the occupations people listed in the census. The smallest ones - with an aggregate of fewer than 10,000 performers - were omitted from the statistics.
Clearly the hottest occupation is cabin crew. Nearly one in seven flight attendants or stewardesses are gay or lesbian (or bisexual), 13.9% of these employees to be exact. Which is said to be no coincidence, as a spokesperson from the International Association of Flight Attendants said, "Many people who identify as LGBTQ+ work as cabin crew so they can be around colleagues who support them. We have been working together to negotiate job protections for LGBTQ+ employees and secure domestic partner benefits in contracts for decades before the laws came to the same level. Our solidarity has allowed thousands of cabin crew to work and live without the need to hide."
Zdroj: GiphyFollowing closely behind flight attendants and stewards in terms of the number of LGB+ people are actors, entertainers and presenters. 12.3% identified as non-hetero. However, they were followed by a job that is not so common in the Czech Republic - operating amusement and leisure parks. Among them, 11% are gay. The rainbow top ten was then completed by café workers (10.8%), artists (9.8%), bartenders (9.4%), art directors and producers (9.3%), bar and restaurant managers (9.1%), researchers (9.1%) and writers and translators (8.9%).
Winter among manual workers
By contrast, even the famously warm four per cent are not matched by jobs at the other end of the rankings. The very hottest job turned out to be roofers. LGB+ people make up just a tiny half-percent of them. 0.6% of gay people are then found among refrigeration installers and repairers, scaffolders and bricklayers. A further tenth of a percentage point more are found among sheet metal workers, bodyworkers, window cleaners, glaziers and fitters and plumbers, who complete the (almost entirely) heterosexual top ten.
But the minimal numbers of LGB+ people in these professions also show one thing - gay people are everywhere. Not evenly represented, perhaps, but there is clearly no profession in which some gay, lesbian or bisexual person does not work.
Stereotypes surprised
But you'll also be interested to know how the as-yet-unmentioned "typically gay" jobs ranked. Among fashion designers, LGB+ people make up 6.9%, which earned them 26th place out of 321, so they're actually the top target. However, hairdressers with barbers and florists were much more surprising. The former, with 4% of non-hetero people, "fought" their way up to 117th position, while florists even made it to 169th. 3.2% of them were gay.
Why is it that the statistics don't quite match the general idea of how many gay people there are among these people? Because the results don't just include men. It's an aggregate number including both men and women. And it is the fact that it is such a feminine occupation that probably leads to the numbers found. The femininity of these occupations may be why all the men here are gay, but the vast majority of people working in this way are heterosexual women. So the absolute number of LGB+ people is actually quite small then.
Work by hiding
So what is it that makes gays and lesbians choose certain jobs more than others? A possible explanation is offered by a 2015 study by Michel Anteby, Carla Knight and András Tilcsik, who theorised that LGB+ people's choice of occupation is influenced by how much the occupation offers the opportunity to work independently (without having to work with a team) and how much it requires a high level of social skills. In fact, it is believed that such professions are more attractive to LGB+ people.
Indeed, given the homophobia and discrimination present in society, it can be attractive for gay people to be able to hide their orientation more easily in employment. Which works better where they work independently and do not have to be in constant interaction with colleagues. The desire to avoid uncomfortable confrontations, then, may have also led queer people to develop a particularly sensitive ability to perceive other people from childhood - it was crucial for them to be able to read what someone was thinking, how they were feeling, and whether they happened to be homophobic. This skill then potentially makes them suitable candidates for other positions.
In the same breath, however, the authors of the study also add that with increasing social acceptance and a decreasing need to hide one's sexual orientation, job segregation will probably slowly disappear. This is also because gays and lesbians will no longer need such sensitive "social antennae" and thus will no longer have a skill advantage for some jobs.
Even in the future, however, the simple reputation of particular professions will continue to have an impact. If acting, working as an airline steward, or being a nurse are perceived as gay and more LGBT+ friendly, gay people will continue to be more attracted to them in the future, which will further reflect this status.
