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The purpose of this paper is to explore information behaviour and the information barriers transgendered people encounter. This study produces new information about the information needs in the construction of the transgendered identity, the changing of the information needs during this phase, utilized information sources, information sharing and barriers encountered in the information behaviour displayed by transgendered people.

Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the information behaviour of 12 transgendered participants. This study represents a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. A qualitative content analysis was used in analysing the data with categories derived from previous research and research questions.

Serendipity played an important role at the beginning of the participants’ information seeking phase: the young individual would not have terms corresponding to his or her experience because of the invisibility of the transgender phenomenon in the culture. The barriers to seeking information were psychological, demographic, role-related or interpersonal, environmental or source characteristic. Fear was apparent as a barrier in the surrounding culture often caused by expectations, attitudes in the family environment and people around. Source characteristic barriers were related to the lack of terms and vocabulary required to seek information and also the lack of the information itself. Information about transgender and gender minorities was essential in building up a clear gender identity, and the most relevant information sources of this sort of information this were other transgendered people and the experience-based information they had shared.

The information behaviour of transgendered people has not been previously studied. In this study a model of information behaviour and information barriers was made. The model includes individual’s information practices, sources of information and also the barriers affecting information behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical patterns regarding trans people’s self-esteem-oriented evaluations during observations of positive workplace actions. The case of a 2015 UK workplace guide is utilized to fulfil the aims. The guide provides suggestions to employers for recruiting and retaining trans people.

A new questionnaire is created which forms a 20-item scale capturing a variety of self-evaluations. Trans people provided their responses in a 2018–2019 survey and the study’s patterns were captured.

The outcomes suggest that trans people’s self-esteem and self-respect are enhanced by policy makers’ positive actions to promote inclusivity in the workplace. In addition, due to these actions trans people feel more accepted, valued and trusted by the government. The authors suggest that a lack of positive workplace actions may be detrimental to trans people’s self-esteem. However, if a workplace policy is perceived to be a recognition of trans people’s worth this may be internalized, resulting in positive self-evaluations. The authors suggest that the 2015 workplace guide aims to ensure that trans people’s self-expressions are not constrained in ways that could cause them self-esteem difficulties.

The study also finds that firms which have implemented the workplace guide have informed human resources strategies, affected corporate profiles and staff organizational behaviours, created a more inclusive workplace culture, and addressed LGBT business and trans staff members’ needs. The authors suggest that when employers utilize policy makers’ positive workplace policies they may be able to realize positive organizational outcomes in their firms.

The World Health Organization perceives self-esteem as a public matter and this study suggests that inclusive workplace strategies can positively affect the psychological states of a highly marginalized population group.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge this is the first attempt to quantify how a workplace guide impacts on self-esteem-oriented evaluations among trans people. Each one of the 20 items in the scale brings new insights into the subject matter.

This study investigated the impact of some determinant organizational factors on disseminating LGBT information in Brazilian companies in 2019.

The study is exploratory and has a quantitative approach, which uses secondary data from the CSR Hub database 2019 of publicly traded Brazilian companies. For constructing the LGBT disclosure metric, the authors took the study by Parizek and Evangelinos (2021). The independent variables were the social responsibility, financial and governance characteristics of the companies. Analysis was conducted by combining a symmetric method (multiple linear regression analysis with econometric models) and an asymmetric approach (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis).

The research findings showed that companies with higher performance in CSR have greater LGBT disclosure. Findings also show that companies with higher financial performance tend to have greater LGBT disclosure. This is because larger companies have more resources to invest in CSR practices and sexual diversity policies, as well as a greater number of stakeholders pressing them to act more responsibly. Additional results showed that companies that signed the UN Global Compact and publish an environmental report annually have greater engagement in LGBT disclosure.

This study's novelty emerges from applying the fsQCA technique, which helps to a broaden understanding of the conditions necessary to achieve greater LGBT disclosure. Furthermore, this study initiates the debate on LGBT disclosure in emerging economies, a recent topic and still little explored empirically.

Human resource management (HRM) departments report a lack of knowledge on supporting transgender employees during gender transition in the workplace. The purpose of this research is to survey the experiences of transgender workers in English-, French- and German-speaking countries to evaluate their experience of transitioning at work and the HRM support they received to do so.

A questionnaire consisting of 32 quantitative items and qualitative text boxes was completed by 166 transgender individuals.

Results show a mostly negative landscape with some pockets of good practice.

Answers are based on self-report measures and data are cross-sectional.

Recommendations for good practice are proposed for HRM departments.

A move towards a more inclusive workplace is needed.

Questions focus on HRM practices specifically, whereas other surveys have assessed work practices more broadly.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the contexts in which this special issue developed, along with the wider context in which research such as that included is conducted. It is believed that without the persistence of researchers in this field, the situation would be even worse.

Papers were selected from those submitted following a call for papers which went out after the Inaugural Equal Opportunities International Conference held at the University of East Anglia in July 2008. Two of the selected papers use qualitative, and two use quantitative, methodologies. The research was conducted in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Each seeks to develop theory based upon fresh empirical work.

Compelling evidence provides insight to ways in which majority and minority ethnic employees experience organizations differently, along with the resultant differential outcomes, including career paths, quality and opportunities.

This paper maintains that each paper in this special issue (within its own context and as it currently stands) represents a robust example of qualitative or quantitative research in the field.

From the evidence of each paper published here, it is clear that academics and practitioners alike will gain insights to employer and employee behaviours at the level of the labour market and within the workplace itself. Such insights should encourage further action on the part of both. Employers should be prompted to review their polices and practices in the light of anti‐discriminatory legislation in such a way as to minimize discrimination therein.

This paper draws attention to matters of persistent inequality which remain so even in enlightened times wherein quite extensive legislation is in place to outlaw such inequality. As such, the guest editors would like to see, as a result of both academics and practitioners reading the work within this, and all other, editions of the journal, concerted efforts, in the case of the former, to continue to conduct and disseminate high‐profile research in the area of discrimination and equal opportunity, and, in the latter, to address their policies and practices. In the latter context, the guest editors would like to see an impact on public and private employment policies and the seriousness with which corporate social responsibility is undertaken. In that respect, public attitudes might eventually be seen to be changing for the more equitable.

The paper brings together the findings of four different pieces of original research in such a way as to demonstrate the commitment of researchers to addressing inequality in today's workplaces, which themselves continue to be inequitable.

This paper addresses the question of gender and identity in relation to a number of considerations for supporting men with learning disabilities who cross‐dress (wearing the clothes of the opposite sex), or want gender reassignment (accessing hormonal and surgical treatment to develop the physical characteristics of the opposite sex). Drawing on practice experience, it identifies a number of issues which will need to be considered when working on these topics, and presents a model for taking forward work with staff and service users.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from the Trans Mental Health Study (McNeil et al., 2012) – the largest survey of the UK trans population to date and the first to explore trans mental health and well-being within a UK context. Findings around suicidal ideation and suicide attempt are presented and the impact of gender dysphoria, minority stress and medical delay, in particular, are highlighted.

This represents a narrative analysis of qualitative sections of a survey that utilised both open and closed questions. The study drew on a non-random sample (n=889), obtained via a range of UK-based support organisations and services.

The study revealed high rates of suicidal ideation (84 per cent lifetime prevalence) and attempted suicide (48 per cent lifetime prevalence) within this sample. A supportive environment for social transition and timely access to gender reassignment, for those who required it, emerged as key protective factors. Subsequently, gender dysphoria, confusion/denial about gender, fears around transitioning, gender reassignment treatment delays and refusals, and social stigma increased suicide risk within this sample.

Due to the limitations of undertaking research with this population, the research is not demographically representative.

The study found that trans people are most at risk prior to social and/or medical transition and that, in many cases, trans people who require access to hormones and surgery can be left unsupported for dangerously long periods of time. The paper highlights the devastating impact that delaying or denying gender reassignment treatment can have and urges commissioners and practitioners to prioritise timely intervention and support.

The first exploration of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt within the UK trans population revealing key findings pertaining to social and medical transition, crucial for policy makers, commissioners and practitioners working across gender identity services, mental health services and suicide prevention.

The inspiring article by Daniel Wilson describes many of the issues central to working with men with learning disabilities who have gender identity needs, and highlights key areas on which learning disability services need to focus. I work as a clinical psychologist in a community learning disability team in East London, and have a particular interest in sexuality and gender. In this article, I will discuss some of the issues that resonate for me in thinking about how services have responded to the needs of people with gender needs, considering possible comparison with responses to people with needs relating to sexual diversity. I will then go on to discuss some of the personal and professional dilemmas that have arisen for me in my work with a man who cross‐dresses.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key issues involved in situations within the workplace when an employee goes through gender reassignment, in order to consider how such situations might be managed more effectively.

It analyses a case study from a national public sector organisation in the UK where a transsexual person went through male to female gender reassignment. The case was compiled via participant observation and one to one interviews with the key players in the process (managers, human resource staff and colleagues as well as the individual).

Key issues discussed include the effects on trust and relationships at work, harassment, the role of trade unions, training, and other support. It explores the difficulty of gaining acceptance for a transsexual, and links this to literature on managing diversity and change management.

The case study is in the public sector in the UK, but implications are valid for other organisations.

Makes suggestions for managing transsexual issues for management and for trade unions, whilst being cautious about the extent of acceptance that can be achieved.

Existing literature tends to focus on the transsexual individual's own viewpoint, and guidelines from transgender support groups. This study includes the roles and reactions of all the key people involved within a real organisational case, and offers insights into the issues involved when managing transsexual cases in the workplace.

The article aims to present a new aspect of “the emergent identities” in Thailand with a correlation between morality and religiosity. The research deals with the perception of 65 Thai male-to-female transgender sex workers who are currently working in sex tourism in Pattaya and Bangkok. This article explores the role religion plays, the linkages between sexualities, and the potential for Thai Theravada Buddhist individuals to understand the way that they cope with life and interpret its meaning among these sexual minorities. Finally, the article shows how Thai marginalized Theravada Buddhists are negotiating their gendered religious spaces in Thailand.

The study investigates perceptions of religion and its role in the lives of Thai Buddhist male-to-female transgender sex workers. Almost all the qualitative data was collected sequentially through (1) focus group discussions, (2) small group discussions, and (3) in-depth interviews. All interview sessions took place over six months in 2019. The researcher is a native Thai speaker and conducted the interviews in Thai with selected sex workers over 20 years old who have at least one year of experience engaging in sex work.

The research found three principal characteristics of “lived religion” in which emergent identities negotiate sexuality and morality: (1) Buddhist dequeering (the way Buddhism operates conservatively to reinforce heteronormativity), (2) queering Buddhism amidst multiple oppressions (how Buddhism operates to complement queer identity and empowerment), and (3) queering Buddhism as enlightenment (Buddhism with an emphasis on “practice” and “spiritual development”). The paper discusses how institutional Buddhism creates and recreates gendered identities in complex ways.

The article shows how Thai marginalized Theravada-Buddhism are negotiating their gendered religious spaces and “buy” the right to sexual and anatomy within their families and society by providing financial support, engaging in religion practices, donating in social charity projects base on their faith and capacity.

The paper is supporting human right movements and dignity for sexual minorities gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender questioning, intersex (LGBTQI+) in Thailand. The paper also promotes equality to all human beings and shows a struggle for the basic human rights of sexual minorities in religion. The paper is raising awareness to religion's rights for all to look beyond distinctions of gender and class which may help to shape future history.

This article examines how Thai transgender sex workers utilize the non-essentialist philosophy of Theravada Buddhism. The paper finds that respondents are negotiating their religious spaces through the linkages among their gender, body, embodiment, identities, and sexualities. Despite most respondents believe that being born “a kathoey” as a result of bad karma, they use the Buddhist teachings of karma to explain their identities and even to lead a meaningful life to gain more merits for a better rebirth.

Thailand still lacks research on queer spiritualities and Buddhism. The article has seen challenges to the human rights of sexual minorities in religion. The solution is to increase awareness of the concepts of sex, gender, and sexualities and broaden the understanding of “endless performativity” and “gender diversification” (Butler, 1990) for gender sensitivity and gender responsiveness in creating “social equality” for all member societies in public campaigns, and media launched by the state and NGOs.