[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

In my working role I’m expected to behave professionally on all levels. There is though, always a certain level of sexuality that goes on. People flirt, though not openly and certainly not to the point of awkwardness. People over dress for meetings and women play the weak and vulnerable whilst men play the heroic masculine male from time to time. Everyone though, knows not to cross the line. We all have a job to do and we all have deadlines we are expected to meet.

We have this one gay guy who works in our team. Not so long ago, when he started, you wouldn’t of known his sexual preference. He was quiet, diligent and friendly. A couple of months ago he told us all he was gay and that was well accepted by everyone. Shortly after that his voice went up a couple of pitches and he started using camp mannerisms, that was fine too, though the sudden change was a little amusing. He’s now a complete diva and makes constant sexual innuendos towards some of the guys and puts on this silly feigned act of fainting when he sees a paramedic or police officer. He’s become this extrovert performer and its starting to feel like we have this loud, rude, crude drag queen disrupting and causing chaos within the ranks. Nobody says anything because nobody wants to be accused of being homophobic.

This got me thinking. Hetrosexual men and women know not to behave in a sexual manner within the workplace. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but we all know the potential consequences. Camp men don’t appear to have those same rules and when they start acting up, like this guy above, nobody has a clue how to handle them.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

You state that the men and women flirt with one another, I'd put "feigned act of fainting" in the "banter/flirting" bracket and don't see how it's anymore or less acting in a "sexual manner" than any other forms of flirting? Unless it's crossing the line and he's putting his hands on people inappropriately or saying graphic things.