A South West charity has come under fire after advertising a job for specifically lesbian, gay and bisexual applicants.

The Intercom Trust, which is based in Cornwall but also covers the counties of Devon, Dorset and Somerset, is a resource that “provides help against homophobic and transphobic prejudice, crime and discrimination”.

It recently posted an advert for a full-time community helpline worker and administrator, stating that it required someone with experience of gay and lesbian issues.

However, one potential applicant contacted local newspaper the Exeter Express & Echo to complain about the “offensive” advert.

In an email to the paper, the anonymous jobseeker said: “I find this offensive that the advert is being specific about a person’s sexual orientation.

“I have no desire to enter into any exchange of opinions as I do not have a problem with whatever any person is or believes… It is just that I am looking for a job in administration and found it amazing that I have to be something which is so specifically personal and nothing to do with my ability to do the job in order to apply for that post.”

However, The Intercom Trust executive director Michael Halls defended his organisation’s decision in the paper.

He said: “This position for a helpline worker and administrator requires the person to answer the helpline and speak to people who have often suffered terrible emotional damage. If someone has spent years and years of their life desperately hiding from all of their family something they know will have them thrown out, they want to speak to someone who is sensitive to the issues of being gay or lesbian.

“And if they find themselves speaking to someone who is straight they may close down in the conversation. They need to speak to someone who understands from the inside. It is the same thing for a women’s rape crisis helpline for example — the callers, who are traumatised enough, don’t want to talk to a man.”

The trust claimed there was a “genuine occupational requirement” for being sexuality specific in its advert.

According to equality law, employers are allowed to circumvent discrimination laws on sexuality if they can demonstrate there is a genuine requirement of the role.

The news comes just a week after the fallout of Pink News editor Jessica Geen ‘coming out’ as straight in a national newspaper, causing division among the gay community as to the importance of sexuality in her job role.

Published Date: 03/12/2010
SECTION: Politics & Law | GENRE: Pet Lover | REGION: Newark, NJ
SOURCE: Lesbilicious - the web’s tastiest lesbian magazine

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