![did i fail the gay test did i fail the gay test](https://media.newyorker.com/photos/612013778293fda4f2f245be/master/pass/Khullar-DeltaVariant.jpg)
Second, the current four-study investigation represents one of the first attempts at partially testing the validity of Fassinger et al.’s ( 2010) multidimensional LGBT leadership enactment model, which posits that leader sexual orientation, gender orientation, and situation constitute three dimensions that collectively influence sexual minority leaders’ leadership in organizations. This lack of research poses ethical challenges to organizational decision-makers with respect to providing an affirmative work environment for leaders with same-sex sexual orientation. ( 2010) commented, “scholarly work on leadership has yet to consider the characteristics and perspectives that sexual minorities-that is, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals-may bring to the process of leadership” (p. Surprisingly, after decades of research on diversity and stigmatized identities in the leadership literature, and after the legalization of same-sex marriage in all 50 states of the United States (U.S.), we have little knowledge of the roles played by leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation or its intersection with leader gender orientation and follower characteristics in the leadership process (Fassinger et al., 2010). As such, leaders with gay or lesbian sexual orientation across hierarchical levels in corporate America, mainly made up of heterosexual employees, constitute a unique minority group (Bialik, 2011 Burns & Krehely, 2011). Recent data suggest that about 2.4% of adult Americans self-identify as gay or lesbian (LGBT Demographics of the United States, n.d.).
![did i fail the gay test did i fail the gay test](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RT4y4uRPn6xxBqpqnK1hq4mT_v4=/1400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10115723/GettyImages_549600871.jpg)
Research and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. Our research advances knowledge of and responds to calls for more research attention to leader sexual orientation in the leadership process. Female followers were more supportive of same-sex sexual orientation leaders than male followers. However, same-sex sexual orientation leaders did not suffer double stigma penalization by having additional marginalized identities (e.g., also being women). Based on over 2,100 working adults in the U.S., the results of the four studies, where leaders were depicted as charismatic, indicate that leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation could have negative impacts on the follower outcomes.
![did i fail the gay test did i fail the gay test](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/580025f66b8f5b2dabbe4291/9575eff8-f1a6-45f7-ba7d-63dcdd4f935e/Yes_announcement10.jpg)
To fill this important research void, we drew from a recent theoretical model on leaders’ sexual orientation and conducted four experimental studies designed to test and retest whether leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation affects followers’ leadership perceptions and conformity to influence attempts, and how the intersectionality of leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation with leaders’ gender orientation and follower characteristics may modify the influences of leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation on the follower outcomes.
![did i fail the gay test did i fail the gay test](https://www.history.com/.image/ar_4:3%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTgxNjYyODk3MzI2MjcwMjIx/aidsactupbanner.jpg)
Despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States (U.S.) and an increasing number of out gay and lesbian business leaders, we have little knowledge of the role played by leaders’ same-sex sexual orientation in the leadership process.