Odds of being employed as a gay CNA?

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I'm a 20 year old androgynous gay male that lives with my partner and a baby; I'm what you would call "obviously gay" and I have long hair down to my neck and i'm sometimes mistaken for a girl because I have a high voice.

Do you think being a gay male will give me some trouble in the nursing field?

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I shouldn't think any more than you get anywhere else -- which might be considerable, depending on where you live.

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Specializes in IMCU.

Well the Pollyanna in me says you should not have more trouble but who knows what weird prejudices people secretly harbor. It should not impact you getting into nursing school.

I think regardless of being gay or not people need to present themselves very professionally. This includes not telling everyone about your personal business during interviews etc. It is no one's business that I am heterosexual and it is no one's business that you are gay.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg.

I should hope that your odds of being employed as a gay CNA are exactly the same as being employed as a straight CNA. It is illegal to discriminate based on sexual preference.

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Specializes in dementia/alzehimers,rehab,hospice.

i guess it depends on whos doing the hiring. i actually have an "obvious gay guy" working at my job who has a high pitched voice and acts very feminine yet he's been there for a long time(hes in his 20's too) his ex boyfriend even calls the job for him several times yet nobody discriminates. if someone doesent want to hire you move on! its their loss and trust me another door will open :) best of luck to you!!!

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If it's a large, public facility, you should be fine. They would be very careful not to discriminate. Smaller, private facilities might discriminate more. My facility is a run by a Christian group, but it's big and has people from many religions and races working there. It's pretty easy to just smile and nod if anyone goes on a religious rant, though one resident has Fox news on 24/7 in her room and won't watch anything else. Annoying! I've never felt like anyone was discriminated against by management. They do have a pretty strict dress code, but that's just so we look professional, I think.

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Specializes in LTC/Rehab.

I would assume that it is the staff's responsibility to act professional at all times, but be aware that aggitated residents or patients can say some pretty disrespectful things to just about anyone.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, L&D.

There are a lot of gay men working as CNAs, LPNs and RNs where I work and several in nursing school. I haven't seen any problems, but I live in a large urban area... I don't think that it is any worse than any other field, and probably considerably better than some.

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