Beyond the Glass Closet: Unraveling Identity Management Practices of Turkish LGB Employees Under Neoconservative Pressures and Hegemonic Masculinity

In Türkiye, working life operates within a hybrid structure in which modern production relations and traditional gender roles intertwine. The automotive sector, in particular, where hegemonic masculinity and conservative values are reproduced, creates a breeding ground for discriminatory practices and safety issues affecting LGB employees. This study aims to analyze the psychosocial and organizational mechanisms underlying LGB individuals’ decisions to disclose or conceal their identities in the context of neoconservative social pressure and industrial masculine culture in Türkiye. Using a qualitative research design grounded in the social constructivist paradigm, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 LGB individuals working at different levels of the sector. Data were analyzed using reflective thematic analysis. The findings revealed themes of controlled openness, emotional labor, defense mechanisms, organizational silence, micro-solidarity, and ordinary visibility. It was determined that identity management is experienced as “strategic risk management” rather than an act of liberation, that hierarchical advancement increases the “glass closet” effect, and that employees constantly exhaust their cognitive capacity in a state of “hyper-vigilance”. In conclusion, the study examines the divergence between multinational corporations’ global inclusion policies and local practices and explores the structural factors that sustain organizational silence.