‘Is it even legal?’ Internship Application Goes Viral Over Question on Sexual Orientation

An internship application has sparked widespread debate online after a candidate shared a screenshot of the form, which included a question about sexual orientation. The application, which quickly went viral, has led to thousands of people questioning the legality and appropriateness of such inquiries in the hiring process.

The candidate, a male, cis-gender, white individual, implied in his social media post that he felt his chances of being selected were slim due to the diversity-focused questions. The application form asked for the applicant’s race, gender, and gender identity. One of the more controversial questions read: "What is your sexual orientation?"

In response, the candidate wrote “Straight/Heterosexual,” and for the question on race, he marked “White.” He also indicated that his pronouns are “He/him.”

In his post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, he commented, "Going to assume I will not land this internship," alongside the picture of the application form.

Check Out the Viral Post:

The viral post has ignited a conversation about the role of diversity in hiring and whether certain questions cross the line into discrimination. While companies often collect demographic information to ensure diversity and inclusion, the question remains: is it appropriate or even legal to ask about sexual orientation in an application?

Users Reaction to the Post:

“I haven’t had to apply to a job in a long time. Is it normal to ask sexual orientation? Is it even legal?.” said one user. 

Another person replied to the post and said, “It’s legal and very normal. Pretty sure most recruitment teams won’t even see this. It’s just to give some statistics on applicants later on.”

“People think this is for 'diversity hire' but 9/10 its from bigot employees wanting cis het men instead,” said a third one. 

A fourth user advised him to lie, “Just lie, they can’t legally question you.”

“I am now unemployable due to demographics and I'm OK with that. Ever since I opened my own business I've had a much more assembled perspective ok where my money comes.”