ABSTRACT
This chapter complicates existing research on men's workplace friendships as largely instrumental and motivated by self-interest. It suggests that sharing a sexual identity is not always an obvious or meaningful point of reference between gay men. Here work and organisation are influential in structuring the friendship preferences of participants in that and other respects. The chapter focuses on gay men's experiences of negotiating issues of sexuality and gender in ways that limit and open up the opportunities available to them for establishing friendships with heterosexual men. The empirical data bucks the trend of constructing men's workplace friendships as instrumental and focused on promoting self-interest. The chapter lifts the voices of those men who have acknowledged the importance of forming friendships with men from a variety of backgrounds. It suggests from the foregoing analysis is that men who appear comfortable with acknowledging sexuality as fluid and diverse are more likely to experience a richer array of supportive and intimate friendships.
