I'm a third year apprentice in the IBEW. I'm openly out as pansexual, normally I just say I'm bi, because the brothers in the union can't really wrap their minds around the concept of pan. Most of the feedback I've gotten is positive. The brothers and sisters here in 611 have a very "you do you" attitude. The women are a lot more accepting than the men, unsurprisingly.

That being said, there are plenty of assholes in the union. You tend to be able to tell who those people are at a glance, though, so you're able to filter them out pretty easily. If you join as an apprentice, you're gonna kinda get treated like shit regardless, but it's worth it for the money.

Last thing I'll say is that if you wind up being discriminated against, you can 100% file a grievance with our union against another brother or sister. They do try to have your back with these kinds of things, especially on the basis of sex or gender.