Sex, Politics, and Religion

Sex, Politics, and Religion

When I started working professionally, my mom told me it was best to avoid any conversations at work about these three topics. Sharing too much was likely to cause drama that wouldn't help me professionally. I think this was good advice.

Fast Forward to 2025. Is sharing your beliefs (Sex, Politics, and Religion) on LinkedIn helping your career or quietly hurting it? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, because two trends seem to be colliding:

1) LinkedIn rewards “authenticity.”
The platform has shifted away from sterile corporate updates toward personal stories, vulnerability, and real human voice. People respond to genuine perspectives far more than polished marketing messages.

2) At the same time, polarization in the U.S. (sexual, political, and religious) is higher than ever. Given that divide, I struggle to imagine a scenario where broadcasting these beliefs increases someone’s odds of getting hired. For every person who agrees with you, there’s someone else who might see those same views as a reason not to reach out, consciously or unconsciously.

So here’s the real tension:

How do we balance the desire to be authentic with the practical need to stay employable?

For me, authenticity doesn’t have to mean full transparency about everything we believe. It can also mean showing up with integrity, empathy, and professionalism, even while keeping some topics (including aspects of sex, politics, and religion) out of our professional sphere.

In a world where hiring managers are human, and humans have biases, sharing polarizing opinions publicly can carry real career risk. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have convictions. It just means we should be thoughtful about where and how we express them.

Authenticity is about truth. Professionalism is about judgment. A healthy career requires both.

But, I am not sure it is always this easy. At some point, what you believe becomes who you are and to not embrace this means not to show up authentically. At some point, you feel that you have to stand up for what you believe and for who you are rather than be passively counted as one of the many on the other side.

I’d love to hear how others think about this, especially those who’ve navigated it firsthand.