I F27 am currently in the midst of changing careers and started a 4 year electrical apprenticeship last august.

I'm the only girl at the company, and everyone has been fine with that, but the workplace is very much 'right-wing aussie blokes, so predictably there's a lot of casual racism and homophobia thrown around. I knew this was going to happen, it's a massive issue in the trades.

I'm a lesbian, with a longterm girlfriend, and I choose to just stay out of it. I don't call anyone out, I just ignore it. It took me 12 months of constant interviews to finally land this job, I'm really enjoying it and don't want to mess up and lose it.

My girlfriend is supportive of my choice to remain closeted at work for now and understands why I prefer to keep mostly quiet politically (I'm open that I don't agree with homophobia/racism etc but I don't really actively speak out against it) However a few of our friends are annoyed at me for not standing up. Don't get me wrong, I want to say something, but I just feel like I can't do so without risking my job.

I know it's white/straight passing privilege etc. But I'm just scared that if I rock the boat to early, I won't be able to finish my apprenticeship. Once I'm qualified and have more of a leg to stand, I plan to more openly advocate, but right now as an apprentice I'm quite literally at the bottom in terms of power and respect.

AITAH?

(I know discrimination is technically illegal but lets be real, people can/do/will get around the law if they want to)