You shared with us :
"Once, she asked if I liked to sleep around. I replied that it was not my style. She asked if I liked to play around when in a relationship. I said that I could not bring myself to do that. Then, she decreed that I was prejudiced because she believed in free love and that my thoughts were harassing her. She proceeded to do everything in her power to distract me and complained to the sympathetic president. I was asked if I would change desks (to one out of her sight - a reason was not given). I said no; I did not believe I had done anything wrong. I was then given progressively more and more work to the point that it was unreasonable. I complained about the work load several times. (Other employees had walked out or were fired, and I had been asked to help out until a replacement was found. It took over a year for a capable replacement to be hired.) I worked a lot of overtime, still could not keep up and was exhausted. I started suffering from PTSD though I did not know what it was at the time. Other employees started insulting me more and more. Finally, I cracked and could not stop yelling at one of them after they had been rude. I was blamed and fired. The warning was true, the president labeled me an abuser and did everything she could to prevent me from getting a job. She even called my prior employers and asked them not to give me references. "

Some people are so mean.....and since you have experienced it,you understand the value of not being as they have been.That is valuable.

Lynn said~
"The key with the past experience is - the moment these women started bothering you, you became that reluctantly compliant little boy, but then later on you asserted yourself too strongly which ended up giving those women what they wanted. Play it cool with reserved strength from the beginning, then bullies won't mess with you."

She's got a good point.

If you do change jobs,you can enact this strategy,and essentially,it will deter having as many 'run-ins'....not all,but,try to consider some of the encounters you have had,how you might have responded differently,and when these pop up,in the future,try to have a plan of how to reply with subtle self-confidence.

Can you check out these resources?

http://www.selfhelpcollective.com/as...echniques.html

http://www.crackingconfidence.co.uk/...ggressive.html

http://tutorials.freeskills.com/read.../recent/id/430

This experience you had was sexual harassment.I imagine there would be much backlash with future jobs,had you pursued justice in recourse.But you easily could have had a case.This woman was deplorable.

Ice cream kid said:
"My other piece of advice is to stop playing the victim where women are concerned."

This,is not a criticism,it just means that you are projecting a response which is not accomplishing what your goal is,which is to at least appear to be assured within yourself enough to take a strong but objective position in situations such as this.

You said,"being gay, i am doubtful that i will fit in in a male dominated work environment. though i am nearly celibate, if i try to be friendly with a straight guy they get the impression that i am sexually interested in them."People can be so ignorant,me included ...awwe.

This is just what's going on in my head,and I could be wrong,but I was thinking,many men are very insecure as to how they'd be perceived if they did not take this stance with some one who is 'gay'.They are immersed in stigma,and reputation.It is very difficult to not be either misinterpreted,because of their close mindedness,or shunned due to their concern of others interpretations of them being simply even cordial.

I certainly wish I had more to offer you as far as this suffering you are experiencing,but,I simply don't have the life experience necessary to offer more guidance.But,I must say,many here would completely relate to your pain,as we all have encountered bias,and nasty hearted people on power trips.

Please know that you "can do this'.You will find a more comfortable way to internalize others behaviors and come to a point where you feel more confidence with your responses and things will improve.
~W~