A man named Jim Bates, aged 34 and a digital services manager, found himself in a comical bind after mistakenly ticking the 'gay' box on his equalities form. The blunder came to light during his work orientation when he was warmly welcomed by the LGBTQ officer, leaving him too embarrassed to correct the mistake.

Jim explains, 'I don't want to offend anyone by being straight. But on the other hand, the longer this goes on the worse it gets.' He considered waiting until his probation period ended to reveal the truth, but that would mean admitting to wearing a fraudulent rainbow lanyard and attending a Gay In Tech conference under false pretenses—an event he admits sounds fun.

To maintain his new persona, Jim has been watching Drag Race to pick up the lingo and even described the Q1 accounts as 'iconic'. He enjoys the benefits of sitting with the girls at lunch, getting a day off for Pride, and receiving compliments on his casual Friday attire. Jim humorously notes that he's breaking gay stereotypes by being 'a bit fat with bad skin'.

He also received an invitation to a gay bar from Will in estates and is now in too deep to back out, jokingly hoping they'll serve real ale.