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It has been suggested that, compared to heterosexual women workers, lesbians may experience an “advantage” in terms of pay, perceptions of work competence and in avoiding the problems of unwanted sexual attention and harassment. This article examines evidence for such an advantage based on research comparing the experiences of lesbians and heterosexual women working in three male-dominated employment sectors in the UK: fire-fighting, construction and transport. While the findings indicate that some open lesbians in these masculine sectors are able to ‘fit in’ with male cultures more readily and can avoid unwanted sexualised interactions, their experience is complicated by other factors such as generation, class and organisational culture. Such benefits may also only be available to lesbians who are comfortable with ‘masculine’ forms of behaviour, which many were not. The findings point to the need for an intersectional approach to gender in male-dominated work that reveals the relationships between gender, sexuality and class.