Building a Culture of Trust and Support for LGBTQ Employees
Employees have a ton to offer companies, but they can only do so if they are given the support and freedom to bring their whole selves to work. Susan Anderson, our VP of Services, writes for Fast Company about her own coming out story and what employers can do to build a culture of trust and support for LGBTQ employees:
“Back in the late ’90s, I started off my career with a lie. It seemed easy enough, at the start anyhow. It was a lie of omission about my true self and identity as a bisexual. Given the climate at the time, hiding that aspect of who I was seemed to present the path of least resistance. I took my job at the big corporate consulting company, donning pantyhose and a skirt, and I flirted with the men like all the other young, single women around me.
I thought it would be easy to pass as straight—but it ended up being far more work pretending to be something I was not. Lying about who I was became a habit—one with a heavy tax on my psyche and ability to approach my work authentically and with my full energy. The lie got old.
Then I met Sheryl, and my world turned upside down. We’re married now—but in that time of early dating, it was crushing to hide this part of myself at work. A few people at work knew the details, but most of my managers were in the dark.
When we got engaged, coworkers and clients immediately assumed I was going to marry a man. And the worst part is . . . I let them believe it. I wanted to celebrate my happiness, but it would have come with a cost. I worried about losing my job, obtaining health insurance for my partner, and providing stability for the kids I knew we’d have in our future.”
Read the whole thing at Fast Company.
