(photo above from the article “About Time, California” on The Frustrated Optimist’s blog)
First off, I had an awkward moment at work last night as a male began recounting a story about a former gay employee amongst a group of folks kind of in coffee chat mode. I knew it was headed nowhere fast and I started out with little comments like “I’m not participating in this conversation” and “that’s not brand.” Eventually, I told the person that I was offended on behalf of all my friends who are gay, and jokingly “threatened” to take this homophobe out in my neighborhood sometime. There was one other person in the room making eye contact with me as if we were on the same page but didn’t say anything. How many times does this happen at work on this subject or other controversial ones? It’s hard to take a stand, but I’m finding it more important to do so as tough as it may be at times. I would want someone to do the same on my behalf if something offensive to me came up as a woman or a woman of color or whatever.
Have you ever had a moment like that at work? If so, did you speak up?
So, I’m reading the Huffington Post article on how there’s this blacklist of everyone who financially supported Prop 8 but it’s a listing of individuals not corporations. However, if you read to the end of the article there is a link on AfterEllen.com with a list of corporations who supported Yes on 8.
The list of corporate supporters of Yes on 8 can be found at this link
http://www.afterellen.com/node/39787
If this is subject has been of interest to you, click the link below for the full Huffington Post article and share your thoughts here.
THE ANTI-GAY BLACKLIST (from Huffington Post)
There’s lots more interesting events going on in light of California’s decision (like Dec 10 being A Day Without A Gay), so I encourage you to read more about it. I try to keep this blog more on the lighthearted fun pop culture side, but occasionally nutty stuff in our world calls my soul to be a responsible blogger/journalist.
heyyy ladyyy! Thanks for the love! im adding u to my blogrolll!!!!!!!!
taking a stand in the work place is so great, and yet i think it’s what people should do no matter what… but for some reason it seems rare. i want to learn to be like that, at least to stand up for myself. i’m making some progress though …
I’m sure you learned the dynamics of that place, which is you left, however I’m constantly amazed at the ridiculousness on display there. When buying a new car gets questions from everyone including the GM and since you’re one of only 4 gay people in the building its naturally assumed that you are fucking one of the others, every day is a new delight. Were you there for the United Way campaign where TM’s got to pick funny punishments for their GL’s? One “punishment” was to have men wear dresses for an entire day, and I was steamed about it. I actually did say something, but of course that fell on def ears. Now had I provided some other type of FEEDBACK or perhaps a little FEEDFORWARD I would have ended up in a 2.5 hour status like I did last night that resulted in 2 hours of overtime. Yep I was there for 12 hours because I called someone out, so maybe that’s why you kept your mouth shut. I’m slowly trying to learn to do the same.
@CCH- Welcome! Thanks for posting! You bring up several great points that I would not have readily realized prior to your comment. Actually, in this case, I did speak up to my peer group to the extent that I was comfortable and the message was clear. You should always speak up when something insensitive occurs in the workplace. As long as you do your part to keep it professional, if they do not respond as if they embrace an inclusive environment, then I think you should escalate the issue. Also, these are reminders that perhaps this is not the place/work environment that you want to invest much time in your career.
Your story about the GL “punishment” of essentially dressing in drag brings to mind one of my first corporate experiences where the company held what they called a “slave auction” where members of management were up for bid to do certain tasks. I spoke about it, and they still held the event, but I think they changed the name. Who knows if they cared, but at least they responded appropriately.
Keep doing what you’re doing and document, document, document! Document each and every circumstance. Your list in this comment alone warrants some attention at your place of work. You should NEVER be made to feel that you are the problem for speaking your mind on any subject.