Last Thursday I got the chance to attend the "Celebrating Diversity Leaders" event sponsored by the Dignity & Respect Campaign, the Delta Foundation and Vibrant Pittsburgh. I was glad I wore a suit. Probably the fanciest event I've ever been to! I don't know how many of you know about/have been to the Delta Foundation's executive directors' pad in Mt. Washington, but it is a sight to behold. I was that nerd reading the framed articles on the wall about the house's architecture (the master bath has 16 shower heads!). It was a gorgeous night too.
Elizabeth Birch, former director of the HRC was the main speaker, and while she was debunking some myths about the gay community (i.e. we are all rich) a cat darted through the crowd right toward her! She picked it up and confirmed the cat's heterosexuality using her gaydar and resumed her speech. Amazing.
I really got my schmooze on and met some folks I'm excited to contact soon about working together on projects.
I'm keeping my eye out for event photos and will share them here soon!
--Ray
April 25, 2011
April 18, 2011
Quickie Employer Survey
Ok, so on April 13th I attended an internship and job fair at Pitt with my co-worker Michael B. and sported my new suit for the first time. Our task was to get the word out to Pitt students that they can find internship opportunities on the RIC website and receive more tailored help from one of us. Answered a lot of similar questions, passed out a lot of business cards and tri-folds, enjoyed the William Pitt Union Hall building.
After a while I got the idea to go around asking some survey questions of the employers who had set up shop regarding non-discrimination policies and LGBT employee comfort. Interesting results followed...
Questions:
1. Does ______ have a non-discrimination policy?
2. Does this policy contain protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression?
3. Based on your experience working for ______ how comfortable would an openly gay or lesbian employee be?
4. How comfortable would an openly transgender employee be?
Comfort scale: Not at all comfortable, Comfortable, Very Comfortable
Respondents: 22
Aflac, City of Pgh Parks and Recreation, Avon, Stella & Dot, Pittsburgh University, Pizza Hut, Lowe's, Americorps, Lifesteps, Peacecorps, Mainstay Life, Pitt Student Life Office, Providence Point Baptist Home, Sunglass Hut, Clean Water Action, The Limited, Laurel Mountain Christian Camp, Talbot's, REI, Crown Cork & Seal, Compunetix, Aeropostale
Employer industries:
Retail-8
Health care-3
Education-2
Food service-1
Manufacturing-1
Information-1
Service-3
Other-3 (insurance, summer camp, environmental advocacy)
Results:
Question 1:
Yes: 19
No: 0
Not sure: 1
Originally Not sure: 3 (of those, 2 are "Yes")
Question 2:
Yes (SO & GIE): 12
No (SO not GIE): 5
No (neither are protected): 3
Not sure: 2
Originally Not sure: 8 (of those, 4 are "Yes", 1 "No", 1 "SO not GIE")
Question 3:
Very comfortable: 16
Comfortable: 4
Not at all comfortable: 1
Not sure: 1
Question 4:
Very comfortable: 7
Comfortable: 8
Not at all comfortable: 1
Not sure: 6
Discussion:
Every employer present has a non-discrimination policy when it comes to hiring practices. I couldn't confirm one from Stella & Dot but it's likely they do and I just can't find it on their website. Some respondents didn't know for sure whether such a policy existed, some places offered cultural competency training for new hires, some places also had an anti-harassment policy.
Some company representatives had no idea about the actual language in the policy (whether it included SO and/or GIE), and others said "Oh! We just added gender identity and expression a couple of months ago!" or "No, we definitely don't protect against gender identity and expression discrimination because I'm queer and pay attention to these things," or "No we definitely don't protect against sexual orientation discrimination because we're a Christian organization and we don't hire gay people," (although another Christian organization most certainly protected this category and even said an openly gay person would feel very comfortable working there).
Many company reps (an overwhelming 16 out of 22) said that an openly gay or lesbian person would be "very comfortable" working for them. A couple people said it was really hard for them to say how comfortable a gay person would be because they don't identify that way. One person decided to officially answer "not sure" for this reason and I respect that awareness.
When I asked about an openly transgender person's comfort level, I really got a range of answers. I got a couple comments like, "Well I guess that would depend on the person's comfort level with themselves, as we all own our individual businesses and deal directly with customers." This concept is similar to, "We do a lot of work directly with the public," or "We have many branches in small towns." These responses kind of place the burden on the transgender person themselves--to be thick-skinned or pass well and not rely on the company to put them first over the customers. I got way more "Not sure"s in this category. Thinking of a transgender person's job comfort level is probably just way outside the experience of most employees.
Many people based their answers of "Very comfortable" on the perception that their workplaces are full of "liberal" people, everyone is really welcoming, etc. But not usually on clear examples I would have liked to hear like, "We do not tolerate harassment or hateful language" or "We have comprehensive employee training on such topics" or "I know a gay person at work who says he is very happy working here."
I did get one or too specific examples of workplace comfort: "We make sure customers feel comfortable in the changing rooms in our store," and "I know openly gay people at work."
I am very curious about how people would answer these questions anonymously, how they would answer them if I did not pass or was not wearing a suit, or if CEO's were the ones answering the questions. This gives me an idea to create similar short questionnaires for employers who attend our workshops using specific examples of positive or negative workplace environment issues.
After a while I got the idea to go around asking some survey questions of the employers who had set up shop regarding non-discrimination policies and LGBT employee comfort. Interesting results followed...
Questions:
1. Does ______ have a non-discrimination policy?
2. Does this policy contain protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression?
3. Based on your experience working for ______ how comfortable would an openly gay or lesbian employee be?
4. How comfortable would an openly transgender employee be?
Comfort scale: Not at all comfortable, Comfortable, Very Comfortable
Respondents: 22
Aflac, City of Pgh Parks and Recreation, Avon, Stella & Dot, Pittsburgh University, Pizza Hut, Lowe's, Americorps, Lifesteps, Peacecorps, Mainstay Life, Pitt Student Life Office, Providence Point Baptist Home, Sunglass Hut, Clean Water Action, The Limited, Laurel Mountain Christian Camp, Talbot's, REI, Crown Cork & Seal, Compunetix, Aeropostale
Employer industries:
Retail-8
Health care-3
Education-2
Food service-1
Manufacturing-1
Information-1
Service-3
Other-3 (insurance, summer camp, environmental advocacy)
Results:
Question 1:
Yes: 19
No: 0
Not sure: 1
Originally Not sure: 3 (of those, 2 are "Yes")
Question 2:
Yes (SO & GIE): 12
No (SO not GIE): 5
No (neither are protected): 3
Not sure: 2
Originally Not sure: 8 (of those, 4 are "Yes", 1 "No", 1 "SO not GIE")
Question 3:
Very comfortable: 16
Comfortable: 4
Not at all comfortable: 1
Not sure: 1
Question 4:
Very comfortable: 7
Comfortable: 8
Not at all comfortable: 1
Not sure: 6
Discussion:
Every employer present has a non-discrimination policy when it comes to hiring practices. I couldn't confirm one from Stella & Dot but it's likely they do and I just can't find it on their website. Some respondents didn't know for sure whether such a policy existed, some places offered cultural competency training for new hires, some places also had an anti-harassment policy.
Some company representatives had no idea about the actual language in the policy (whether it included SO and/or GIE), and others said "Oh! We just added gender identity and expression a couple of months ago!" or "No, we definitely don't protect against gender identity and expression discrimination because I'm queer and pay attention to these things," or "No we definitely don't protect against sexual orientation discrimination because we're a Christian organization and we don't hire gay people," (although another Christian organization most certainly protected this category and even said an openly gay person would feel very comfortable working there).
Many company reps (an overwhelming 16 out of 22) said that an openly gay or lesbian person would be "very comfortable" working for them. A couple people said it was really hard for them to say how comfortable a gay person would be because they don't identify that way. One person decided to officially answer "not sure" for this reason and I respect that awareness.
When I asked about an openly transgender person's comfort level, I really got a range of answers. I got a couple comments like, "Well I guess that would depend on the person's comfort level with themselves, as we all own our individual businesses and deal directly with customers." This concept is similar to, "We do a lot of work directly with the public," or "We have many branches in small towns." These responses kind of place the burden on the transgender person themselves--to be thick-skinned or pass well and not rely on the company to put them first over the customers. I got way more "Not sure"s in this category. Thinking of a transgender person's job comfort level is probably just way outside the experience of most employees.
Many people based their answers of "Very comfortable" on the perception that their workplaces are full of "liberal" people, everyone is really welcoming, etc. But not usually on clear examples I would have liked to hear like, "We do not tolerate harassment or hateful language" or "We have comprehensive employee training on such topics" or "I know a gay person at work who says he is very happy working here."
I did get one or too specific examples of workplace comfort: "We make sure customers feel comfortable in the changing rooms in our store," and "I know openly gay people at work."
I am very curious about how people would answer these questions anonymously, how they would answer them if I did not pass or was not wearing a suit, or if CEO's were the ones answering the questions. This gives me an idea to create similar short questionnaires for employers who attend our workshops using specific examples of positive or negative workplace environment issues.
April 6, 2011
Project Intern: LGBT Community Outreach
So--Some big recent developments to report. "Project Intern: LGBT Community Outreach" is under way! This project identifies organizations and businesses in southwestern PA who offer internships and are interested in direct outreach to the LGBT community to advertise those internship opportunities. LGBT students looking for internships will be able to search through the Regional Internship Center website to find positions with employers who are committed to LGBT inclusion in the workplace. Students will also receive email updates of available positions. Employers who sign on will fill out surveys about workplace environment and will have the opportunity to work with the RIC to develop the best internship program for both the employer and for the intern (this in the form of employer workshops, a monthly program developed by the RIC).
So far, there are 5 or 6 organizations that are interested. And 2 LGBT student groups. For-profit businesses are kind of a blind spot for me but there are organizations in Pittsburgh that focus on diversity in the workplace and have business contacts.
Also--I just found out 2 days ago that my workshop proposal was accepted for this year's Philly Trans Health Conference. Caught me a little off guard since it was about 3 weeks after they said I would hear back about it...But after last night's meeting with Michelle (thanks!) I feel better about what that can be. In general I'm freaked out about how to boil down all this noise into one true note...Like what do I want to leave in my wake? It must be clear, and simple, and affective. What do I want to leave the RIC? What do I want to leave to the community? What do I want to give to the folks who (hopefully) show up to my workshop? I've been asking myself these questions all along--but I still don't feel much closer to the answers.
I want to start a dialogue--between QUILTBAG folks and employers, between QUILTBAG folks and other QUILTBAG folks about all the things that we can do and others can do to make our workplaces into places that we want to be--where who we are is an asset not a drawback. We can inform each other about what works, what doesn't work, what our major concerns are, what resources we need that are specific to our community. It's about investing in the work that we do--and the future careers (by this I don't just mean employment) of LGBT youth. And I guess I don't just mean youth either, as folks of all ages may deal with conflict at work about being queer.
So far, there are 5 or 6 organizations that are interested. And 2 LGBT student groups. For-profit businesses are kind of a blind spot for me but there are organizations in Pittsburgh that focus on diversity in the workplace and have business contacts.
Also--I just found out 2 days ago that my workshop proposal was accepted for this year's Philly Trans Health Conference. Caught me a little off guard since it was about 3 weeks after they said I would hear back about it...But after last night's meeting with Michelle (thanks!) I feel better about what that can be. In general I'm freaked out about how to boil down all this noise into one true note...Like what do I want to leave in my wake? It must be clear, and simple, and affective. What do I want to leave the RIC? What do I want to leave to the community? What do I want to give to the folks who (hopefully) show up to my workshop? I've been asking myself these questions all along--but I still don't feel much closer to the answers.
I want to start a dialogue--between QUILTBAG folks and employers, between QUILTBAG folks and other QUILTBAG folks about all the things that we can do and others can do to make our workplaces into places that we want to be--where who we are is an asset not a drawback. We can inform each other about what works, what doesn't work, what our major concerns are, what resources we need that are specific to our community. It's about investing in the work that we do--and the future careers (by this I don't just mean employment) of LGBT youth. And I guess I don't just mean youth either, as folks of all ages may deal with conflict at work about being queer.
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