How LGBT-friendly is your workplace? Are you out at work?

i work for the province and while there is anti discrimination legislation built into the Human Rights Act both Provincially and Federally, and i work for what should be the most open progressive department of government. i wont be coming out here unless im in a stable LTR as well. too many "jokes" "comments" and "just saying...." but then im not out to the most important person yet. come on DIVORCE!! still not coming out here though.:bang:

 

The company I work for is the result of multiple mergers and acquisitions, and I was part of a smaller company that was absorbed by it. We had a large number of out gay employees, and a very active gay/straight alliance until we were bought out, and then that and the DP benefits disappeared. That's changed in the last couple of years and the DP benefits are back, and people are very open.

My boss about 15 years was openly gay and did a lot to break down some of the negative stereotypes I had in my head about gay men. He left earlier this year for health reasons but we stay in touch, and he's cheered me on as I have come out. Several co-workers were the first few people I came out to, and have been more supportive than anyone else in my life, including my siblings. I'm not sure whether I would have had the strength to do this if I hadn't had such an accepting workplace to be my safety net.

 

There is someone who works here who is either trans* or married to someone who is, just based on the bumper stickers on her or his car. Haven't met this person, to my knowledge.

I did kick myself just a little for not commenting back when a few coworkers made comments about that on a walk. Really just wanted to say something about not being so rigidly heteronormative.

At least I could probably make a move to San Francisco if I'd like, but that would be a pretty big change.

 

This place is about as open as it gets, being a major university library, at a state university, in a very liberal state, near DC. There's a number of 'higher-ups' who are gay/lesbian/genderqueer, and in my own department of about 30 people, there's me who is out as gay, two lesbians who are also out, as well as one bisexual.

It's very, very uncool to make LGBT slurs around here, not to mention, something that might land you in trouble, if taken the wrong way. Yes, people do joke a bit, but it's never really crossed that line into the petty and mean.

So I'm lucky, that way, we also have great LGBT/diversity seminars, and when I've gone, it's been nice to see people reaching out who don't really understand LGBT issues, but are seeking to understand, and be supportive. I've really been moved.

The only problem is that the assistant type jobs don't pay a whole lot, relative to the cost of living here, one of the highest in the US...but it is a very open place, and I'd say Maryland is overall a very sensible state.

 

I work from home right now but when I was working a physical job, it was...eh. I was almost never gendered right and my supervisor basically outed me. Now, at least I can use my preferred name as a business name, so I have that going for me. Oregon's usually really good about LGBT rights, but we've also got at-will employment so I don't doubt there's unscrupulous employers who find excuses to fire or lay off LGBT people just for being LGBT.

As for what I do now, I have a policy of being open about my gender if asked. But so far, even though I've done phone interviews and such, no one has yet and it's never really come up. But I interact professionally under my preferred name and as a male. I'm definitely open to working with a very diverse clientele but if any client is racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc- I won't work with them, period.

 

I'm out at my day job about my sexuality, and actually have a couple co-workers that are also out. I'm only out to a few people with my disaster response job, and nobody there knows about my true gender, even though there are executive orders in place protecting from discrimination there. (that's part of the executive branch of the Fed)

 

Not really since there's no reason for me to be. I suspect that they're really LGBT-friendly and would treat me the same no matter what

 

I work as an instructional designer for a Fortune 500 company. The company includes orientation in its anti discrimination policy, I am out to everyone on my team, including my boss, my partner is on my benefits and goes to team holiday events, and when I told my coworkers we are getting married soon they were all very happy and congratulatory.

I've worked for two other Fortune 500 companies before this one. Out at both, and had my partner on my benefits at one of them. At the last one, my boss and co-workers all met my partner several times as well.

You can find a list of the most gay friendly companies in the US via Google. I think it's located on the website for the Human Rights Campaign or the Advocate (can't remember which). The list rates each company on various criteria. You can also find lists of the most gay friendly cities (in the US and elsewhere) via the Advocate, IIRC.

Hope this helps,

Todd

 

Ye I'm completely out.
Ye, everyone is fine with it.

 

Very friendly. I can do anything I want at work, come and go as I please, dress any way I want and look at stuff usually labeled NSFW on the company computer. The owner is a great guy who knows and approves of all my sexual preferences and activities, no matter how kinky. I've even made sex toys on the company equipment using company materials.
Oh yeah, I should add that I'm usually the only one there and I own the place. :icon_bigg

 

LOL

I'm a teacher. My chances of being out and employed are slim to none.

 

Considering I'm not out at home, it'd be difficult to be out at work. That said, I still wouldn't be, at least gender-wise, as my boss was taking a psychology class last semester and the week they were talking about gender, she was rambling to me about it and said something along the lines of "wow, there are a lot of freaks out there."
....yeah. I need to get out of this town.

 

I work for the NHS. There isn't supposed to be discrimination of any type here, and to my knowledge, there is nobody in the department where I work who is homophobic. I am semi-out, and wouldn't have an issue with being completely out. Everyone I've come out to has been very accepting, and they've not made it a big deal.

 

My company provides financial services. We have a few openly gay co workers in various offices. Our firm has progressive equality policies and benefits, very gay friendly.

 

i work around productions, so it varies for me. to my knowledge, there are enforced laws that protects LGBT individuals and they are even allowed not to share their orientation if they want. (could be different, anyone from nyc that wants to correct that, be free to do so haha). in terms of "protection", i see a lot of homophobic guys in the industry, even though they don't really see it for themselves. we work around LGBT individuals who had a "higher" position then us, so it's not like we're aren't used to it, it's just that they aren't comfortable around the idea of a "gay" person. (practically the party douche, alpha male mentality) i don't really have to share it with my co workers although i wouldn't hide it if they saw me outside my living environment.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure how LGBTQ friendly my job is; as far as I know, none of my co-workers are LGBTQ. I'm not out to very many people, and I'm not out at work.

 

There are no protections legally for LGBT people in Wyoming. we did get the right to marry starting tomorrow. HR knows, since they are paying for my husband's health insurance. A few of my co-workers know, but I am generally not out to most of my co-workers.

 

I have to say No while you can't be fired for being lgbt , but it's not a pro gay place plus there's a guy that is a gay brasher that works with us .

 

If you are looking in the field of banking--which is actually my field--you shouldn't conflate the conservative culture (which I would say my own firm has) with espousing or even countenancing homophobia.

Most major banks scored 100% on HRC's Corporate Equality Index:

American Express Co. | New York, NY
Ameriprise Financial Inc. | Minneapolis, MN
Bank of America Corp. | Charlotte, NC
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. | New York, NY
Barclays | New York, NY
BlackRock | New York, NY
BMO Bankcorp Inc. | Chicago, IL
BNP Paribas | New York, NY
Capital One Financial Corp. | McLean, VA
Charles Schwab Corp. | San Francisco, CA
Citigroup Inc. | New York, NY
Credit Suisse USA Inc. | New York, NY
Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. | The New York, NY
Deutsche Bank | New York, NY
Discover Financial Services. | Riverwoods, IL
Eastern Bank Corp. | Boston, MA
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) | McLean, VA
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | New York, NY
HSBC - North America | New York, NY
Huntington Bancshares Inc. | Columbus, OH
JPMorgan Chase & Co. | New York, NY
KeyCorp | Cleveland, OH
MasterCard Inc. | Purchase, NY
Moody's Corp. | New York, NY
Morgan Stanley | New York, NY
Northern Trust Corp. | Chicago, IL
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. | The Pittsburgh, PA
RBC Capital Markets LLC | New York, NY
RBC Wealth Management | Minneapolis, MN
SunTrust Banks Inc. | Atlanta, GA
TD Bank, N.A. | Wilmington , DE
Toyota Financial Services | Torrance, CA
U.S. Bancorp | Minneapolis, MN
UBS AG | Stamford, CT
Union Bank | San Francisco, CA
Wells Fargo & Co. | San Francisco, CA

In order to score 100% a company must have written policies preventing discrimination both on sexual orientation and gender identity. They must provide medical benefits to domestic partners as they would for conventional spouses. They must provide parity between domestic partners and conventional spouses for things like bereavement, spousal supplemental insurance policies, retiree health programs and basically all benefits that apply to conventional spouses. Their health insurance coverage must be deemed transgender-inclusive based on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care. Businesses must demonstrate a firm-wide, sustained and accountable commitment to diversity and cultural competency, including at least three elements such as diversity training for new hires, sensitivity training for managers which specifically covers both sexual orientation and gender identity and a variety of other such measures. They must have an active LGBT employee group or a diversity council. They must demonstrate LGBT-specific public efforts, including at least three of the following: recruiting, supplier diversity, marketing or advertising, philanthropy or public support for LGBT equality under the law. And they must have NO known activity that would undermine LGBT equality.

That's quite a list and most of the major banks fulfill every criterion--along with 125 of the Fortune 500 (13 of the 20 largest companies are among them). Most of the other companies that fall out of the 100 ranking do so for things other than discrimination policies--91% of the Fortune 500 have sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policy and 61% include gender identity.

More and more there are legal protections but even more more and more companies are just realizing that inclusion is good business. If you are looking at banking or really any of the major industries finding an LGBT inclusive workforce is just not as difficult as it used to be...

 

My workplace if very LGBT friendly we actually have a LGBTA Resource group for employes and we have been a sponsor at Cincy Pride for the past 2 year and have been in the parade and everything. As far as being out at work well I have a picture of my fiance on my desk so you can't get much more out than that.