I was honored to be a special guest of Carole Copeland Thomas on her Conversations With Carole, on Understanding Intersections between race, diversity and LGBTQ. This is an important topic and everyone is included in real inclusion. If we support diversity and inclusion, then we can’t pick and choose which issues are real, or stay in our little comfort zones….
During a recent client meeting on inclusion, when the words LGBTQ came up, one of the meeting attendees remarked, “I’m not anti-gay but I just don’t believe that should have special rights.” My first thought, “Oh no, do we really have to have this conversation again?” Obviously we did. I told this woman that LGBT people want the same…
Today is National and International Coming Out Day for LGBT people and friends. Many of us have been sharing our memories of coming out , and the days before we came out. I remember when I used to hide the “gay books” because I didn’t want people to know that I was gay. Then I noticed that my straight friends had the same books, and…
The recent Supreme Court Decisions overturning DOMA and Prop 8 have far-reaching impact diversity and inclusion in the workplace beyond providing federal and state benefits for same-sex married couples. These decisions also affect single LGBT and heterosexual people in those workplaces, along with LGBT employees in states where same-sex marriage is not yet legal. In the past month, I’ve gotten…
Watch us on KOFY and my segment- “The Inclusionist” with Michelle Meow- Swirl producerWe’re excited to host the marathon and our own special. Swirl debuts the first ever SWIRL TV show on KOFY ch. 13/20 this Saturday. Catch us from 6-10pm hosting the “Gimme a Break” marathon and then at 10pm, the National Coming Out Day special: SF Health Commissioner…
1- Understand your biases and don’t make assumptions. Most of the time you don’t know who is an LGBT person unless they tell you. LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people span many dimensions of diversity in your workplace; generation, ethnicity, religion, work function, communication style, etc. 2- Know that LGBT people are not looking for special treatment but want the…
I was honored to be part of the MFHA (Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance) program on LGBT Cultural Intelligence in the Foodservice and Hospitality Industry, at Johnson & Wales in Miami last week. Gerry Fernandez the Executive Director of MFHA, was the driving force behind the program. When he spoke about his journey to become an LGBT ally, many people…
“Why do we have to talk about gay people in school? I don’t want my kids to know about homosexuality. Why are you bringing this up. If these kids weren’t gay, they wouldn’t have committed suicide. It’s part of the homosexual agenda, and on and on and on.” As “The Inclusionist,” and as someone who values the diversity in our…
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