Coming Out At Work - Still A Dangerous Step for Many

I came across an article on coming out at work that was depressing in many ways in terms of the fear in which many LGT citizens live their lives at work. Approximately 29 states provide LGBT citizens with absolutely no employment non-discrimination protections and many employers that claim they do not discriminate in fact do so regularly. A case in point is larger law firms in Virginia: to interview at the state's leading law schools they must agree that they will not discriminate based on sexual orientation in hiring and continued employment decisions. Yet almost none of these large law firms have openly gay and lesbian attorneys and LGBT attorneys that I know at local large law firms live in constant terror of being fired should their sexual orientation become known to senior partners. Obviously, when you live in constant fear on the job, it takes a toll on one's productivity and morale as I know from my own experience before I was forced from a bigoted firm after I came out. Anti-gay discrimination - which is basically sanctioned religious based discrimination - needs to be eradicated from the workplace and we truly need legislation at the federal level to force backward states like Virginia into the 21st century. Here are some story highlights:

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I finally watched the film Milk this summer. I loved the movie and was enthralled by Sean Penn's performance. But I couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened about how little some things have changed in the 31 years since Harvey Milk's assassination.

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In July, Wall Street Journal columnist Alexandra Levit offered up these sobering statistics: "A recent Harris poll conducted with Out & Equal and Witeck-Combs Communications indicated that 44% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) participants feel unable to talk freely to co-workers about their partners, and up to 78% don't feel comfortable bringing their partners to corporate social functions."

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Curious about where my gay and lesbian pals now stood on coming out at work, I took an informal poll. Their answers ran the gamut: Those with gay-friendly employers didn't bat an eye at putting a picture of their partner on their desk or bringing them to company events. But some who worked in much more of a "don't ask, don't tell" environment kept quiet about their personal lives. "I'd love to give you a quote using my real name," said one pal who works in academia. "But I'm trying to get tenure and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that."

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The whole topic hit home again to me after visiting New York where there ARE employment protects as flawed as they might be in application. Here in Virginia I often feel that prevention of animal cruelty ranks higher with our legislators than preventing cruelty to other humans.