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June 2007Pride in the Workplace: How to Create a Gay-Friendly Environmentby Beth Barrett Bloom This month marks the one-year anniversary of amendments to the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) making it illegal for many employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.1 For many law firms across our state, the amendment reflects longstanding employment policies and practices already banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. By some accounts, the legal profession ranks high in gay-friendliness when compared with other professions. Healthcare benefits for domestic partners and recruitment of openly gay attorneys are on the rise. Law-firm support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) legal causes and organizations is also growing. QLaw, our new statewide bar association for LGBT attorneys and supporters, held a sold-out banquet of 400 attendees in April 2007, with nearly 20 law firm and corporate sponsors. Yet despite what some have dubbed a “sea change in attitudes” toward gay and lesbian attorneys, the number of openly gay lawyers reported by member firms of the National Association for Law Placement remains a dismal 1.42 percent. By contrast, a recent population study found nearly 13 percent of Seattle residents identified as openly gay.2 Representation in the judiciary nationwide is no better. There are only 75 to 100 openly gay judges, with only a handful of those in Washington state, and only one openly lesbian or gay federal judge in the United States. The truth is, as much as legal employers may publicly embrace diversity, not everyone is completely at ease with the issue of sexual identity. As one news magazine recently claimed, in many American law firms today, “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ remains the unspoken credo.”3 The inescapable conclusion is that there are many LGBT attorneys, legal professionals, and judges who are not open about their sexual orientation. While many firms focus on recruiting, equally important is the question of how to support the openly gay or closeted LGBT lawyers and legal professionals in our midst. The first step toward creating a gay-friendly workplace is appreciating that the critical issue is not sexual behavior, which is and should remain private, but the myriad of ways in which sexual orientation affects one’s professional and personal life. A conversation about the most mundane of topics — what you did over the weekend or a dinner with your in-laws — will likely reveal who you live with and the name and gender of your spouse or partner. The energy spent avoiding such personal disclosure can be exhausting. Closeted attorneys may appear distant, cold, and even aloof. These are not desirable attributes in the workplace or legal profession. As one gay lawyer described his days in the closet: “People thought I was a loner who took interesting vacations.”4 Many forward-thinking employers have concluded that maintaining a workplace that is “safe” for or even encourages employees to “come out” is an excellent step toward improving morale and the bottom line. It is important to respect everyone’s privacy, yet there are a few important steps that employers can take to welcome and support LGBT employees. Update and publicize the firm’s anti-discrimination policy. Consistent with the WLAD, workplace policies should now reflect the law barring discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender expression, or identity. A good policy makes clear that discriminatory conduct will not be tolerated, enumerates the types of prohibited behavior, clearly outlines the grievance procedure, and commits to a prompt investigation. The policy should state clearly that retaliation will not be tolerated. Offer diversity and anti-discrimination training. Ensure that in-house training, at a minimum, includes sensitivity towards all employment topics involving sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV status. Offer complete domestic-partner benefits. Wherever “spouse” is mentioned, “domestic partner” should apply as well. This may include offering health, dental, and other insurance benefits as well as relocation assistance, caretaking and bereavement leave, access to employee assistance programs, and pension and survivor benefits to an employee’s domestic partner. Note: an increasing number of employers account for existing federal tax inequities by “grossing up” an employee’s salary to cover the cost of additional taxes from the imputed income of domestic-partner benefits.5 Support LGBT employee families. Treat all children, whether biological, adopted, or stepchildren of heterosexual or lesbian and gay couples, the same. This may require extending childcare, parental leave, family leave, and healthcare coverage, even when those families are not recognized under existing law. Explicitly invite partners as well as spouses to workplace functions. Support a transgender employee’s transition. Treat an employee’s transgender status as private and confidential. Upon an employee’s request, change the employee’s name and sex in all personnel and administrative records, including internal and external e-mail and business cards. Permit a transgender employee to use the restroom consistent with his or her stated gender identity. Provide alternatives for other employees if they are uncomfortable. Support LGBT employee groups and professional associations. Encourage LGBT employees to establish workplace affinity groups, then respond to the workplace concerns they may identify. Encourage and fund employee membership in gay legal professional associations such as QLaw: The GLBT Bar Association of Washington (www.q-law.org) and the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (www.nlgla.org). Demand a respectful workplace from all employees. Prohibit derogatory comments about LGBT employees and move quickly to discipline those who make such comments. Monitor hiring, promotion, and disciplinary decisions. Guard against and scrutinize potential bias, whether it be your own or a member of your hiring team. Use language of inclusion. Create an environment where people feel comfortable being out and open. Don’t be afraid to say “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” and “transgender,” or the more inclusive “LGBT,” when it is appropriate. Learn to say gender-neutral terms such as “partner” or “significant other” as comfortably and easily as you say “wife” or “husband.” See the sidebar “You Asked, We Told: A Glossary of Terms.” For employers seeking to improve recruitment and retention of LGBT attorneys, there are plenty of excellent resources, including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association guide, Creating Pathways to Diversity: Gay and Lesbian Attorneys in the Profession.6 Beth Barrett Bloom is a labor and employment attorney with Frank Freed Subit & Thomas, LLP. She is also president of the GLBT Bar Association of Washington (www.q-law.org) and a past associate director with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. She can be reached at laborlaw@frankfreed.com. The information in this article is a summary overview only and does not constitute legal advice. Beth Barrett Bloom and Maureen Mannix are co-editors of this column. NOTES
Gay — The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, emotional, and/or spiritual attractions are to people of the same sex (e.g., gay man, gay people) — though in contemporary contexts, “gay” is more commonly used to describe men, while “lesbian” (n.) is usually the preferred term for women. Avoid identifying gay men and lesbians as “homosexuals.” Because of the clinical history of the word “homosexual,” it has been adopted by anti-gay extremists to suggest that lesbians and gay men are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered — notions discredited by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s. Gender identity — One’s internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or a boy or girl). For transgender people, their birth-assigned sex and their own internal sense of gender identity do not match. Sexual orientation — Describes an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, emotional, and/or spiritual attraction to another person. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. Avoid the term “sexual preference,” which is typically used to suggest that being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is a choice. Transgender — An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. The term may include but is not limited to: transsexuals, cross-dressers, and other gender-variant people. Many transgender people can identify as female-to-male (FTM) or male-to-female (MTF). Use the descriptive term (transgender, transsexual, cross-dresser, FTM, or MTF) preferred by the transgender person. Transgender people may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically. Transition — Altering one’s birth sex is not a one-step procedure — it is a complex process that takes place over a long period of time. Transition includes some or all of the following cultural, legal, and medical adjustments: telling one’s family, friends, and/or co-workers; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) some form of chest and/or genital alteration. Source: Adapted from Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Media Reference Guide, 7th Ed. 2006 available online at: www.glaad.org/media/guide/index.php. Organizations and Events Upcoming Event: Asian Bar Association of Washington: www.abaw.org The Cardozo Society: www.jewishinseattle.org/JF/About/Attorneys/Attorneys.asp Filipino American Legal Society: Jesie R. Castro, 253-589-6598 Korean American Bar Association: www.kaba-washington.org Latina/Latino Bar Association of Washington: www.lbaw.org Loren Miller Bar Association: www.lmba.net Northwest Indian Bar Association: www.nwiba.org Pierce County Minority Bar Association: www.orgsites.com/wa/pcmba QLaw: The GLBT Bar Association of Washington: www.Q-law.org South Asian Bar Association: www.sabaw.org Vietnamese American Bar Association : www.vabaw.com Washington Attorneys with Disabilities Association: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wash-ADG Washington Women Lawyers: www.wwl.org Other Events of Interest: |
