Gays recall challenges of corporate world

As a General Electric employee several years ago, Rodney Lau had two qualities not readily accepted at the almost all-white conservative corporation -- he was Asian and gay. "I was very insecure about my job," he said. "I wasn't out at work." He said his firing was "the best thing that ever happened" to him, adding that working for a smaller company has proven to be better. Lau's recollections came at the end of a panel of gay and lesbian corporate workers on issues facing lesbians, gays and bisexuals in the corporate world. The panel, held Thursday in Bennett Hall, was the third in a series of discussions on the issues they face in the workplace. Jay Lucas, a partner of Kaplan, Lucas and Associates, a firm that consults businesses on sexual minority concerns, spoke in general terms about the climate for gay and lesbian people in the workplace. "There are some very hopeful signs around gay and lesbian issues," he said. "But if you think about corporate environments overall they're not the most progressive. They're [still] struggling with issues such as racism [and] sexism." Lucas said that one of the "hopeful signs" in the corporate world is heterosexual employers recognizing the importance of having a nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation. "The reason that the policy change is so important is not that it changes attitudes or makes the work environment better for the gay or lesbian there," he said. "But it is the first step for the possibility of gay or lesbian employees to be visible." Lucas added that it is also important for gay, lesbian and bisexual employees to make their needs known to employers. "Most companies are nervously avoiding the issue," he said. "They don't want to take steps to make change until there's a presence in their organization -- people coming forward saying I'm gay or lesbian and I'm not in your nondiscrimination policy or I was in a diversity workshop for a whole day and [gay and lesbian issues] weren't mentioned." The second panelist speaker, Ilse de Veer from William Mercer Incorporated, said she had worked for several companies and had several different experiences. "I've had four jobs in nine years," she said. "I've worked for big companies. I've worked for small companies. I've gone from being totally in the closet to totally out." De Veer added that during her first job, she worked for a big insurance company and was "terrified of even saying the word gay." She said that during her second job, which was with a much smaller company, she was "very out" and that the woman she was dating at the time was well known in the office. De Veer added that while being out alleviated some anxities, it also meant being "the in-house queer," and dealing with representing the entire gay, lesbian and bisexual community. She said that she never really felt as if she were discriminated against because of her sexual orientation. "I don't think I've ever experienced discrimination because of my [sexual orientation]," she said. "In fact, the disrcrimination I've experienced is because I'm a woman, not because I'm a lesbian." The program, entitled "Taking Care of Business: Being Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual in the Corporate World," was the third in a series sponsored by the Program for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Community at Penn and the Career Planning and Placement Service.