On Friday, January 18, 2019 I was invited to the Union League Club of Chicago for a lunch that celebrated the people who had been honored on the Crain’s Chicago Business Notable LGBT Executive list. It was the first time Crain’s had published an LGBT list in its 40 year history of award winning news and for the ULCC, it was the first time they had sponsored a lunch exclusively for the LGBTQ community. It was a historic moment in a historical place and I felt the weight, as well as the joy of the moment.
According to a 2018 HRC study A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide, 46% percent of LGBTQ employees are not out at work. One in five has been told to dress more masculine/feminine by co-workers, 53% report hearing jokes about the LGBTQ community and most surprising 59% of non LGBTQ workers think it’s unprofessional to talk about sexual orientation and gender identity at work, although in self-reporting they regularly talk about their spouses, families and life outside of work.
I am out in all aspects of my life, especially the workplace. As a woman working in the technology space, I know how important it is to have representation in the workforce, in executive leadership and on board seats. It’s even more important for me to have Queer representation. Just 5% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are women and only one is openly gay. Beth Ford became CEO of Land O’ Lakes in 2018.
Being out at work for me is important. It allows me to live honestly and authentically. It encourages other to come out, knowing they have support, and it helps other employees learn and understand their LGBTQ co-workers and the issues that surround them. Living openly, creating allies and working in diverse cultures is important for us as humans, but it also important for companies and organization’s success.
In the 2018 “Delivering through Diversity” report from McKinsey, it reported that gender diversity at the top creates 21% more profitable companies and those with more culturally and ethnically diverse leadership are 43% more likely to see above average profits. So why are so many, still so afraid to come out and why aren’t companies and organizations more supportive?
Fear, retaliation, job loss, bullying, discrimination and so much more play a part in the very personal decision of “coming out.” All of these real threats are a part of our own current political leadership and it’s still a part of many of our companies, communities and families. Being out helps change that. Being out breaks down barriers. Being out and visible is freeing on multiple levels not only for ourselves, but our community.
The ULCC through its history has evolved. In what was once a men’s organization, women lead. Women are board members and Brooke Wiseman, the organization’s 126th President was gay. It has created a more inclusive family. It has created an organization based in honesty and support of everyone, building stronger communities building better lives.
The Union League Club of Chicago started when a group of 11 men gathered on June 25, 1862 in an attempt to thwart a group of radical southern sympathizers from plotting an insurrection in Illinois. The Union League movement was focused on providing medical supplies, training nurses, and advocating equality for slaves and by the end of the war, the movement consisted of two million members. The ULCC was founded in 1879 and has played an important part in Chicago history. It’s been credited with playing a role in establishing many of the city’s major cultural organizations, including The Art Institute of Chicago, Orchestra Hall, the Auditorium Theater the Field Museum and the Harold Washington Library Center.
“For nearly 140 years, the Union League Club of Chicago has upheld the sacred obligations of citizenship, promoted honesty and efficiency in government, supported cultural institutions and the beautification of the city and supported our nation’s military and their families.”
On January 18, 2019 the ULCC started another sacred obligation in supporting the LGBTQ community and the institutions we uphold, the honesty we live and the beauty we bring to the world.
Thank you for inviting me to this historic moment.
A World of Endless Possibilities 