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Openly Gay Leadership Sets Important Tone At The Top, But There's Still Work To Do

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POST WRITTEN BY
Beth Brooke-Marciniak
This article is more than 9 years old.

One day after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced to the world that he was gay, Apple stock remained flat – shareholders didn’t seem to care one way or another. On the same day, in Russia, a memorial to Apple founder Steve Jobs was dismantled, ostensibly to abide by a law combating "gay propaganda."

As an out executive at EY, I am struck by how the same event can have such different outcomes. But make no mistake, there is no place in the world, the US included, that doesn’t have a long way to go to be a truly inclusive society that values difference.

In his Bloomberg Businessweek article, Cook states,"So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me. Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day.”

Every lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) person has a different journey. My own experience of being “different” is multi-faceted: I was a woman, an introvert and closeted, with politics that tended to differ from my heavily male, extroverted, profession. Like Tim, these differences contributed to my natural propensity to be an inclusive leader, since I had experienced the minority position in many dimensions. Since coming out in 2011, I have been publicly truer to myself, and more authentic with others. Quite simply, it has made me a better leader. And being out in a leadership position in a global organization has provided me a platform to talk openly on a wide range of issues.

And there is much to talk about. According to Todd Sears, founder of Out Leadership, 90 per cent of LGBT workers in Asia are closeted. There are 78 countries, including Uganda and Nigeria, where being gay is still illegal. And just this month, Singapore upheld its stringent anti-homosexuality law.

But this is not a time for complacency in the US. While members of the same sex can marry in 32 US states (and I did, to Michelle Marciniak, in April 2014 in New York), in 29 states it is still legal to fire someone based solely on their sexual orientation. In 34 states, it is legal to fire a transgender employee.

This difference among states is costing businesses, both in human and monetary capital. Freedom to Marry and Out & Equal Workplace Advocates recently released a report estimating that the patchwork of marriage laws for same-sex couples costs US businesses in the private sector $1.3 billion every year. Over the next five years, the private sector is expected to spend $6.6 billion to accommodate laws that allow same-sex couples to marry in some states, but prohibit them from marrying in others.

The human cost is greater. According to a study from the Center for Talent Innovation 41% of American LGBT employees remain closeted at work. Lesbians are more likely than men to experience discrimination because of the “double jeopardy” of gender as well as sexual or gender orientation (74 percent of lesbians compared with 51% of gay men). As a result of these pressures, LGBT individuals sometimes continue to resort to the tactic of “passing.” Some 23% of men and 15% of women believe that pretending to be straight at work has helped their career. I know this well. I hid behind the fact that I had been married to a man for 13 years and then divorced.

What can we do? The Center for Talent Innovation research shows that allies – people who support LGBT colleagues or work as advocates -- play a decisive role in creating an inclusive community. In fact, 24% of the LGBT workers surveyed attribute their decision to come out professionally to their network of allies.

Employers can strengthen "the ally effect" by creating networks that invite straight colleagues to support their LGBT co-workers and by sponsoring LGBT individuals and groups. The two groups can jointly participate in company events, and organizations can create and display ally identification in their workspace.

Senior executives being visibly out also make a difference. LGBT employees are 85% more likely to be out at companies where senior executives are out (24% versus 13%). At EY, our LGBT leadership participated in the “It Gets Better” video project in 2011 sharing stories for the benefit of at-risk LGBT youth. I took advantage of the opportunity, and, with the full support of EY’s leadership, officially came out. I talked openly, not only about my own experiences, but also shared how my organization’s philosophy played an important role in my decision. We have always seen a diverse workforce as a strength. We believe that unique individuals – full of differences – play an important part in our success. In the video, I let young, questioning adults know that they can be part of an organization and a community that values that difference. And that they will succeed because of their difference, not in spite of it.

Tim Cook and I share many of the same attitudes about our LGBT identity. I find his words apply equally to my journey. “[Being gay] has made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry.”

But we have much more to do. This is no time to tick any box, anywhere in the world, as “done.”