Professionalism & Productivity: LGBT “Safe Spaces”

October 15, 2013

Presenters

• D’ARCY KEMNITZ, Executive Director, National LGBT Bar Association

• LORI L. LORENZO, Deputy Director, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

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Agenda

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• What is a Safe Space?

• Why are Safe Spaces important?

• What do you need to do to create a Safe Space?

• What do allies and advocates need to know?

• Resources & Questions

PART 1:What is a Safe Space?

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A Safe Space is …

An environment in which everyone is respected and valued without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression

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A Safe Space in practice…

Takes the form of a particular person or office that has committed to being a resource and advocate for LGBT needs.

• Human Resources• Career Services• LGBT affinity group leader• A partner or diversity officer

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DiscussionAfter meeting at a networking event, a law student calls you to discuss an upcoming interview. His question is: My legal name is Catherine, but I go by Ryan, can I use that on my resume? You assumed the student was male based on your in-person meeting.

What do you do?

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PART 2:Why do we need Safe Space?

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Workplace Discrimination

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Why being out matters

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48% of LGBT employees are not out at work. Being closeted is a negative stressor and a drain on a person’s morale, job satisfaction and productivity.

“Their silence around the water cooler leaves [LGBT employees] out of critical workplace networking.”

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42% of closeted employees feel “isolated at work,” and these employees are 73% more likely to say they plan to leave their companies within three years.

Why being out matters

Discussion

An employee in your organization is very religious. One day, he comes to you and says that an LGBT colleague is threatening his beliefs.

What do you do?

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PART 3:What do you need to create a Safe Space?

• Understanding• Awareness

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Authentic Gender ModelBIRTH SEX

INTERSEX

MALE FEMALE

GENDER EXPRESSION

ANDROGYNOUS

MASCULINE FEMININE

GENDER IDENTITY

GENDER DIVERSE

MAN WOMAN

SEXUAL ORIENTATION (PARTNERS WITH…)

WOMEN MEN

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VocabularyProblematic• transgenders,

a transgender• transgendered• sex change

Preferred• transgender people

or a transgender person

• transgender• transition

• Whenever possible, ask transgender people which pronoun they would like you to use.

• If it is not possible to ask, use the pronoun that is consistent with the person’s appearance.

• If you make a mistake, correct yourself. If someone else makes a mistake, correct them.

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Coming out

Val Dumontier, 1993

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Discussion

As an ally, you have designated your office as a Safe Space for LGBT employees. A colleague comes in and asks you about your experience working for Company X while identifying as LGBT. How do you respond?

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PART 4:What allies and advocates need to know.

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What Allies Can Do

Address Issues: Be “SASSI”

• SPEAK up• ADMONISH the

offender’s actions publically

• SPECIFICALLY identify the issue

• SET the rule• IDENTIFY the

expectation

• Use “partner” in addition to husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend

• Never assume you know someone’s sexual orientation

• Learn and use a transgender person’s preferred gender pronoun

• Recognize that you will make mistakes - keep trying anyway

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DiscussionWhat is the best way to handle news relating to LGBT rights – such as the Supreme Court hearing arguments about the Defense of Marriage Act – when people in your office might have different political leanings?

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PART 5:Resources & Questions

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Resources• National Association for Law Placement (NALP),

www.nalp.org/lgbtresources• National LGBT Bar Association, www.lgbtbar.org • Lambda Legal www.lambdalegal.org • Out & Equal Workplace Advocates

www.outandequal.org • Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession

www.theiilp.com • Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network

(GLSEN), www.glsen.org• Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,

(GLAAD), www.glaad.org

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Questions?

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