If you wish your
coworkers would pull a Katharine Heigl and speak out
proudly for LGBT rights, help is on the way. This month
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays are helping
straight allies out of the closet with a massive
multimillion dollar awareness campaign called
"Straight for Equality."
Inspired by an
influx of inquiries from straights with the desire to
support the gay community but no idea how to go about it,
PFLAG created Straight for Equality to provide them
with direction.
"I've heard so many straight people say they
aren't sure how to find a role in a movement
that isn't their own," says Jean-Marie
Navetta, national director of communications at PFLAG.
"Straight for Equality will give them the tools
they need to get more involved in supporting the LGBT
community, not necessarily through marching in parades but
through simple decisions they make in everyday
life."
Although official
workplace training isn't due to begin until January,
the initial phase of the campaign, Straight for
Equality...in the Workplace, has initiated pilot
proceedings with PepsiCo, MetLife, IBM, and Food Lion,
among other notable corporations. Initially, PFLAG reps
work with top-level management to develop an approach for
their company, then implement this approach through a
series of two-hour Lunch & Learn workshops,
training sessions, presentations, and discussions as
part of the human resources agenda.
"Work is a
place where people are brought together with a common
purpose, so it's the perfect laboratory setting
to promote equality," says John Cepek,
president of PFLAG National.
During the two
hour Lunch & Learn workshops, PFLAG representatives
and corporate leaders hold open discussions with employees
on each rung of the corporate ladder in order to
overcome barriers to LGBT support.
"We hit
them both at the head and heart," explains Cepek.
"Using the same types of exercises in corporate
training, we explain why building an LGBT-friendly
professional environment is not only good for business but
good for corporate culture."
Peggy Moore,
recently retired vice president of human resources at
PepsiCo (and PFLAG board member), feels that corporate
America is the perfect initial target for this
program. "By instituting domestic partner
benefits, corporations are clearly ahead of
government," she says. "Corporate
America has been and should be a factor in leading this
agenda."
Straight for
Equality in the Workplace was a big hit at PepsiCo.
"It was one of the highest-ranking sessions
because people felt they learned the most,"
says Moore. "It was successful in helping straight
friends and family feel more comfortable standing up
for their gay relationships, so more of their gay
friends and coworkers could feel comfortable about
being out in the workplace."
The first phase
of this initiative will officially kick off at this
week's 2007 PFLAG National Convention with the first
inaugural Straight for Equality Award honoring
longtime PFLAG supporter and straight ally, Dear Abby.
"I'm truthfully honored and very
touched," says Dear Abby. "We need to
remind straights how important it is to speak out for common
decency. Gay rights are human rights, and our bill of
rights states that we are entitled to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. The LGBT community has
long been shortchanged in this regard."
The next phase of
Straight for Equality includes initiatives tailored to
the legal, media, and educational fields. "Our grand
plan is to integrate the program where people live,
work, play, and worship," says
Jody Huckaby, PFLAG National's Executive Director.
"As the elections approach, LGBT rights are
hot-button issues on a state and federal level. The
timing couldn't be better."
For more
information on Straight for Equality, click here.