LGBTQ People in the Closet at Work

Connecticut Freedom From Workplace Bullies Week   Speaker Karen Sumberg, Director of the Center for Work-Life Policy, NEW YORK and author of a study on Gays In the Closet at Work Tuesday, October 18, 2011
4:30 pm-6:00 pm Founders Hall, inside Davidson Hall, at Central Connecticut State University Click HERE http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?id=2272&verbose=4592&backcal=1 for more information

The Power of "Out" by by Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Karen SumbergUntil now, the direct line has not been clearly drawn between the corporate closet and the revolving door. New research from the Center for Work-Life Policy quantifies the loss to U.S. companies that fail to create a workplace hospitable to their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Our data show the consequences of LGBT employees forced to keep their lives and loved ones a secret from colleagues. Also included in the report are cutting-edge initiatives employed by a range of companies to break down barriers for their LGBT employees. 

Our Speaker at 4:30 on Tuesday, Oct. 18, Karen Sumberg, Director of the Center for Work-Life Policy, gave this interview with NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137672101/coming-to-work-but-not-coming-out

What makes a bully?

In 2005, my friend Marlene committed suicide after she was bullied at work. Although it was my first introduction to workplace bullying, and certainly to someone committing suicide because of it, it turns out that this was not an isolated incident. Cultures of fear pervade American workplaces and schools. Bullies can be male or female. They do not necessarily bully everyone; in fact, they choose their targets.

Today, NPR's Talk of the Nation discussed bullying and suicide:



In the latest issue of Time Magazine, there is an article about a Navy captain, a woman, who was such a bully that sailors under her command cheered when they thought she had run her ship aground, because they presumed she'd be fired. The New York Times also ran an article this year called "Backlash" about women bullies in the workplace.

We are still learning about why bullying happens, but that it is a lifelong possibility and that it can be done by men or women and to men or women is clear from the WBI studies.