An LGBT Call to Diversity and Inclusion in Corporate America

Many LGBT individuals are extremely talented and they excel in diverse fields including the creative arts, television, music, sports, politics among others. We can think of Clay Aiken, Michael Sam, Elton John as some of the big names in their fields. There is also Catherine Feely, a military veteran who is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology. She plans to land one of the healthcare jobs working as a physician's assistant after graduation.

Recently, a financial news article came out with a call to diversity and inclusion of LGBTs in Corporate America: The tides are turning in popular consensus: It's time for Corporate America to get some gay pride, says author Steve Siebold. Fortunately, the definition of "diversity" is evolving to include people from minority sexual orientation groups alongside people who were more traditionally considered minorities in other ways. Companies recognize that gay and lesbian employees are no different from any others: There's absolutely no correlation between sexual orientation and job performance. Some of the most skilled people in many industries are gay or lesbian, and in a competitive labor market, a smart CEO needs those people to feel comfortable working at his or her company rather than at the competition.

Indeed, the inclusion of talented LGBT individuals makes good business sense and greatly contributes to a company's workforce diversity, as the article above says, on two fronts: it attracts the widest pool of talent while also positioning the company, in the eyes of the public, as an open-minded, progressive organization that truly embraces the diverse population in the communities in which it does business.

However, it is still a sad reality not many LGBTs are able to access equal job opportunities, and many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees feel they can't be open about their sexual orientation at work, according to activists. Thus it is suggested that gay CEOs lead the way, to set the tone in their respective organizations to make the workplace a safe inclusive welcoming place for LGBT employees. See more here:

For LGBT job seekers, joining diversity job fairs is a good means to connect with diversity companies in search of qualified, skilled LGBT individuals to work for them.