Prop 8 Declared Unconstitutional

On August 4, 2010, Judge Walker declared that Proposition 8, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,” was unconstitutional in that it violated the civil rights of gay and lesbian couples. While an appeal is certain, there is hope for justice for all loving couples in the foreseeable future (at least in California and a few other states).

 

Aon has a good record of supporting GLBT issues: Sponsorship at the Chicago Gay Games (where several Aon employees competed); three years running of scoring 100% on the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Corporate Equality Index; even asking the Hawaii Business Roundtable to take Aon’s name off of the letter to the Governor of Hawaii that asked her to veto a civil union bill (HB444). I applaud Aon and all the other organizations that recognize the importance of equal rights.

 

You may think that you are not affected by discrimination. However, I ask you: Can you talk freely about what you did over the weekend or on holiday or who your boy/girlfriend is? Can your school-aged child talk about who her parents are without fear of being teased (or worse)? When the subject turns to sex, do you hide or lie? Are you able to bring your full self to work every day?

 

Results of HRC’s 2009 Degrees of Equality survey indicate that even with corporate policies in place prohibiting discrimination, 51% of GLBT employees hide their sexual orientation at work and even more report hearing derogatory things “at least once in a while” not just about gays and lesbians, but other minority groups as well. Even such a small thing as the word used to describe one’s life partner can make a difference: “Spouse” indicates the right to be married, ignoring those who do not have that right, as opposed to “partner” or “significant other.”

 

We all know that ignoring evidence does not make the situation go away. What steps have you taken to make your workplace safer for yourself or your co-workers? Civil rights are an appropriate discussion topic for the workplace, for as far as we are not able to be ourselves at work, our employer suffers to that extent. Only when all employees are able to talk freely about themselves without fear of repercussions in the form discrimination, jokes, hatred or personal attacks, will we experience a workforce at full production. And full participation and production is what is needed to excel, especially in this global economic climate.

 

I invite your comments and suggestions.

Rejoicing at my desk,

BethLynn Cardall Leehy, M. Div.

Broker/Senior Account Specialist

Chair - Western Region Aon Pride

Aon Risk Services

 

Comments

[Beverly]

Yes, and you would not hear of a thin person killing themselves because they were teased for being fat!

[Dana]

Seth said "you don't hear about straight kids committing suicide because they were teased." That is an exact quote, so it seems you are implying that gay children are teased more than straight children, which has absolutely no basis in fact. What about the child with bad skin? A child from a poor family? A Catholic family? A Jewish family? The overweight child? The child with bad teeth? The child with a parent in prison? I could go on and on about the myriad things that kids have been teased about, being gay is just another item on the list. Both of my brothers were teased unmercifully, one for his skin problems the other, for being different and small for his age and having buck teeth. The teasing was extremely painful for both of them and went on for a long time. Why must gay pain trump everyone else's pain? Please try to have empathy for ALL who suffer. Just because they are straight and in pain, doesn't mean their pain is any less! Empathy should not be reserved just for one group! That is the problem with the comments that have been made here.

[LaShana Jackson]

Seth and Dana,

Thank you both for your responses. I believe we all empathize with the tremendous pain of suicide regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. But if I may contextualize Seth's statement, I don't believe that he was implying that only gay individuals committ suicide, but rather he was saying that because of the stigma and bias associated with being gay, it compels the gay individual to committ suicide and that you would not hear of a straight individual committing suicide because they are straight because a heterosexual would not experience that same stigma or bias.

Thanks again for your comments!

[Dana]

I must respond to you Seth. You don't hear about "straight children committing suicide? Sadly, it happens all the time. There have been some high profile stories in the news in the past year, one landmark case involving a mother who was tried recently in court for impersonating a young male online who later dumped the victim, a young girl who was so distraught she committed suicide. Another case in the news was that of a young Irish girl who had moved to America and was teased and bullied so much she too committed suicide. Straight people feel pain, get teased and bullied too. Straight people can be hated and looked at with utter contempt as well just as much as a gay person. I think you need to understand that and have empathy for ALL people who suffer in this way.

[Seth]

So until I sat down and read this article I would have told you that I was not on the receiving end of discrimination. Being that I am well liked and friendly with just about anyone I meet. But after reading this article I had to sit down and really think about why I do not let people know that I am gay as quickly as I sometimes would like or the fact that I do not say something when someone makes a derogatory remark against someone perceived to be gay. And the reason is because I fear the reaction I will get from the person finding out.
I work in a place that the majority of the employees are gay including the General Manager but that does not stop the side comments from being said demeaning gay and lesbians that work there. I do agree very much with the opinion that Civil rights should and need to be discussed in the work place. I hope it happens sooner rather than later.
Dana is correct in her statement that all children have a fear of being made fun of. But I have never seen harsher treatment of a child then when that child says "he/she thinks they are gay” You don’t hear about "straight" kids committing suicide because they were teased. Nor do you hear of "straight" kids being drug behind a truck and left hanging on a fence because they were straight.
Again Dana says all people should feel free to express the love for their spouse regardless if it is a spouse of the same gender. That is a grand hope and I hope one day we will be at a point where people can. But until you are on the receiving end of someone hating you and speaking to you with pure and utter contempt because of who you are and love you will never understand.

[Dana]

Children are teased for many reasons not just because they might have gay parents, so "fear of being teased" probably applies to all children as teasing is not unique to the children of gay parents. Children of straight parents can just as easily be teased about their parents for whatever reasons children dream up. All children and adults can be victims of cruelty and ignorance and sometimes, just ill-conceived attempts at humor.

Further, I think all people should have the right to be themselves and "bring their true selves" to work. If they have a wife or husband they should feel free to refer to them as such and not be labeled ignorant because they haven't used whatever someone else considers the "policitcally correct and properly ambiguous terminology."

[Edward]

My fear is that we may go the way of Canada, where churches are no longer permitted to accurately teach what the Bible says. That is, it's considered "hate speech" to call sins such as adultery, fornication, gluttony, homosexuality, lying, covetousness, etc. what they are - sin.