The company I work for has an LGBT area on a message board

[dickthegrouch]

Which I have just been asked to own.

Only problem is that in a company of 8000 employees there are only about 5 of us who post anything. (Company is based in California with worldwide offices).

One of the big reasons I don't start more threads is I can't think of any particular problems related to LGBT issues at work. All our policies are very LGBT friendly.

Any ideas for how I can encourage more participation? There is an anonymous posting method and I have offered to post on behalf of others so there's really no excuse.

[northofdenali]

1. Do like DU - just BE THERE.

There are issues outside your company (Prop 8 being one of them) that need the attention and guidance a good forum can give. Is this company forum well-known throughout the 8000+ employees? Has anyone sent company-wide email to encourage folks to join, post problems and triumphs, or just whine like I've done on DU?

Your company is a winner for certain - being gay friendly and having this forum is something I've not heard of in larger corporations at all. So you get to start with a plus factor!

See about awareness of the site! :hug: and best of luck. You'll be good. Select a few mods, start a kitty/puppy thread (they always work) and just cut loose.

[queerart]

2. Just A Thought......

... and it's just a thought....


But a "posting board".... mixed with your "work environment" sounds like two opposing forces.....


Again, it's just a thought... but I would consider the consequences of an angry manger to what I might see as a harmless post....


Simple text (a post) can be fraught with misunderstanding...... as there is no voice inflection, body language, (nor an extended explanation when someone misinterprets your posts meaning) because you might have been rushing, and truncated your sentence.....


Again, I'm likely being "overly cautious" in my thoughts on the matter......


But is seems like it is a new sport these days to find someone's posts on a site, and use them against people at their work place.....

[Mind_your_head]

3. Maybe people are afraid that once they identify themselves with LGBT

whether or not they are lesbian or gay....that they will at some "later date" be targeted for termination.

I think that would be a fair assumption in this day & age.

And, frankly, what does 'sexual orientation' or 'sympathy' towards Gay/Lesbian rights have to do with "how well you do your job" anyway?

I think a LGBT board has NO PLACE in a WORK environment. There is no business purpose for it. I would think THAT is why there is so little participation on your board. It's inappropriate. "Outta-place". Serves "no business" purpose.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. I 'm not getting you.

Maybe it's too early.

You say:
1. People who are even *suspected* of being lesbian or gay are legitimately afraid of being targeted for termination.

2. There is no purpose served by having a forum where people can communicate openly on this issue.


Wha?

[Zuiderelle]

5. I disagree. I think an LGBT board is perfectly appropriate.

I also agree that many gay people probably are afraid to come out that way for fear of later losing their jobs. It's a choice we all make, how open to be, how much being open means to us versus how much risk we want to place on our jobs. But having a board where LGBT employees can openly and if needed, anonymously, discuss policies that affect them is VERY valuable and very appropriate.

Not everything in the work place is about how well you do your job. Some things are about how well your job treats you, and some are just being fellow human beings discussing things "over the water cooler" which is not always an easy thing for gay people to do.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

7. thank you

Not every job or area of the country/world is as homophobic as the GOP and some red states. While some people have had very real homophic experiences, I will not accept that as a norm in our country or world.

[dsc]

10. I have been in both positions

and like being open.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

6. how about a thread praising friendly LGBT policies--

and wishing the rest of the country was like that. Not all threads have to be about negative things.

[imdjh]

8. What is the purpose of the message board?

If you can't think of anything to post, then maybe that's as it should be. What do straight people do with this board? Do they post stuff about their families?

Something I noticed working in a large corporate environment is that a lot of gay people in particular and liberals in general (and I realize it's something of a leap that gay = liberal) just don't get it. I know this, because I didn't get it. We buy into our own bullshit, aka the way things OUGHT to be. We buy into "theory". But mostly, we have been excluded from a way of doing things that we are now at the mercy of.

Liberals in general want to be "fair". We want to avoid the appearance of being "unfair". These are handicaps in the corporate environment because the corporate environment is an illusion of civility painted on to a very real life microcosm of human nature. It's a survival game.

Two straight guys, or frat brothers of any sexuality, from FSU will form an immediate bond. They have no problem with working together to promote themselves or exclude others. The same thing with ex-marines, born again Christians, and all kinds of folks. Republicans will hire a relative without compunction, because in their world that's what you do. Liberals want to be fair. The problem there is the presumption of fairness or that this environment ever was or ought to be fair.

But you don't do this kind of stuff on a bulletin board. You don't network on a bulletin board that everyone else in the company can read. It's called a network, not a road system. Nets have predator and prey. It's time that gay people became the predators we have always been accused of being, but not in the way the word has traditionally been used.

This is why some in the military are afraid of us. They are afraid that openly gay people, people who cannot be destroyed simply by revealing their sexual orientation, will take over. Little do they know just how inept we are at taking over. But why do they think this will happen? BECAUSE IT'S WHAT THEY WOULD DO. These are the guys who are already in power, learn from them.

[dickthegrouch]

9. Fascinating set of responses - thank you

I can now acknowledge that even as far Out as I am, I am somewhat nervous of posting something somehow inappropriate, something I had barely considered before. However I also believe that to the bold goes victory.

I love the idea of the pets thread, even if only to keep people engaged.

Keep the ideas coming, thank you.
Dick