How to Educate Your Co-Workers About Gay and Lesbian Issues

Gays and lesbians sometimes have the unique opportunity to educate their co-workers about gay and lesbian issues in subtle and direct ways, and perhaps give those people a better understanding of who gays and lesbians are. Here's how to educate your co-workers about gay and lesbian issues.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper Subscriptions

Instructions

1. Start subtly and slowly. No one will listen to you if they think you're promoting a cause.

2. Find an opening with each co-worker that will allow you to begin discussing gay and lesbian issues.

3. Begin to make friends with people before you discuss your sexual orientation with them. Once people get to know you as a person, they'll be more likely to accept differences.

4. Put up a small picture of your partner, if you have one. It shouldn't be anything that's so big it shouts for attention, but it should be noticeable enough that some people will see it and start a dialogue with you.

5. Come out to your co-workers directly if a less-than-direct approach doesn't work. You won't get anywhere unless you're out, but letting the other person discover it without a big announcement from you can make him or her feel less threatened and more in control.

6. Mention it casually when you're going to a pride event or are visiting a gay location. Co-workers often ask about weekend plans, so be prepared with an answer.

7. Use the newspaper as your friend, and offer your opinion about stories on gay and lesbian issues that appear in it.

8. Show your co-workers that you're just like them by talking about your family, if appropriate, and by discussing mundane things like buying a house or dealing with landlord problems. Maybe they'll see how normal your life is.

9. Model for them, however, the best of what it means to be gay. Try not to fall into stereotypes by admitting to promiscuity, anonymous sex or anything else that could be perceived negatively.

10. Read them closely, and educate them as much as they're willing to be educated. If they show real signs of acceptance or a desire to accept you even though they don't fully understand the issue, refer them to the Web site or local chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, PFLAG.org.

Tips & Warnings

• If being openly gay at your company doesn't seem like a good idea, find a place where it is. Locate a job at a gay-friendly company by visiting Gaywork.com.

• Revealing the fact that you are gay or lesbian can still get you fired from some jobs, so you may have to decide whether being open and trying to educate is more important than working there - for some people, it is.