Today is Pride Celebration Day at my workplace. All staff are encouraged to dress business casual and wear red as a symbol of pride and unity for the LGBT community.This company has gone all "out" this month, having a Pride flag displayed prominently in the lobby, a video slide show on a public monitor showing famous people who identify as LBGT as well as articles and banner ads on the intranet site focusing on lesbian and gay issues.
I guess I feel proud that gay issues and the equal rights we so earnestly strive for are a significant focus of a major company like ours but in some ways it can feel a tad uncomfortable.
In my training class there are at least 2 other guys I would expect to be gay. But do we know for sure? Well, still to this supposedly enlightened day, it's considered a bit taboo to just "come out" to a group of strangers until you feel you know what reactions to expect.
It's also a little bit confounded by the fact that the company we work for is in what most would consider a conservative industry: banking.
Also, we are in a unit dealing with financial advisory sales, very much still dominated by the traditional Type-A, Alpha Male, macho man personality...and that's both men and women. These types sometimes still uphold in their collective imaginations the stereotypical effeminate "poofter" fag, a person to be derided.
Lastly, though the Orlando area is far from the redneck-y traditional Deep South if not geographically at least in population majority, there is still the fact that many people here are of the "Olde Time Religion" ilk. The Baptist church is one of the largest denominations in the area. And they don't take kindly to the "sinner" types.
So as I wear my red shirt into work today, I can't help but be a little pensive about the whispers in halls that might catch my ears.
Hopefully it'll be good stuff.