The Left Out Project Blog

[Editor's Note: We recently received this letter from a gentleman in New York City who is starting an admirable project. I think it's worth our while to give his ideas some thought. We wish him well.]

Dear OutLookPress.com: I am an openly gay, white, male, educated professional currently working in New York City.  Why do I feel so LEFT OUT of the mainstream?  Why am I bypassed for the merit-based promotions I see others receiving?  Why do my significant career accomplishments go unnoticed and unrewarded?  It has taken me years to understand how my sexual orientation has played an important part in my being left out of the grooming, mentoring and financial reward system that straight people take for granted.

Ask any gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) person if they remember how they felt as kids when they were the last one to be chosen to join a team during P.E. class.  If this practice wasn’t yet banned in their school-district, most likely they will recall for you how humiliating it was to be the last one standing, on full display with a neon sign on their forehead which might have glowed brightly: “I’m worthless.”  There are countless other experiences that, if one did not want to be caught in a downward-spiral of depression, were simply supressed and forgotten about.  But as GLBTs grow up and attempt to succeed as professionals in the workplace, despite laws which now protect them in many states, they will most likely report experiencing the same kinds of discrimination they experienced as kids.  Sometimes such discrimination is subtle and sometimes workplace discrimination is not so subtle.  I have started a web log (blog) to ask GLBTs if they have experienced discrimination in the workplace and, if so, how it manifested itself. 

The Left Out Project blog is a part of my personal research to uncover how GLBTs are still being left out, years after the cruelty of childhood taunting and discrimination is over.  I want to help others by creating a place where the subtle and various ways that society’s cruelty bleeds into the corporation and sends us the same messages we always got about being different while growing up: “We don't want you on our team.”

It is my hope to leverage these painful and unforgettable personal experiences by transforming them into concrete methods corporations can implement to improve their working cultures and create environments where EVERYONE finally feels accepted, valued, supported, mentored and amply rewarded.