Straight talk about gays in the workplace: creating an inclusive, productive environment for everyone in your organization

Abstract

Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace: Creating an Inclusive, Productive Environment for Everyone in Your Organization, by Liz Winfeld. 2005. Binghamton, NY: Hawthorn Press. 216 pages, Soft Cover, $24.95 Intended Audience: B, E, H, I Major Headings from Table of Contents: The Changing Landscape, Strategies for Inclusion in the New World, The Facts of the Matter, Meaningful and Effective Workplace Sexual Orientation Education, Meaningful Education and Policy About Gender Identity, Employee Networks, LGBT's and The Marketplace, DPB's, Civil Unions and Same Sex Marriage, It's Academic, Resources How is the book most useful for its intended audience? It provides updated information, practical applications, and suggestions for the future. The top four things you learned from reading this book: 1. Statistical projections for the percentage of gay people in the population is underestimated. 2. Income earnings are not correctly reported. 3. Violence and prejudice are more prevalent than I thought. 4. Corporate America provides more benefits to gay couples than I expected. Liz Winfeld's third edition of Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace, Creating an Inclusive, Productive Environment for Everyone in Your Organization, continues her discussion of diversity issues as they relate to both corporate positioning and social tolerance. She calls upon over a decade of experience in Workplace Diversity, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Spirituality in the Workplace, HIV/AIDS Education, Workplace Violence, Transgendered Workers, Disability Awareness, Sexual Orientation in the Workplace, and Multiculturalism to update her guide. Her focus is bottom-line business and employee education at the same time. Two words in her title tell you what her book is all about: Productive and Inclusive. Cited in her book, Witeck-Combs and Harris International reported there were 15 million self-identified gays and lesbians as of the 2000 U. S. Census and surveys done in 2002. Buying power for the gay community was $451 billion in 2002 and projected to be $608 billion by 2007. Bob Witeck is quoted, In the past few years we have learned that buying behavior has common threads for gay and non-gay consumers alike. Gay men and lesbians consider the same factors as others do, but they now expect high standards of respect and equal inclusion in the market and workplace. Companies that understand these attitudes will successfully communicate their values and market their products to increasingly visible gay households. Winfield offers advice and real-life illustrations on how business managers can create and implement sexual orientation education in their workplaces. …