Interior Globe News Fall 2001, Winter 2002 Volume 1 number four |
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Interior Globe News Fall 2001, Winter 2002 Volume 1 number four |
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Gay and
Lesbian Employees, Friends Celebrate Pride, Diversity at Interior
Jim Gasser,
National Park Service, Washington, DC
Centering her remarks on a passage from President George W. Bush's inaugural address, Elizabeth Toledo urged gay and lesbian Interior employees and their friends and supporters to continue their dialogue with the new administration while demonstrating their individuality through "small things."
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Toledo, the former executive director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was the keynote speaker at the Gay and Lesbian Pride
event sponsored by Interior's special emphasis event organizers.
In his inaugural speech, the President had declared his belief in "the unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born," Toledo told the audience at the June 13 ceremony in the auditorium of the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C. |
"These words are not trivial," she declared. "We need to take seriously the need to make change." Thanking the Department's political appointees for their support for Interior GLOBE--the Department's gay and lesbian employees group--and all gay and lesbian employees of DOI, Toledo suggested that the audience consider "the big things vs. small things idea" to bring about change.
Emphasizing the important progress the audience could make at the grass roots level, she noted the achievements that Interior GLOBE had helped to bring about with the Department during the past years, including gaining national landmark status for the Stonewall Inn, creating the administrative complaints process for discrimination based on sexual orientation, and establishing relocation benefits for domestic partners.
"Individuals often think that making progress is more complicated than it really is," she said, "but it takes only a few people to make a big difference." She related how she worked on a congressional campaign for a candidate who seemed to have no chance of winning. Yet, her candidate beat a well-financed opponent by getting two votes more in each precinct.
"Every day there are large things or small things that we all can do to show our individuality--small acts of rebellion, if you will." To see people "being different out loud" is heart-warming, she said, citing the example of women who choose to wear low, comfortable shoes, instead of high-heeled, uncomfortable ones that society pressures them to wear. She encouraged the audience to wear a button supporting gay and lesbian pride, to work on a major march or protest for gay and lesbian rights. "These things, large or small, move the world in significant ways," said Toledo, who noted that society itself is changing, rethinking values and institutions. She questioned whether the typical American family portrayed on 1950s television ever existed.
"We need to honor all families as views change about adoption, marriage out of age or racial group, and other issues," she said. Lesbian and gay families are still vulnerable to losing their children and being victimized by hate crimes and other forms of discrimination, she added, noting that local and individual efforts are most important in bringing change in these areas.
"Diversity is the cornerstone of the civil rights movement. We need to encourage more people of color to get involved in our efforts to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation," Toledo said. She encouraged Interior GLOBE to continue its diaIogue with the new administration.
Other speakers included Mary Josie Blanchard, Assistant Director for Program Support in the Office of Surface Mining, who moderated the program; Melodee Stith, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Workforce Diversity, who welcomed everyone; Wendell Sutton, Interior's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources, who introduced the keynote speaker; and Maria Wiseman, President of Interior GLOBE.
Blanchard opened the program by noting that there were a number of gay-friendly employees in the audience. She encouraged all in the audience to attend other special emphasis programs to show support. Demonstrate the "friendship which I know is there and which transcends so many of the differences that can separate us," she said.
Stith said, "If we fully embrace diversity, the Department will become greater," adding that gay and lesbian employees were "an important part of diversity in the Department."
Sutton recounted Toledo's achievements, noting that she had accomplished all of them while being a mother of two young children. Toledo recognized her partner and son in the audience, saying she was pleased to speak at the event and equally pleased that her daughter was graduating that day from her Silver Spring YMC kindergarten class.
Wiseman thanked Toledo for her remarks, saying "While we all embrace diversity, we must work to make it happen."
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Other highlights of the event included a candle-lighting ceremony and presentation of the GLOBE New Millennium Human Rights Award. Candles for the victims of AIDS and hate crimes were lit by Jay Douglas, an HIV-positive employee of the Bureau of Land Management and the previous President of Interior GLOBE, and Daphne Berwald, an employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Treasurer of GLOBE. The candle lighting was followed by a moment of silence. |
GLOBE president Maria Wiseman announced that Robert W. Faithful IV, Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, was the recipient of this year's GLOBE New Millennium Human Rights Award. Faithful was recognized for his work to expand the opportunities for gay and lesbian small businesses in government contracting.
Faithful said he was pleased to receive the award. "One individual can make a difference for a large group of individuals, but groups can also make a difference for individuals," he said, adding that embracing diversity is good business. Interior GLOBE will present this award annually at the Department's Pride celebration to a Department employee or other individual who has made outstanding contributions to the welfare of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans-gendered employees at Interior.
Message From the President
Maria Wiseman, Solicitor's Office, Washington, DC
In light of the events of September 11th, it may seem difficult to carry on our mission of advocacy for GLBT employees here at Interior. Since that day many things have changed. However, many have not. We still hear the hatred in Jerry Falwell's voice blaming gays and lesbians for the terrorist attacks. And we still see gay men and lesbians being investigated and discharged from the military even during this war on terrorism. Because bigotry and discrimination still exist, we must continue our work to counteract every hateful act that occurs, and to honor those who risked their lives for others in times of crisis such as Mark Bingham, an openly gay man and hero of Flight 93. We honor them by continuing our advocacy here at Interior and in our daily lives.
Maria
Interior Memorandum
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
August 24, 2001
MEMORANDUM
To: All Employees
From: Secretary /Signed Gale A. Norton/
Subject: Policy on Equal Opportunity and Zero Tolerance of Discrimination
I want to emphasize to all employees of the Department that I am firmly committed to a policy that ensures that any type of discrimination or harassment based on race, religion, age, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, or disability will not be tolerated in the Department.
If we are going to have a productive and satisfied workforce, we must not tolerate these forms of discrimination. All employees in the Department have a responsibility to carry out the Department's policy on equal opportunity and to promote it through exemplary conduct and sensitivity for the rights of fellow employees and the public that we serve. Executives, managers and supervisors particularly will be held responsible and accountable for promoting and ensuring equal opportunity in the Department's policies, programs and practices. I charge them with the responsibility to respond to complaints swiftly and to take appropriate steps to address improper and illegal behavior through appropriate disciplinary or administrative action.
America is a stronger nation because of the diversity of its people. It is the many different views and perspectives held by these diverse groups that bring creativity and innovation to our nation and our Department. Although we have a wonderfully diverse workforce, I am personally committed to see that diversity continues--and increases. I want the Department to have the most highly qualified and diverse workforce in Government. If we are to achieve diversity at all levels, managers and supervisors must ensure equal opportunity to all people when making decisions in the areas of outreach, recruitment, hiring, promotions, training and awards.
I know I can count on each of you to adhere to this policy and to assist me in expanding opportunities for all employees of the Department and ensuring that we work in a discrimination-free environment.
Riding for Hope -
Montana AIDS Vaccine Ride
John Redding,
Public Affairs Specialist. Bureau of Reclamation, Boise
"Today, I set out on my journey." That is the first sentence in the journal I kept while I took part in the Montana AIDS Vaccine Ride that involved riding my bike 575 miles from Missoula to Billings, Montana. I joined 1,050 cyclists and several hundred volunteer crew members to take on a physical and emotional challenge that involved riding seven days across Montana in an effort to raise money and awareness in the hope that medical research will find a vaccine for AIDS.
The Montana AIDS Vaccine Ride brought me face-to-face with my abilities and self-doubts. The first hurdle I faced was the challenge of raising a minimum of $3,400 in order to join the other cyclists. I had to do something I've never felt comfortable doing - asking for financial support. I had to actively seek donations from friends, family, co-workers, and total strangers and hope that the balance would arrive and my training would not be in vain.
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To my surprise, I passed the required balance within two months, making it possible for me to continue training with a group of 11 Idaho cyclists known as Team Boise. What amazed me was the reaction from people who learned about the Montana AIDS Vaccine Ride and how fast they were to donate money and offer encouragement. The bulk of my financial support came from fellow Bureau of Reclamation employees who not only helped me reach the minimum $3,400 donation level, but were a constant source of encouragement. Each member of Team Boise had their own personal reason for riding in this event. One of our team members was driven by the memory of his son who had passed away due to AIDS in 1993. Others were drawn to the cause and the desire to make a difference in the world. My motivation was the memory of friends lost to AIDS, and the heartache of witnessing family members giving a final farewell. Also, knowing people living with HIV as a part of their lives and realizing the physical toll and the added social stigma kept me driven. Frequently, I found myself haunted by the fact that there are human beings who are among the poorest of the poor living in countries where their governments cannot or will not provide assistance. Each day that I rode my bike, I thought of them and the people who supported me.
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Also, knowing people living with HIV as a part of their lives and realizing the physical toll and the added social stigma kept me driven. Frequently, I found myself haunted by the fact that there are human beings who are among the poorest of the poor living in countries where their governments cannot or will not provide assistance. Each day that I rode my bike, I thought of them and the people who supported me.
Disappointment on Day 2
The first day was over. The opening ceremony was behind me and I took off from Missoula to Lincoln for the first campsite. It rained the entire night in Lincoln. Everyone woke up in a soggy baseball field before dawn to chilly and windy weather. This was the day everyone was to climb to the summit of the Centennial Divide an elevation of about 6,130 feet. It was miserable, but I was doing it and I felt physically strong enough to make it.
At one of the outposts set up before the summit climb, I joined most cyclists in wrapping my extremities in Mylar - the same material used for birthday balloons. Mylar has the ability to wick away the wet rain while providing some buffer between my body and the freezing cold. I was about 2 miles from the summit - riding strong and knowing I was going to make it. Then my chain snapped stopping me in mid-stride. My fingers were too numb to do a repair and I didn't have the proper tool.
Several cyclists stopped to assist, but no one could repair the chain. I had no choice but to flag down one of the support vans. I was shuttled to the top. I sat there inside that vehicle facing my feelings of failure. I watched one rider after another make it to the top. Even though the chain snapping was unavoidable, I was dealing with emotions that I didn't realize I had - to me, I failed. I felt as though I had let everyone down on Team Boise, and everyone who supported me and the cause. Watching one cyclist after another get their photo taken at the summit marker felt like a spear right through my chest. These were new feelings for me.
Inspiration Surrounded Me
My bike was repaired early the next morning and I rode with resolve. The days that followed were hot and the road was seemingly endless. Along the way, I watched human nature in action. There were cyclists taking on the physical challenge as though they were in a race - no pace was good enough unless it was fast. While others who rode strong and challenged themselves found opportunities to show basic human kindness. A cyclist fighting the heat to change a flat found him or herself bombarded with assistance. A passing cyclist who would take the time to smile and say hello, was greeted in kind.
On one morning out of camp, we hit a rather steep 2-mile climb almost immediately. This was after a monster climb the day before that wore out even the most seasoned cyclist. I was up for the challenge when I noticed a woman walking her bike up the hill. I figured I had nothing to lose by saying hello to her. She replied with a friendly 'good morning,' but I could see she was really struggling. I decided to join her and walk up the hill with her. And I ended up meeting Cathy - a wonderful woman from Portland, Oregon, who suffered with asthma and struggled with a weight problem. Cathy stopped every few hundred yards to catch her breath while cyclists passed us in droves. It was then that I realized that someone like Cathy is a hero. She raised money and took on a challenge that required more effort and resolve than the most physically fit athlete possessed.
A couple days later, I remember heading into Livingston. It was the half-way point and I had had enough. I felt beat. I was listening to inner voices coaxing me to take the air-conditioned bus and ride the distance. ' What would it matter,' I thought. 'I was doing my best. I raised the money. This wasn't a race. What difference would it make if I decided to hop on that bus?' Just as those thoughts had passed through my mind, I saw a young man with a prosthetic limb mount his bike for the remainder of the ride. After seeing that, I felt that I had no justification for boarding the bus because the motivation to ride on was right in front of me.
The Montana AIDS Vaccine Ride was sponsored by Pallotta TeamWorks - an unabashedly for profit company. Since 1994, it has netted $154 million for AIDS and breast cancer programs and research. By the end of 2001, its managers expect to increase that figure to $225 million. The company provided all the support - planning, meals, mobile showers, a tent city and the like. After expenses, 60 percent of the donations it raises to go the beneficiary cause and TeamWorks keeps 5 percent.
Proceeds from the Montana ride will go to three AIDS Research centers: the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City, the UCLA AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, and the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Although the figures are not in yet, the Montana AIDS Vaccine Ride was expected to gross over $7 million for AIDS vaccine research.
Dr. Mark Feinberg, with the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta, told the cyclists that they were helping to fight the largest threat to the health of humanity. "The AIDS epidemic is the largest threat mankind faces," Feinberg said to the cyclists. "The road ahead will be long and challenging, but you all know about long and challenging, don't you?"
AIDS is a disease that affects all of humanity. It does not discriminate. There is no cure. But because of my coworkers, friends, and family members, I believe we are just one step closer to saying goodbye to AIDS forever.
Come Out, Come Out,
Wherever You Are...
Richard Nolan, Interior GLBT Liaison, BLM, Arizona
I wrote my first article for this newsletter about a year ago. We were getting ready to go to the polls and elect a new president and became embroiled in the chad controversy. It seems like that was a lifetime ago. The year 2001 has been very disturbing and challenging for all Americans. With the September 11th tragedy fresh on our minds, we all wonder how our lives will be affected as a result of these recent tragic events.
President Bush has asked all Americans to get back to business as usual, and to go on with our normal lives. Since October is national coming out month, it seems only appropriate to address this issue of "coming out". After all, how more normal could it be than to be yourself, in every aspect of your life? Even though the process and timing of coming out is different for everyone, I believe it to be an absolute necessity if GLBT Americans are to ever enjoy all that life has to offer, and to be accepted and treated as equal partners in our on-going quest for equality.
In 1998, President Clinton signed the Executive Order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Federal workplace. For the first time, I felt some of the fear diminish as it related to my employment. President Bush has not rescinded the Executive Order as some had feared, and now Secretary Norton has issued the Department's non-discrimination policy which includes sexual orientation. Even with these two positive political gestures, I sense a tremendous amount of fear by those GLBT Interior employees that continue to not come out.
The Department of the Interior has approximately 80,000 employees. Of those 80,000 employees, it appears a mere 85 employees have overcome their fears and have mustered the courage to openly self-identify themselves in the workplace as either gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered by becoming members of DOI GLOBE. I get a great deal of my inspiration from those very courageous people. Statistically, even if only 1% of the population is GLBT, then it stands to reason there are at least 800 employees that are either GLBT in the Department of the Interior.
I recognize that individuals have their own sets of personal reasons for choosing or not choosing to come out. It is my personal opinion that fear is the primary reason other GLBT employees working for the Department have not come out or publicly self-identified themselves as GLBT. Fear of the what if's. Fear of the unknown. Fear of being viewed and treated differently. Fear of stifling a career. Fear of having their names on a list for possible future persecution. Fear of being harassed. Fear of being harmed or even killed. Those were the major reasons I chose not to disclose my sexual orientation for the first two decades of my Federal career.
We are all responsible to help educate our co-workers and managers regarding issues that are important to us; to let them know who we really are, and more importantly, how "normal" we really are. We all need to help facilitate change. It is our responsibility to make our workplaces safer and more tolerant for all employees, not only for us but for future generations that will follow us. There are times I wonder why we should have to go through this process. Whenever I feel frustrated and question my commitment to this cause I reflect on a quote I ran across about a year ago: "Those who have fallen for who they were can live through the actions of those who are not afraid."
If we have learned anything from the horror of September 11th, it is that as Americans we are more united than we have ever been. We are more tolerant and accepting of each other then we have ever been. The time has come. The time is now. Become part of this historical moment. Come out, come out, wherever you are...
New Millennium Human Rights Award Presented to Robert W. Faithful
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In June, Interior GLOBE awarded its annual New Millennium Human Rights Award to Robert Faithful, Director of the Department's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). The Award is given annually by GLOBE to honor an individual who has shown outstanding leadership and commitment in his or her efforts to significantly benefit gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees of the Department of the Interior. Mr. Faithful is being recognized for his work in directing OSDBU to begin a national outreach effort to gay and lesbian businesses and chambers of commerce, as well as his active interest in instituting practices at the Department which benefit GLBT employees. |
It is the mission of OSDBU to increase the participation of small, small disadvantaged, and women-owned businesses in the Department's acquisition and contracting programs. Under Mr. Faithful's leadership, OSDBU has expanded its outreach efforts to include gay and lesbian businesses and chambers of commerce so that these business will also be made aware of the variety of contracting and business opportunities at the Department.
Mr. Faithful has also taken an active interest in instituting practices at the Department which benefit GLBT employees. As part of this interest, Mr. Faithful represents the Department on a council of 34 major private corporations which have initiated gay and lesbian outreach programs and which seek to ensure a diverse workforce. By conducting outreach to gay and lesbian businesses, and by advocating diverse business practices, Mr. Faithful is broadening the Department's leadership in advancing the welfare of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees and business partners of the Department.
The New Millennium Human Rights Award is given annually in former Assistant Secretary John Berry's honor. Mr. Berry was awarded the first New Millennium Human Rights Award in December 2000.
Members of the current Executive Board:
| President: | Jerry Bock, USBR | jbock@usbr.gov |
| Vice-president: | David Quick, BLM | david_quick@blm.gov |
| Secretary: | Jim Gasser, NPS | jim_gasser@nps.gov |
| Treasurer: | John Haugh, BLM | john_haugh@blm.gov |
| Fed GLOBE Rep: | Jay Douglas, BLM | jay_douglas@blm.gov |
Meetings
Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings usually take place in the John Muir Room of the Main Interior Building. All members and their invited guests are encouraged to attend.
Revised:
07/03/02
Robert_J_Veltkamp@nbc.gov
