October 11, 2006
Planning for Interior GLOBE’s
participation in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally (LGBTA)
Undergraduate Student Career Conference
Ike Kelley volunteered to staff a table for Interior GLOBE at the conference,
which is sponsored by Out for Work and scheduled for October 21-22, 2006, in
Washington, D.C. Additional volunteers are invited to join and (or) relieve Ike
at the Interior GLOBE table. If you are interested in helping, please contact
Ike at: mkelley@usgs.gov, or (703) 648-4635. There is a $75 registration fee,
which Interior GLOBE will pay. Although Interior GLOBE does not charge dues, it
has a very small amount of money from irregular volunteer contributions. DOI
Office of Civil Rights previously indicated it might be able to pay this cost,
but is experiencing a major shortage of funds and is unable to provide such
support for any special emphasis group at this time.
Planning for meeting with Sharon Eller, Director, DOI Office of Civil Rights
Ike will try to schedule the meeting sometime during the first two weeks of
December 2006. Joe Briskey is drafting a list of potential discussion topics
combining issues from this agenda, Interior GLOBE’s Action Plan from the 2005
Retreat, and the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index 2006.
Ike Kelley will circulate a copy of the list to Interior GLOBE members for
comment and additional suggestions. There is a need for background information
for Sharon on these and other topics. Ike Kelley, Maria Wiseman, Jerry Bock, and
Joe Briskey have begun some research and compilations for this purpose. Joe
reviewed highlights from the 2006 Corporate Equality Index at today’s meeting.
Research needs to be completed in time for review at Interior GLOBE’s next
regularly scheduled meeting on November 8, 2006. Final revisions will be made
then and a copy provided to Sharon in advance of our meeting with her.
Discussion topics will need to be prioritized and focused on issues that Sharon
is in a position to help us with in a practical way.
Executive Order Regarding Consideration of Sexual Orientation When Granting
Security Clearances
Concern continues that changes made by this order could make it easier to deny
security clearances because of a person’s sexual orientation. The order appears
to represent deterioration in the quality of life in the Federal workplace and
runs counter to rapid improvements in workplace tolerance and inclusiveness in
corporate America, as documented by HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
ACTION ITEM FOR INTERIOR GLOBE MEMBERS: Please send Ike Kelley (mkelley@usgs.gov)
any examples you are aware of where security clearances appear to have been
affected by a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender
expression.
Proposed Changes to the By-Laws to More Explicitly Support Transgendered
Employees
Interior GLOBE officers are proposing changes in the by-laws to more explicitly
include transgendered employees and retirees, and their principal issues of
gender identity and expression. Ike Kelley shortly will send these changes to
the membership for a vote.
Concerns Relative to the DOI University On-Line Training Course
“Discrimination and Whistleblowing in the Work Place”
Ike Kelley will discuss with the Office of Civil Rights comments received on
this course, as well as a few other topics. Interior GLOBE members have provided
him with some enhancements they believe will improve the course.
On Tuesday, May 30, 2006, Secretary Kempthorne sent an email message to all
Department of Interior Employees—Nationwide, on the subject of “Our Ethical
Responsibilities.” In this message, the Secretary cites fourteen principles from
1989 Executive Order 12674 to guide our performance as civil servants. One of
these principals is:
“Employees shall adhere to all laws and regulations that provide equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap.”
Ike will make inquiries at this meeting as to
whether or not Secretary Kempthorne is aware that sexual orientation is
missing from his message.
Competitive Federal-Workplace Initiative
Discussion in the context of the meeting with Sharon Eller elicited some
strategic thoughts about ways in which Interior GLOBE might partner with other
organizations to help enhance the Federal workplace to make it more competitive
with the private sector in recruiting among the best and brightest young new
employees to fill the large number of positions in the Federal Government that
are expected to become vacant as the baby boom generation begins to retire in
large numbers beginning in FY 2008. A “Competitive Federal-Workplace Initiative”
might be one way to describe such a partnership and effort. FEDweek Weekly
Newsletter (October 9 2006) reports that 240,000 Federal employees are expected
to retire from government service from fiscal 2008 through 2011, about 60,000
each year.
Young people increasingly are looking at potential employer’s GLBT policies and
treatment of GLBT employees as a litmus test for workplace inclusiveness,
tolerance, opportunity, and desirability. Amy Joyce (Washington Post, September
24, 2006, F01) reports that “companies are finding it is a business imperative
to take diversity, including sexuality and gender issues, into account. For one,
employees need to feel their company supports them. But even more, companies
need to show that they are inclusive to attract and retain the right employees
in a tight, competitive market. They also need to attract customers and clients.
According to some estimates, about 10 percent of the population is gay, lesbian,
bisexual, or transgender. They [companies] are also smart enough to know that it
is a very competitive market when it comes to acquiring and retaining top talent
with the specific skills that these companies need, and their goal is to cast a
wide net to find, get, and keep the best people. So it becomes a business
decision. ‘I think the corporations are recognizing that in order to be as
innovative as we have to be and as competitive as we have to be, we have to
avail ourselves of all the talent out there,’ said Joyce E. Tucker, vice
president of global diversity and employee rights at Boeing Co., which got a 100
rating [on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index]. ‘Everyone has something to
contribute. Wherever the talent is coming from, we want that.’"
Revised:
10/02/08
Robert_J_Veltkamp@nbc.gov