In the last half century diversity in the workplace has revolved largely around gender and race.
In the last half century diversity in the workplace has revolved largely around gender and race.
Companies have adjusted, sometimes on government mandates, and some have come to celebrate the diversity as an advantage to various facets of operations.
More recently, those with diverse sexual orientations have been absorbed into the fold.
During the Jan. 8 Geauga Economic Leadership virtual breakfast, three speakers discussed how inclusion of minorities is vital to the health and success of businesses.
Inclusion and collaboration within the workforce is also crucial to the physical and emotional well-being and productivity of employees labeled as minorities, they said.
Both Mahli Mechanbier, an Asian American woman, and Velvet Landingham, a Black woman, are professors at Kent State University. Natalie Nauman is a retired electrical engineer who became a transsexual woman in 2012.
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person’s sex, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status (Forbes, June 2020), there are still issues, both legal and personal, regarding acceptance of LGBTQ individuals, the speakers said.
Nauman spoke candidly about growing up as a boy who “often dreamed of being converted into a girl,” she said. “It was very confusing. I didn’t know there were other people who felt that way.”
She tried to live a normal life, including four years of marriage to a woman she said she “hoped would cure me.”
“I didn’t fit in with either men or women. I felt like an alien,” Nauman said.
In 2004, she built her retirement home in Munson Township and began to research her predicament, committing eight years later to start the process of transitioning to female.
After coming out to her male boss, Nauman worked with human resources to make her dream happen and became an advocate for her position. She delayed her affirmation surgery until after she had retired.
“My ex-boss called me yesterday,” she said last Friday. “He thanked me for doing what I did on his watch (and) for expanding his mind.”
During her early transition, Nauman said she agreed not to use the women’s restroom where she worked, opting for the lobby family restroom.
Another ongoing discussion is how to address a transgender person.
Mechanbier said gender identity and sexuality are not always the same thing.
When a female student she knew showed up in her class after taking a male name, Mechanbier had to pull the student aside and reassure him she was supportive, but would likely make mistakes.
“It took weeks (for me) to recode,” Mechanbier said.
Nauman said that is common.
“If you mis-gender someone just say ‘oops’ and move on. You don’t need to apologize,” she said. “It’s hard to recalibrate that. It was hard for me, too. Hard for my friends.”
Mechanbier teaches English and has a definition that helps her sort it out.
“Gender identity is who you go to bed as; sexuality is who you go to bed with,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of confusion.”
Instead of using gender pronouns such as he/she and his/hers, many are starting to shift to neutral pronouns that traditionally have been plural such as they and theirs, Mechanbier said.
If unsure how to address an individual, just ask them, she recommended.
Landingham warned against verbally categorizing people.
“Race is expansive,” she said. “A person may code as Black, but identify as Pakistani.”
For instance, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is identified as Black by the media, but is actually a product of Jamaican and Indian parents, Landingham said.
She also said stereotyping people because of their race or gender is a mistake that can be avoided by communicating with each other.
“The biggest piece is the interpersonal conversation piece,” Landingham said.
This is particularly true in the workplace, where a person is much more likely to succeed if he or she feels part of the family there.
“Belonging is important. It’s not an easy thing to be considered an O in a group of Xs,” she said, likening diversity in any workplace to a bowlful of marbles.
“The inclusion piece is what you do with those marbles,” Landingham said, adding it is important to allow those who are different to collaborate and contribute to the whole.
She urged Xs to include Os in their path to personal and professional development.
“(That) interaction allows you to grow and become a different person,” Landingham said.
Mechanbier warned against forcing compliance with diversity policies and allow time for a learning curve when fitting policies into the environment.
She also addressed insurance coverage for individuals undergoing gender reassignment surgery, noting KSU was one of the first public universities in Ohio to cover those costs.
“Not all businesses are as generous,” Mechanbier said.
A company’s willingness to carry insurance that will cover the surgery is not always determined by cost as much as bias, but the cost for one surgery is roughly parallel to a hip replacement, she said.
“Health insurance is part of inclusion,” Mechanbier said.
Long term, a business needs to succeed, so while it is important to be an advocate for inclusion and diversity, Nauman encouraged using tact in the effort, adding she did her best to minimize the effect of her change on her workplace.
“Remember, the business is there for the rest of the employees and customers. Focus on that. Don’t disrupt the workplace,” she said.
Geauga SOGI Support Group — Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity — is a local organization open to individuals in the LGBTQ community, Nauman said.
