At EP, our team is spread across the country. One of the tools we use to connect to each other daily is Salesforce Chatter. There, we give updates on our work, ask questions of each other, and share what we’re reading.
This June, to honor and celebrate LGBT Pride Month, we at EP were excited to share Pride versions of our EP logo with our network and on our social media channels.
And the day before we planned to share them, the mass shooting happened at the gay club the Pulse in Orlando, and 49 innocent people were murdered. After the shooting, we came together as an organization, led by EP’s LGBTQ affinity group, to reflect on the tragedy, and be there for each other.
Much of what we shared this month was more somber in tone, but we also found ways to celebrate too.
Here’s some of what we shared with each other in June; add your own recommendations to the comments:
NPR: Los Angeles Pioneers Program To Help Educate Foster Parents For LGBT Kids
“More than 400,000 children in America are in foster care, and among them, there’s a disproportionate number of LGBT kids. In Los Angeles County, 20 percent of foster kids identify as LGBT, according to a UCLA study — or double the rate outside the foster care system.
But since 2010, LA has had a federal grant to develop something that doesn’t exists anywhere else in the country: a program to teach foster families the basics about LGBT children.”
The Atlantic: The Plight of Being a Gay Teacher
“Many other LGBT teachers in the United States have long struggled with this same decision of whether to make their sexual orientations public—and the “extra layer” of worries that comes with it. The country’s long history of discrimination towards LGBT teachers could help explain why so many of these educators are afraid to come out.”
Human Rights Campaign: The Look Forward
“The Workplace Equality team brings you HRC Foundation’s new webinar series – timely topics to help guide your efforts in your own organizations. Every other Monday at 3 p.m. (ET), you can engage with diversity and inclusion thought-leaders and stay up to date with information relevant to LGBTQ workplace equality.”
“Black Girl Dangerous is the brainchild of award-winning writer Mia McKenzie. What started out as a scream of anguish has evolved into a multi-faceted forum for expression. BGD seeks to, in as many ways as possible, amplify the voices, experiences and expressions of queer and trans people of color.”
New York Times: ‘My First Gay Bar’: Rachel Maddow, Andy Cohen and Others Share Their Coming-Out Stories
“For generations of gays and lesbians, especially those for whom walking into the sometime secret and darkened doorway of one was often the first step in the coming-out process, gay bars have long held a significant place in their personal histories.
“That was never more apparent than in the days following the mass shootings at Pulse, the gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in which 49 patrons lost their lives, and which prompted many to recall the nights they had spent in similar settings, and the sense of community they found there.”
NPR: Utah Lt. Governor Apologizes For Past Attitude Toward Gay People http://ow.ly/FD1m3021nFf
“Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox spoke at a vigil in Salt Lake City to honor the people killed and wounded in the weekend shooting at an Orlando gay club. Cox, a Republican, struggled to keep his voice from breaking as he apologized for bullying gay people in the past.”
