I just finished conducting a two-part workshop for one of my clients on diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are hot and sometimes controversial topics in the US because they address some of the most complicated social issues of our time.
Let me define the terms for you:
Diversity: including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
Equity: equal job opportunities and fair treatment for employees and job applicants
Inclusion: the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or mental disabilities and members of other minority groups
So, what issues come into play when considering DE&I:
Race
Nationality
Culture
Religion
Gender or sexual identity
Physical Challenges
Age
Political affiliation
Personality
Behaviors or Habits
And there are probably others.
A number of political movements are engaged in bringing attention to one or another of the issues. The term woke refers to those who are alert to injustice in society, especially racial inequality. Me Too is a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment. And Black Lives Matter is a movement aimed at reducing violence against black people, especially by law enforcement.
Let’s focus for a moment on gender or sexual identity. The acronym LGBTQ is widely known, although its current form is LGBTQ+ or LGBTQIA+ since there are more than five terms associated with this topic. With the help of the OK2BEME Project, here are the currently well-recognized aspects of LGBTQ+
A lesbian is a female homosexual: a female who experiences romantic love or sexual attraction to other females.
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. Gay is often used to describe homosexual males, but lesbians may also be referred to as gay.
Bisexual is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward both males and females, or romantic or sexual attraction to people of any sex or gender identity; this latter aspect is sometimes termed pansexuality.
Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. It is sometimes abbreviated to trans.
Transsexual persons experience a gender identity inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Two-Spirit is a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans to describe gender-variant individuals in their communities, specifically people within indigenous communities who are seen as having both male and female spirits within them.
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not heterosexual or cisgender. Queer was originally used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires but, beginning in the late-1980s, queer scholars and activists began to reclaim the word.
Questioning refers to the questioning of one’s gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, and concerned about applying a social label to themselves for various reasons.
Intersex is a variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or female.
Asexuality (or nonsexuality) is the lack of sexual attraction to anyone, or low or absent interest in sexual activity. It may be considered the lack of a sexual orientation, or one of the variations thereof, alongside heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality.
An Ally is a person who considers themselves a friend to the LGBTQ+ community.
Pansexuality, or omnisexuality, is sexual attraction, romantic love, or emotional attraction toward people of any sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.
Agender people, also called genderless, genderfree, non-gendered, or ungendered people are those who identify as having no gender or being without any gender identity. This category includes an extremely broad range of identities which do not conform to traditional gender norms.
Gender Queer is an umbrella term for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine identities which are thus outside of the gender binary and cisnormativity.
Bigender is a gender identity where the person moves between feminine and masculine gender identities and behaviors, possibly depending on context. Some bigender individuals express two distinct “female” and “male” personas, feminine and masculine respectively; others find that they identify as two genders simultaneously.
Gender variance, or gender nonconformity, is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine and feminine gender norms. People who exhibit gender variance may be called gender variant, gender non-conforming, gender diverse or gender atypical, and may be transgender, or otherwise variant in their gender expression. Some intersex people may also exhibit gender variance.
Pangender people are those who feel they identify as all genders. The term has a great deal of overlap with gender queer. Because of its all-encompassing nature, presentation and pronoun usage varies between different people who identify as pangender.
All this leads us to recognize that some people are seeing themselves in non-traditional ways and demanding to be treated equally and with respect, even when they do not fit in easily with those in the majority or in power.
I will be exploring these issues further in this blog in the weeks to come.
· Herb