1 minute read
Opening the COrpOrate ClOset
Kevin W. Jones experienced discrimination in many forms while working in corporate America. One of the most profound forms of discrimination was joking about the LGBTQ+ community. Many people in the office would make bigoted remarks about the LGBTQ+ community without realizing that a gay person was in their presence. This bigotry is like no other because there is no difference in skin color or gender. When the comments are made, the remarks can be humiliating and create a hostile work environment when people in the office are not aware that their colleague is not out of the closet.
Jones also noticed that when advancement was announced, most heterosexual counterparts mentioned their family in the announcement. He also noticed that when a member of the LGBTQ+ community advanced, family was rarely mentioned.
Advertisement
Kevin retired as a Vice President at Ernst and Young and started a second career coaching LGBTQ+ executives. Helping his community work through all the obstacles holding them back from the C-
Suite is his way of giving back and empowering LGBTQ+ workers and their allies to create a more authentic career path.
Opening the Corporate Closet is Kevin Jones’ book based on the challenges he faced navigating, ultimately successfully, corporate America as a Gay man. It highlights the author’s own experiences growing up closeted in the conservative South as a Gen-Xer in the 1970s and ‘80s, how those experiences influenced his early career development inside the corporate closet, and later advancement once he came out. It also investigates the hidden forms of discrimination and biases ingrained in the collective mindset of straight people as well as those inside the LGBTQ+ community.
Blending anecdotes from the author’s life with data from multiple sources to depict the unique complexities of life as a gay person in corporate America, he illustrates the challenges, micro-decisions, and micro-aggressions that they and their closeted peers face every day.
Whether you’re gay or straight, however you identify, after reading this book, you will become more aware of your own judgments and biases, both toward yourself and those around you.
