Dear Reader,
The theme of this issue is “Out at Work.”
I am very pleased with the quality and range of responses to our call for writing. We heard from women in various occupations and at various stages of their careers.
The question of whether – and how – to be out at work is a big one for most of us at some stage in our worklife. I’m as out as one can possibly be now, but earlier in my career, I too struggled with this question. In 1984 I began a job at one of Harvard’s residential research centers. During my first week on the job I heard a rumor that the Director was upset because an unmarried man/woman couple were sharing one of our apartments. I decided not to come out at that job. Instead, I transferred to a different position after a year and a half. At my next Harvard job, I waited almost a year before coming out – in a 1987 Newsweek article!
In this issue, Heidi Bruins Green gives us an informal sneak peek at some of the findings of the first research study on bisexuals in the workplace.
Mandy Metzger writes about coming out during a job interview, and then later to her campus. Catherine Rock shares with us the script of a skit she wrote for her school’s Safe Zone training. Tracy Nectoux is bi in the library. And Chiquita Violette comes out in her retail job and also to a select few in her other (less LGBT-friendly) part-time job. Martina Robinson discusses coming out as a poet. Daphne Kannellopoulos talks about being bi and looking for work. Tracy shares a short play about one possible effect of homo/biphobia in the workplace.
You will also find poems by Sierra Baker, Janice Josephine Carney and Jennifer Rokakis.
And then there’s our fabulous Calendar, our Ask Tiggy column, News Briefs, a book review and our NEW Research Corner, brought to us by Jennifer Taub. Our Bi Women Around the World series will resume with the next issue. You will find other treats scattered throughout.
Enjoy this newsletter, and please consider adding your voice and/or artwork to the next issue of Bi Women.