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Using LGBT+ Group at work to educate


GeoAmy

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My company started an LGBT+ group a work last year.  It's called Jasper because its a mining/oil company and jasper is a multicolored rock.  I've joined the group in the Houston, TX office where I work.  Oil companies aren't exactly open minded places, so having the group is really cool.  I hope we are successful in moving the needle, but have my doubts.  As the token Ace in the group, I've taken it upon myself to spread the word about asexuality.  So far everyone has been welcoming and supportive with no negative interactions.  Being part of the group is helping me be a little more comfortable coming out at work.  

 

I also agreed to be a reverse mentor for one of our executive leaders.  I'm not entirely sure what this means, but will certainly leverage it to talk about asexuality with her.  All the executives agreed to participate in the program, but I have my doubts on how sincere some of them are.  They can't exactly say no given all the inclusion and diversity initiatives that are being pushed through out the company.  

 

In October I volunteered to give the learning moment at the monthly lunches the group started.  I chose October because of asexual awareness week.  I'll have 5 minutes to explain asexuality and I guess provide some resources.  Hopefully it sparks some interesting conversations.  I'm open to any material to share that will be helpful.

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Well done! 😊

 

I also joined my company’s LGBTQ+ group earlier this year.

 

You’re welcome to borrow all or some of the following:

 

Happy to share ideas on what works as we get more involved with our respective groups 😎

 

PS I’m also the token ace guy, but they’ve been very welcoming (“I’ve never met an asexual before, welcome!”)

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@Iam9man   Thanks for the link.  That information is exactly what I need for the short learning moment!  I appreciate that you've done the leg work already.  I just need to drop it in a company approved slide template🤗 

 

I think that's a great idea for us to share what's working and not working at our respective LGBTQ+ groups at work.  

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  • 2 months later...

I gave my Ace 101 on Thursday at monthly luncheon and it was well received.  Not many attended the lunch, but a few more people are now in the know.

 

We have an internal yammer page for the pride group.  Planning on posting Ace Week there next week to reach out to the entire company.  

 

I'm also doing reverse mentoring with one of our VP's.  Luckily she's rather opening minded and as also interested in learning about asexuality.  

 

So making small strides at my company.  Haven't met any other aces at work yet even though there should be ~9 others in my office.

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Excellent!

 

I spoke in front of ~100 people about asexuality at our recent LGBTQ+ group get together (talk about coming out!).

 

The above page is finally going live to coincide with Ace Week... and includes my photo and contact details 😊👍

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  • 3 weeks later...

That is definitely some serious coming out for sure @lam9man .  Good for you.

 

What page went live?  I'm not finding the link for anything.

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8 hours ago, GeoAmy said:

That is definitely some serious coming out for sure @lam9man .  Good for you.

 

What page went live?  I'm not finding the link for anything.

This one (from months ago!) finally went live:

 

😊

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  • 10 months later...

For October, my company group started a monthly newsletter. I was thrilled to see Ace Week included with a link to the official web page. 
 

I’ll take the small win for visibility!

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14 hours ago, GeoAmy said:

For October, my company group started a monthly newsletter. I was thrilled to see Ace Week included with a link to the official web page. 
 

I’ll take the small win for visibility!

My company’s LGBTQ+ group produces a regular newsletter as well (but not sure how often it goes out). I’ve emailed them to see if I can write an article about Ace Week for the newsletter (or if not, the intranet) 😊

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today I decided to take the leap of emailing the main contract for my employer's 2SLGBTQ* group (as that's the acronym used...) about Ace Week, providing a few links to websites (including AVEN). Shortly after receiving it they sent it out to the whole group. I was nervous about this because I got the impression from past meetings within this group that the "A" was considered of minimal importance, but a few weeks ago at an event, the chair said they were demi. 

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I’ve just offered to write an article for our LGBTQ+ group newsletter for Ace Week. It will go out with my name against the article to thousands of people 🐧🏳️‍🌈😳

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@Weresnao of Conedon That's great news!  Its so refreshing with our efforts to raise awareness with out coworkers are well supported.

 

@Iam9man Good luck with the article!  I know you'll do great since you have such good material to start with already.  Happy to provide feedback if you want a 2nd pair of eyes on it before you send it out.

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On 10/20/2020 at 1:34 AM, GeoAmy said:

@Weresnao of Conedon That's great news!  Its so refreshing with our efforts to raise awareness with out coworkers are well supported.

 

@Iam9man Good luck with the article!  I know you'll do great since you have such good material to start with already.  Happy to provide feedback if you want a 2nd pair of eyes on it before you send it out.

Thanks @GeoAmy!

 

Unfortunately the deadline was today so I’ve had to submit already, but I’d still welcome any feedback 😊

 

I will note this was written at a particular level of abstraction for a particular audience, so apologies to anyone who feels invalidated by any overly simplistic or general descriptions of any identities.

 

I’m sharing the contents below in case anyone else wants to use any of the material for similar outreach purposes. No need to credit me as the author, but please don’t claim any form of copyright if using, as a whole or in part, as is or largely unchanged.

 

 

Happy Ace Week! 

 

25-31 October is this year’s Ace Week (formerly known as Asexual Awareness Week), which aims to celebrate, raise awareness and expand education of asexuality and related identities.

 

An asexual person is someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction to others.

 

Asexuality can be conceptualised as the 4th major orientation after homosexuality (attraction to same gender), heterosexuality (attraction to opposite gender), bisexuality/pansexuality (attraction to two or more genders) and asexuality (no sexual attraction to any genders).

 

Many asexuals still experience other forms of attraction, such as romantic attraction, it’s just in their case it doesn’t lead to a desire to act on that attraction in a sexual way.

 

“Ace” was originally just shorthand for “asexual”, but has since expanded to encompass related identities; including:

 

·       Graysexual – Someone who identifies somewhere in between asexual and another orientation.

·       Demisexual – Someone who only experiences sexual attraction after developing a close emotional bond with another person.

·       Aromantic – Someone who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others.

 

Whilst ace identities are newer to the LGBTQ+ family than many others, aces share many of the same challenges. As such, the evolution of Ace Week from being about communicating the existence of asexuality to being more about celebration (whilst acknowledging that further education is still required) is largely thanks to the acceptance of aces by the LGBTQ+ community and Allies.

 

Whilst celebrations for Ace Week are a bit more sedate this year, for obvious reasons, there are still numerous online events being organised and we look forward to joining our LGBTQ+ family and Allies again next year for various Pride events where we’ll once again be proudly waving our flag:

 

320px-Asexual_Pride_Flag.svg.png


Click here to learn more about asexuality on our intranet site.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My article went out in the newsletter today 🥳🥳🥳

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