October 5, 2021
A recent article has brought to light, and into question, the treatment of people of color, in particular Black employees, at one of our community partners – Equitas Health.
We must acknowledge that the LGBTQIA+ community has long faced issues of bias and prejudice while simply daring to live in and live out our truth; in this moment, to have claims of discrimination from people of color at an organization centered on supporting the health outcomes of the LGBTQIA+ community is disheartening – and we must lift up their voices.
To experience any form of discrimination in a workplace is demoralizing. As LGBTQIA+ organizations, we work to support a diverse, and intersectional, population. As such, the structures and systems we build must routinely be reviewed and adjusted to ensure that we are supporting, to the best of our abilities, the full diversity of our communities – both the people we serve and the people we employ.
This statement can be attributed to Densil R. Porteous, Executive Director, Stonewall Columbus.