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Organizational Checklist:
Is Your Program Doing Everything Possible To Create GLBT Diversity?

By Dara L. Schur, Protection & Advocacy Inc.

 

Hiring

1.  Does your written nondiscrimination policy explicitly cover sexual orientation and marital status?

 

2.  Do the disability portions of your nondiscrimination policy cover medical conditions such as AIDS and HIV status?

 

3.  Do your affirmative action goals include gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals along with other minorities?

 

4.  Are activities relating to GLBT issues and organizations considered positively when listed on resumes, and given appropriate weight in job interviews?

 

5.  Do your job announcements go to GBLT law student organizations and bar associations and committees?  Do you provide names of "out" GBLT staff in your office that applicants can contact?

 

6.  Are "out" GLBT staff on your hiring committee, in the same way other minorities are?

 

7.  Do you offer applicants an opportunity to "self-identify" in a voluntary, non-threatening way in order to evaluate whether you have a representative applicant pool?

 

Work Environment

1.  Have you done trainings on cultural diversity that include sections on homophobia and GLBT issues?

 

2.  Do you have written policies against discrimination and sexual harassment that preclude discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation?

 

3.  Do the disability portions of your nondiscrimination policy cover medical conditions such as AIDS and HIV status?

 

4.  Do employees know that homophobic and bigoted conduct will be grounds for disciplinary action?

 

5.  Do you feel that you have created an environment where people feel free to make individual choices about coming out of the closet?

 

6.  Do "out" GLBT staff members receive support when facing homophobia in the courts, legislature or other work arenas?

 

7.  Have you considered an informal or formal mentoring program so that GLBT staff can have someone to turn to in the program?

 

8.  Are invitations to office functions extended to partners and guests, not just spouses?

 

9.  Are staff complaints about homophobia or bias treated seriously?

 

10.  Do “out” GLBT staff members get support when speaking in support of GLBT issues inside the agency?

 

Benefits

1.  Are health benefits extended to domestic partners on the same basis as to married couples?

 

2.  Are health benefits extended to children of domestic partners on the same basis as to biological children and step-children?

 

3.  Are bereavement leave, sick leave, caretaker leave, and parenting leave extended to domestic partners and GLBT families on the same basis as to heterosexual partners and families?  Do the parenting leave provisions extend to both parents of adopted children?

4.  Are membership dues in GLBT professional organizations, such as the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, paid on the same basis as memberships in other professional associations?

 

5.  Are staff members encouraged to attend conferences on GLBT issues to the same extend they are encouraged to attend other relevant conferences?

 

6.  Are all other benefits (pensions, retirement, scholarships, etc.) extended equally?

 

Board of Directors

1. Does your Board include representatives of the GLBT community?

 

2. Have Board members been included in the sensitivity training?

 

3. Has Board recruitment included outreach to the GLBT community?  Are GLBT organizations considered among the possible nominating organizations?

 

4. Do you ask Board members to "self-identify" in order to evaluate whether the Board is representative?

 

Client Issues

1. Have you created an environment where GLBT clients feel welcome?

 

2. Have staff received training in how to be sensitive to concerns of GLBT clients and in how to recognize when those issues affect the client's legal problems?

 

3.  Does your priority process address issues of concern to poor GLBT clients, including AIDS, housing discrimination, employment discrimination, custody issues, medical access issues, insurance benefits, domestic abuse, life planning for persons with AIDS (living wills, etc.), and civil rights issues? 

• Is a special AIDS project appropriate in your community?

• Has your family law unit addressed the position it will take if custody is challenged because of someone's sexual orientation, or how it will address GLBT battering? 

• Have you evaluated whether public and subsidized housing is available to GLBT families in the same manner in which it is available to heterosexual families?

 

4.  Do your client eligibility criteria include appropriate provisions for evaluating the income of GLBT families?

 

5.  Does your intake form include a space to indicate “domestic partner” as an alternative to “married” or “spouse”?

 

6.  Do you do outreach in GLBT publications and communities?

 

7.  Does your mission statement encompass the needs of GLBT clients?

 

8.  Do your client nondiscrimination policies cover sexual orientation and marital status, and do the disability portions of your nondiscrimination policy cover medical conditions such as AIDS and HIV status?

 

9.  Does your resource and referral list include organizations that provide support to GLBT clients?

 

10.  Do you seek foundation grants to address issues of concern to poor GLBT clients in the same way that you seek those grants for heterosexual issues?

 

11.  Are client complaints about homophobia or bias treated seriously?

 

12.  Does the physical environment include displays reflective of sexual orientation diversity (posters, art, magazines, etc.)?

 

13.  Do your agency publicity materials demonstrate an openness to GLBT clients (i.e. pictures of same-sex couples)?