Just so everybody knows:
ERG = Employee Resource Group
EAG = Employee Affinity Group
I am a member of an LGBT ERG group at work. We have about 15 members, about half of which are allies. For the record, I identify as a "B" with some degree of "T". Within the company, there are many other ERG's for Chinese heritage, Asian (everybody else), black, Latino, etc.
For the last couple of months I, along 3 others have been working on setting up a joint meeting with one of the other ERG's. This was tried a few years back and it went so poorly (I was not in attendance, so my info is secondhand) that it never happened again. Basically a member of the other group spewed a bunch of negative stuff about gay people, how they should all be removed from the earth, etc. Unfortunately the meeting was not well managed from a group dynamics standpoint and the result was that people were really turned off.
So in recent times, a leader of the other group, who is also a good friend, approached me to see if folks were interested in meeting again. He felt that his group had evolved far enough (and the really negative elements have departed) so that some real information sharing and understanding could take place. So, this is all scheduled to happen next Friday (1/18) and I am going to moderate.
That's the background. The tricky part is this. I have told some trusted co-workers that I am bisexual and that this is in part why my first marriage ended. People were cool with it and they all have remained friends. However, in the course of the meeting, it could happen that I will out myself or perhaps things may be such that it is the only logical conclusion; that I am LGBT and not an ally.
As I was coming to the point of volunteering to moderate, it occurred to me that it felt like something that I had to do. As difficult as it might feel, it seems necessary. Besides, in effect, it would also be lying in front of my fellow LGBT members and allies. However, and this is a MAJOR point: the "B" is open to discussion, but the "T" will remain a secret...
Please share whatever thoughts you have...