乐播传媒

乐播传媒 PRIDE, the College’s LGBT alumni group, examines the intersection of careers and sexual orientation

By H. Jay Burns and Gabrielle Otto ’11

Where, exactly, does a homosexual student put “I am gay” on the job resume?

Grappling with this figurative question, three alums who spoke during a Homecoming panel discussion on LGBT career issues urged students to integrate their sexual orientation into their job search. 鈥淚 am always candid about who I am,鈥� said Larry Handerhan 鈥�05, a graduate student in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. Being forthright, he says, allows you to 鈥渃all on every network and every 鈥榓ffinity bucket鈥� you have.鈥�

The Saturday afternoon Homecoming gathering at the Benjamin Mays Center was co-hosted by the student group OUTfront and the alumni group The latter group, founded by Handerhan in 2010, seeks to be a forum and clearinghouse for LGBT alumni and their allies. It receives College support through the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs.

The panel also featured lawyer Jason Hall 鈥�97, a high-level official in Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon鈥檚 administration, and LK Gagnon 鈥�88, information services manager for the Maine Association of Nonprofits. Nikki Rankine, a senior from Brooklyn, N.Y., and coordinator for OUTfront, moderated.

After graduation, Handerhan joined AmeriCorps and headed to the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, then moved to California. He worked for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (鈥淲e told each other our comingout stories, and he hired me on the spot鈥�), then landed a job with the state Democratic Party 鈥渓argely as a result of my LGBT political work.鈥�

When Gagnon urged job-seekers to “be clear about who you are,” Hall responded, “I鈥檓 conflicted on this.”

While each alum agreed that a successful job search means being 鈥減aid and comfortable,鈥� as Gagnon put it, Hall noted that such forthrightness wasn鈥檛 always part of his presentation. When Gagnon urged job-seekers to 鈥渂e clear about who you are,鈥� Hall responded, 鈥淚鈥檓 conflicted on this.鈥�

Hall did not come out until his late 20s, after he attended Vanderbilt, made Law Review, and began a law career clerking for a federal circuit court judge. Would the same doors, specifically Law Review, have swung open had he not been perceived as straight? 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 know,鈥� Hall says.

That said, Hall has built what he calls a 鈥減latform鈥� around his orientation. The first bit of framing occurred around 2004, when he was a new associate with the prominent St. Louis firm Bryan Cave. At that time, Missouri was heading toward passage of a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Hall, quietly out at the time, began to do some networking around the vote, quickly discovering a robust gay law community.

By November 2005, Hall was leading the rollout of Lawyers for Equality, the first gay lawyers鈥� association in St. Louis. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a news story on Nov. 16, and the next day Bryan Cave had posted the story on its website with a quote from the firm鈥檚 partners: 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 great that Jason is taking a leadership role such as this one. Diversity is one of the firm鈥檚 core values.鈥�

Gagnon offered the Mays Center audience some historical perspective, recalling 乐播传媒鈥� Gay-Straight Alliance of the 1980s. Founded as Gay at 乐播传媒 in 1979, the campus organization added 鈥渟traight鈥� in November 1980. The idea was 鈥渇or straights to be comfortable with gays,鈥� she said, adding, with a laugh, that more than a few of those straight members later came out as gay.

Hall, now executive director of the public- private Missouri Technology Corp., said that the mid-1990s at 乐播传媒 seemed a quiet time around gay issues. 鈥淚 would鈥檝e stood out more by being blue collar and Midwestern,鈥� he quipped, quickly adding that 鈥淚 give 乐播传媒 a lot of credit for how it goes about seeking diversity.鈥�

In the early 2000s, Handerhan says the climate was OK for gay students, though he says he was cautious about expressing overtly his sexuality. 鈥淚t kind of had to be put to the side.鈥�

Going back to tips for LGBT job-seekers, the panelists agreed that researching a firm鈥檚 culture is important. Karen McRoberts, director of the 乐播传媒 Career Development Center, notes that a firm might have a specific LGBT or other diversity program, in which case 鈥渁cceptance is sort of stated.鈥�

If a firm鈥檚 culture is uncertain, says McRoberts, a LGBT jobseeker should use discretion during the interview. 鈥淎n important part of the interview is being able to read what鈥檚 happening in the interview room itself,鈥� McRoberts says. 鈥淚n some situations it might be very appropriate to share that in the interview process. In others discretion might be better. Your orientation is something that should be handled case by case, based on the who, what, when, where, why, and how.鈥�

Of course, says Handerhan, students should be bold about reaching out to alumni, though he understands their hesitancy. 鈥淚 realize that I didn鈥檛 do it as much as I should have,鈥� he said.

When Handerhan says he also wished he had 鈥渃alled in鈥� more favors during his job search, that made Gagnon grin, and she turned to Handerhan. 鈥淟arry, you鈥檙e like 27, right?! I think you鈥檒l have time to call in those favors!鈥�