By Rosalie Chamberlain This quiz will help you explore behaviors based on what you believe
(consciously or unconsciously), how you show up and recognize some views
and behaviors that are ‘blocks’ that hamper success and relationships.
Select the most correct answer for you.
What happens when an opposing perspective exists?:
Are you open to considering?
Are you convinced you have the right answer?
Do you judge the person offering the different viewpoint?
Your biases (preferences, beliefs and attitudes) influence behaviors
and decisions that create blocks that might prevent you from seeing
opportunities for collaboration and leveraging talent.
How inclusive are you? Do you:
Seek input from the same person or persons or network and socialize with the same group?
Make decisions about someone based on their appearance or background?
Allow privileges for some and not others?
All of the above
If you selected any of the choices above, especially D, it is time to
step back and ask yourself why you respond the way you do, where did
you learn your truth? Example: At a recent traffic check, a young
Caucasian woman was stopped and did not have all of the information
requested by the officer. The officer allowed her to carry on, with
simply a "no worries,” and, “I trust you" response. Would everyone
receive the same privilege?
Are you interested in having a dialogue or a debate?
Do you listen fully to what is being said?
Do you partially listen while planning how you will respond?
Do you respond to what has been said, with "yes, but...?"
There are times for healthy debate to examine ideas and determine
what will be the best solution. However, when every response is a
contrary position without acknowledging and exploring someone else's
idea, the motivation for the other person to contribute will wane and
eventually fall away - or they will walk away.
What does your energy say about you?
Do you come across as a victim, where it seems like you can't win and you place blame on others or an organization?
Do have your boxing gloves on, ready to pounce and fight to defend what you want?
Do you approach situations with an attitude of collaboration, curiosity and interest?
If you chose C, congratulations! You are inspiring, motivating and
open. However, if you show up with a victim or defensive attitude,
consider it a red flag that needs attention.
Do you notice when you think someone of a different group
is a ‘certain way’ like trustworthy, not trustworthy, too quiet, too
aggressive, or any other automatic judgment that drives your behavior?
Yes
No
Sometimes
Check out if you are stereotyping an entire group and taking
shortcuts to make decisions without fully exploring the person’s unique
qualities.
Do you avoid exploring a topic or issue because you think it does not affect you?
Yes
No
Sometimes
Do you have a team or are part of an organization or group where
topics come up that take you out of your comfort zone? Communication,
communication, communication! Your willingness to build a culture of
open communication is one of the best things you can do for yourself and
your organization.
Is your language inclusive?
Do you use generic terms presuming to include everyone (gender
specific terms, racial group terms, religious affiliation terms, sexual
orientation terms, and physical ability terms)
Do you pay attention to the impact of your language?
Do you know what the marketing, recruiting and website language says about you or your organization?
Do you roll your eyes or tune out at the mention of diversity and inclusion?
Yes
No, but do not genuinely engage in conversation?
Look for ways to improve?
If you selected A or B, consider that it is a result of your
privilege and rank that you react in this way vs. looking to see what
you can do to be more inclusive. Privilege is not a gender, person of
color, disability, LGBT or religious issue. It is our issue.
Becoming more aware of how you respond to others and situations is
important for successful relationships. At work, for example, if you
want to attract the best talent for your organization, build
self-awareness of the messages and signals you are sending and
understand the impact on the company, the employees, the customers and
you.
Rosalie Chamberlain is the author of Conscious Leadership in the Workplace and the owner of Denver, CO-based Rosalie Chamberlain Consulting & Coaching.
A thirty-five year organizational culture and eighteen year coaching
veteran, she specializes in maximizing talent and productivity within
organizations. She is a skilled consultant, facilitator, coach and
speaker in the areas of diversity and inclusion strategy, multicultural
competency, leadership development, and talent management, with
expertise in managing and leveraging diverse talent.
Graduating Rutgers Law School student, who also grew up in Hawaii, is inspired by president's commitment to civil rights
By Amber E. Hopkins-Jenkins/Rutgers Today
The president of the United States will not be the only lawyer who grew up in Hawaii at Rutgers’ commencement this Sunday.
Like President Obama, Michael Ganoot, who will graduate from Rutgers Law School in Camden with a juris doctorate, was born and raised on the island of Oahu.
“Hawaii is a great place to grow up and live. It’s really ethnically diverse, which brings a lot of different opinions and perspectives, and you’re always 20- or 30-minutes from a beach,” he says.
Ganoot, who is of Japanese, Filipino and Puerto Rican descent, grew up in the town of Waipahu, about 15 miles from Honolulu.
“As a state, we were very excited for President Obama when he was elected. We’re extremely proud to have a person from Hawaii in the office.”
After commencement, Ganoot will return to Hawaii to prepare for his home state’s bar exam. He plans to practice administrative law through an agency, preferably the Department of Justice or Homeland Security, in the nation’s capital after licensure.
Ganoot realized the importance of law in society and decided to become an attorney following the national tragedies of September 11th, which occurred during his junior year of high school. He says the tone of the country changed and racial profiling and discrimination against Arab Americans and Middle Eastern immigrants became more commonplace.
“This is not the first time this has been done,” he says, recalling a high school field trip to the Honouliuli camp in western Oahu, where hundreds of Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. (The Obama administration designated the site as a national monument in 2015.)
“It’s scary how easily our country can turn on people during conflict. Racial profiling doesn’t have to happen to people who look like me for me to be sensitive and want to affect change. Marginalized people usually suffer first and worst.”
Ganoot did not pursue his goal to be a lawyer immediately. After graduating from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2008 with a degree in political science and government, he worked in retail management for Best Buy for five years to save money for law school. He’d never left Hawaii, but wanted to experience living elsewhere and decided to research east coast law programs.
Apparently, leaving Hawaii is not the most popular idea.
“People on the continent think I’m crazy to have left ‘paradise’ for law school,” he says. “But Hawaii is obviously geographically isolated. One can’t just drive to explore new states and new places.”
Ganoot didn’t even visit campus before matriculating. Rutgers’ academic rigor, the high concentration of lawyers in Philadelphia and New York City and the opportunity to have a new vantage point were enough to help him make his final decision.
During law school, Ganoot, who came out as gay during college, served as secretary and vice president for Outlaws, an affinity and outreach group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender law students. The organization connects with LGBT attorneys and students at other law programs in the Philadelphia area; fundraises for AIDS Walk; and raises awareness of minority issues, particularly law enforcement’s interactions with minorities.
He considers the Obama administration’s advocacy for equality and LGBT rights unparalleled.
“The impact of his presidency – from the Supreme Court’s historic ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act to its most recent stance against transgender discrimination in North Carolina – will help us move forward, at least legally,” Ganoot says.
“Social acceptance of the LGBT community is a separate issue, but there have been giant steps in the right direction.”
Ganoot spent most of his final year of law school participating in the Rutgers Civil Practice Clinic, which is both a law course and a law office for the Camden community. He has represented clients in Social Security benefits and adoption disputes under the supervision of a faculty attorney.
“It’s really fulfilling to apply what we’ve learned to the problems of real people who don’t have the means to get representation,” he says. “We’ve provided such a valuable service, and it’s been an opportunity to experience our future role and workload as attorneys and counselors.”
Ganoot is excited to see the president in person and that his parents will make the long journey from Hawaii to New Jersey for his graduation.
“This is a historic opportunity… to have the president of the United States – from Hawaii – speaking during commencement, particularly one that celebrates Rutgers 250th anniversary. It’s all pretty fantastic.”
Exhilarating fun and challenges are planned for visitors to Key West Pride 2016. The annual festival, set for Wednesday through Sunday, June 8-12, salutes diversity in one of America's leading gay and lesbian getaway spots.
The celebration on the subtropical island of Key West features daytime pool parties, late-night drag shows, on-the-water adventures including snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding and a Veterans of Foreign Wars fishing tournament; a rainbow bike parade, a street fair on renowned Duval Street, a burlesque experience tailored to the LGBT audience; a one-of-a-kind trolley tour documenting the LGBT community's impact on Key West history and culture, a festive brunch served with a drag show on the side and more.
Did you catch last night's episode of Skin Wars, "Miss Skin Wars?"
The remaining body painting artists were joined by nine fabulous drag queens from “RuPaul's Drag Race,” all vying to be crowned the first-ever Miss Skin Wars by competing in a body-painted swimwear competition and a more personal painted costume design.
And Judge RuPaul Charles even dished out some advice to body painting artist, Otto, who needed a little help with his pronouns - by saying, "You can call me HE, you can call me SHE, you can call me REGIS & KATHIE LEE."
With the 2016 legislative session ending yesterday, it is disappointing that most of the bills introduced to advance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Coloradans and their families were defeated in the State Senate -- even though many had bipartisan support.
GayTravel.com is working with Two Bad Tourists and giving away a free 3-night stay for 2 people at The Dunes Resort. What are you waiting for? Enter now!
On the eve of the release of his highly anticipated debut LP Cut and Paste, North Londoner Oscar shares the video for new single "Good Things"
Shot by acclaimed director Bryan Schlam (who also worked with Oscar on the "Sometimes" video and has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar in the past), it is a brilliantly off-beat, surreal accompaniment to the track, in Oscar's own words: "The song's message is a positive one and so it seemed a good idea to contrast that nicely in the video with a Warhol-esque sequence of things going wrong! The little things in life that seem like failures have to be laughed at in order to move on and to see all the good things!"
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) announces a groundbreaking family acceptance campaign designed to bridge the cultural divide that prevents Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (API) children from coming out to their parents. In contrast to the western dynamic, API parents are now opening the closet door for their children.
NQAPIA’s new Asian Family Acceptance Campaign includes a landmark series of emotionally-moving television ads, entitled “Family Is Still Family,” plus a series of in-person workshops around the country, presented by API parents of LGBT children. The ads will run for the first time on major international Asian television networks in the U.S. during June for LGBT Pride Month.
API LGBT youth face unique obstacles to coming out, including the fear of shaming and dishonoring their parents and ancestors. These cultural obstacles often lead to self-loathing, depression and suicide. NQAPIA’s revolutionary multilingual “Family Is Still Family” advertising campaign removes the specter of shame, silence and guilt by having parents open the closet door for their kids, offering unconditional love and acceptance. These life-affirming messages are presented in English, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese dialects), Hindi, Korean, Japanese Vietnamese and Tagalog.
“For generations, a culture of shame and misinformation has kept Asian American youth in the closet,” said Glenn Magpantay, Executive Director of NQAPIA. “Our new Asian Family Acceptance Campaign will break this cycle of shame and suicide by helping API parents, many who are immigrants and bilingual, to open the door to unconditional love and acceptance for their LGBT children.”
The “Family Is Still Family” TV ad campaign will run in June (LGBT Pride Month). The ads are scheduled to air on SinoVision (Chinese) June 1 to June 7, Television Korea 24 (TVK) June 8 to June 14, and on StarTV (South Asian) June 15 to June 21. A different ethnic ad in each language will run each week during June.
OUT magazine today released its June/July 2016 cover featuring Nick Jonas. In his cover story interview with
OUT contributor Chadwick Moore, Jonas discusses his burgeoning acting career, his upcoming solo album,
Last Year Was Complicated, and the constant accusations of gay baiting.
This summer, the Dumb Friends League is teaming up with local breweries to host a series of dog-friendly “Yappy Hours” to benefit the homeless pets at its shelters. During five evenings from May through August, animal lovers can enjoy local craft beer while supporting the Dumb Friends League’s mission to end pet homelessness and animal suffering.
A portion of the proceeds from each event will be donated to the Dumb Friends League by the host breweries, which include Declaration Brewing, Denver Beer Co., Black Shirt Brewing Co., Renegade Brewing and Jagged Mountain Brewery. In addition, the Dumb Friends League will be selling limited-edition pint glasses for $10. Each Yappy Hour will also feature food trucks, prize giveaways and a chance to mingle with fellow animal lovers (and their dogs!).
“Denver is such a pet-friendly community that really values the human-animal bond, and one that takes a lot of pride in its local craft beer scene,” said Megan Rees, public relations manager for the Dumb Friends League. “It’s a natural connection to bring the two together to help raise awareness about the services we offer and to raise money to help the homeless pets in our care.”
Last winter, the Dumb Friends League hosted a holiday Yappy Hour series that drew hundreds of attendees in the spirit of helping homeless pets. The League hopes to continue that success throughout the summer.
“As a local, independent nonprofit, we really rely on our community to be able to continue our life-changing work on behalf of homeless pets,” said Rees.
The Dumb Friends League takes in an average of 56 homeless pets every day—more than 20,000 last year. In addition to finding homes for pets and horses, the League offers many other programs, including foster care, humane education, behavior training, animal welfare investigations, equine services, lost and found, and spay and neuter services for cats and dogs in underserved areas of metro Denver at reduced fees, subsidized by Dumb Friends League donors.
Join Divine Feline on Thursday, June 16th from 6pm - 9pm at the Inn at Hudson Gardens for the 10th Annual Stray Cat Strut! This fun, festive event features live and silent auctions, cat-themed cocktails, live music, and delectable vegan hors d’oeuvres and desserts.
Tickets are $45 each when purchased in advance of the event.
The film Two Spirits will be the focus of a workshop on Thursday, May 12, 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by the nonprofit Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (SPAN), the workshop will take place at the SPAN Outreach Center at 835 North Street in Boulder.
The one-hour film explores the life and death of Fred Martinez, a male-bodied person with a feminine nature that was considered a special gift in his ancient Navajo Indian culture. At age 16, Martinez was one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern times when he was brutally murdered in southwestern Colorado in June 2001.
The film examines Western society’s gender roles that have been strictly binary – there are men and there are women – and what people are expected and permitted to do stem from the moment the doctor says, “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” Light refreshments will be served, and attendees are welcome to bring their own meal. Each attendee is requested to make a $10.00 donation, but nobody will be turned away due to inability to pay. The workshop is free to students and SPAN volunteers. RSVP via email to info@safehousealliance.org. - via La Gente Unida
Orientedfollows the lives of three gay Palestinian friends as they confront their national and sexual identities in modern Tel Aviv, Israel. There's Khader, a nightlife "darling" who lives with his Jewish boyfriend David. Fadi, an ardent Palestinian nationalist finds himself falling in love with an Israeli soldier. Naim, must find the courage to come out to his conservative family. Determined to change their reality, the three friends form a non-violent, cultural resistance group called "Qambuta" (Cauliflower) to advocate for sexual, ethnic and gender equality.
The film is scheduled to launch on DVD and VOD (Itunes, Indemand, Amazon, Google Play, Dish confirmed so far) beginning June 21st – joining in on Pride celebrations around the world! The film debuted with a 100 screening tour around the world, including appearances in Newfest, Sheffield Doc/Fest, IDFA 2015, Los Angeles Film Festival, and Dok Leipzig.
The Fierce: International Queer Burlesque Festival is this week at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret on Friday, May 13th at 8 and 11pm, and Saturday, May 14th at 8 and 11pm. Tickets are $25 (18+) for the 8pm shows and $20 (21+ w/ID) for the 11pm shows.
Fierce! is the first festival to honor the talents and uniqueness of burlesque performers across the globe who identify as queer. The festival is presented by Viva LaLezz and will feature a variety of performers from around the country.
