June is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Awareness Month. EQUAL!, one of Alcatel-Lucent’s seven employee business partners, is planning activities to celebrate the contributions of the GLBT communities and raise awareness of the issues faced both within and outside the workplace that impact the lives of employees, friends or family members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Events during the month will include live events and webcast presentations. All employees are invited to attend.
Today is the first live event for 2010: Transgender Issues in the Workplace
Milo Primeaux is an FTM (female-to-male transgender) person and serves as a board member and treasurer of TransOhio. He speaks on transgender topics and participates in the annual TransOhio Transgender and Ally Symposium. Milo is a graduate of the United Way’s Pride Leadership Cycle 2 and previously founded and directed a transgender student organization on the country’s longest-running all-women’s college campus.
June 8th – 11:30 – 12:30 EDT
Live from Columbus 4R09-1C
Remotes: - 9A-318 in Naperville, IL- Park Place Room, Westford, MA
Also via remote showings (see next page) or webcast at: http://webcast.alcatel-lucent.com/2010/workplace
Conference Bridge: 800-771-8734, Code 5657678
For more details, please contact: Glenda Childress
In addition to live events, each weekday throughout the month, EQUAL! will also highlight a GLBTAM Icon on the EQUAL! blog site. These will be icons you may already know based on their work in the public eye, or with whom you work on a daily basis, or are new to you. Hope you take the opportunity to read their biography each day: http://www.equal.org/
Find details on the overall GLBT AM activities at the following URL:
http://mobility.ih.lucent.com/~equalni/global/glbtam/
“Becoming a member is free and easy, simply go to EQUAL! membership page”
Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, sociologist and educator who had a profound impact on academic thought. Foucault is best known for his critical studies of psychiatry, the prison system and human sexuality.
Foucault was born Paul-Michel Foucault in Poitiers, France, the son of a prominent surgeon. He graduated from the prestigious École Normale Supérieure, where he earned degrees in psychology and philosophy. Studying philosophy with the distinguished Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Foucault was recognized as a brilliant emerging academic.
In 1960, Foucault became head of the philosophy department at the University of Clermont-Ferrard, where he wrote his groundbreaking book, “Madness and Civilization” (1961). Foucault earned his doctorate and met philosophy student Daniel Defert, who became his lover for 20 years. When Defert was deployed for military service in Tunisia, Foucault followed, and in 1965, took a teaching position at the University of Tunis. Foucault’s second major work “The Order of Things” (1966) was a best seller in France and established him as an esteemed intellectual.
In 1970, Foucault was elected Professor of the History of Systems of Thought at the Collège de France, the nation’s preeminent academic institution. He published “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison” (1975), his most influential book. Foucault founded the Prisoner Information Group to give inmates a forum to share their concerns. In the mid-1970’s, Foucault taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
Foucault worked on “The History of Sexuality,” a planned six-volume project. He completed three volumes, which were published shortly before his death. The first volume had a powerful influence on gay consciousness.
In 1984, Foucault died of complications from AIDS at age 58, leaving a legacy of important works affecting contemporary issues of GLBT identity.
Information sourced from: http://www.glbthistorymonth.com/
“Becoming a member is free and easy, simply go to EQUAL! membership page”
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is the first out lesbian elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As of 2009, she is one of three openly gay members and the first openly gay non-incumbent elected to Congress.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Baldwin was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. She graduated from high school at the top of her class and attended Smith College, where she majored in government and mathematics. In 1986, Baldwin was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors, her first public office.During this time, she earned her degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. After practicing law from 1989 to 1992, she won a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
In 1998, Baldwin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, making her the first congresswoman from Wisconsin. She was elected to her sixth term in 2008. She serves on the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee of Energy and Commerce and on the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties of the Committee of the Judiciary. Baldwin is a leading advocate for universal health care, as well as a proponent of renewable fuel sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
A self-proclaimed “forceful supporter of civil rights and those whose voices are not heard,” Baldwin spearheaded efforts to pass inclusive hate crimes legislation and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). She has authored legislation that would extend benefits for same-sex partners to federal employees. Baldwin lives with her partner, Lauren Azar.
Information from: http://www.glbthistorymonth.com
“Becoming a member is free and easy, simply go to EQUAL! membership page”
John Amaechi is the first NBA player to speak publicly about being gay.
In 2007, three years after retiring from pro basketball, he became one of only six male professional athletes in the four major U.S. sports to come out. Amaechi, the son of a Nigerian father and a white British mother, grew up in England.
When he started playing basketball at 16, his right hand was nearly severed in an accident. As a result, Amaechi became ambidextrous, which helped him become a better basketball player. Amaechi played basketball at Penn State University, where he was twice selected a First Team Academic All-American. “It was absolutely my ultimate goal to play in the NBA,” says Amaechi. In 1995, Amaechi’s dream became reality. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, followed by the Orlando Magic and the Utah Jazz. In 2000, Amaechi made headlines when he turned down a $17 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers. Opting to stay in Orlando earning $600,000 a year, Amaechi remained loyal to the Magic, who hired him when no other team would. Amaechi’s memoir, “Man in the Middle” (2007), explores the challenges he faced as a closeted professional athlete.
After the NBA, Amaechi returned to Britain, where he turned to television sportscasting and covered the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the BBC. He appeared on several episodes of “Shirts & Skins,” a Logo reality series, where he mentored a gay basketball team and shared his experiences as an out athlete.
Amaechi owns Amaechi Performance Systems. He is a psychologist with a management consulting company specializing in workplace diversity and workplace climate and culture challenges. Amaechi established the ABC Foundation, which builds sports centers in Britain and encourages children’s involvement in sports and their communities.
Information from: http://www.glbthistorymonth.com
“Becoming a member is free and easy, simply go to EQUAL! membership page”
“I came out when I was 17. That’s not an issue for me, it’s not a decision for me. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about my whole adult life.”
Rachel Maddow is a television host, radio personality and political commentator. She is the first out lesbian to anchor a prime-time show. Maddow grew up in Castro Valley, California, a San Francisco suburb. She describes herself in high school as “a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl.”
She earned a degree in public policy from Stanford University. The first openly gay American to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, Maddow attended the University of Oxford, where she earned a doctorate in political science.
Maddow landed her first radio hosting job after winning a contest for a new on-air personality. In 2004, after hosting her second radio show, Maddow joined the newly established Air America as a co-host of “Unfiltered.” In 2005, Air America offered Maddow her own show. “The Rachel Maddow Show” is broadcast on Air America and XM Satellite Radio.
During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, Maddow became a popular political commentator on CNN and MSNBC. In 2008, after substitute hosting on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” Maddow was offered her own one-hour prime-time program, “The Rachel Maddow Show,” on MSNBC.
In 2008, Maddow was named one of Out magazine’s Out 100. In 2009, she received a Gracie Award from American Women in Radio and Television.
Maddow lives with her partner, artist Susan Mikula.
