Outspoken West 2022

Recent events have seen the steady erosion of LGBTQ+ civil rights in the US public square. According to the HRC, 2021 was a watershed year for US anti-transgender legislation, as 13 of a record 147 state-level proposals successfully passed into law. Described by Arkansas state Rep. Mary Bentley (R) as social “abomination[s],” the transgender community found itself embroiled in a fiercely incandescent culture war with broad sociopolitical and legal implications. More recently, and in the shadow of a newly reconfigured US Supreme Court, the passage of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill—described by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill—suggests an ominous turn in an era where “empower[ed] parents” and calls for improved “quality of life” threaten to derail social progress. This conversation offers earnest commentary on the state of US LGBTQ+ civil rights today. Do current developments augur hope or despair for current and future generations?

Moderator:
Beth Bloom, Employment Trial Lawyer, Bloom Employment Attorneys

Panelists:
Marsha Botzer, Founder, Ingersoll Gender Center & Principal, Botzer Consulting
Monisha Harrell, Senior Deputy Mayor, City of Seattle
Lieutenant Douglas Raguso, Lieutenant, Seattle Police Department
Anthony E. Varona, Dean-Designate & Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law

Pan-industry research suggests that diversity and authenticity directly correlate with enhanced productivity, creativity, and overall profitability in modern business. Whether on a personal or professional level, acting with passion and confidence helps establish a tangible brand upon which key relationships and career development opportunities are forged. This presentation offers comprehensive guidance on building strategic clarity and assurance around the unique contours of LGBTQ+ identity. Participants are invited to share their own perspectives on successes (or setbacks) throughout the conversation.

Moderator:
Jonathan Fitzgarrald, Managing Partner, Equinox Strategy Partners

Panelists:
Zaher Lopez, Senior Counsel – Employment, Walgreens
Lee Ann Martinson, Senior Vice President, Philanthropic Fiduciary Executive, Bank of America Private Bank
Julie Wilson-McNerney, Counsel, Perkins Coie LLP

Pride Month and Gilbert Baker’s iconic rainbow flag are intended to celebrate the diverse, rich heritage of the LGBTQ+ nation and its myriad constituents. Each year, the support of numerous celebrities, corporate sponsors, and dedicated community partners offers a kinetic and ostensibly inclusive tableau of modern LGBTQ+ experience and identity politics. Yet in the eyes of a growing chorus of critics, for many LGBTQ+ people of color, Pride Month’s increasingly commercialized spectacle is a lost opportunity to shed light upon marginalized pockets of the queer collective still grappling with visibility and acceptance. This conversation offers an important inquiry into the racial, ethnic, and cultural limitations of LGBTQ+ communal pride. For all the good “mainstream” media and businesses have done to celebrate or recognize LGBTQ+ constituents, can more be done to incorporate “fringe” members of the community?

Moderator:
Gillian Power, Senior Advisor, Unbiased Consulting

Panelists:
Krystal Marx, Executive Director, Seattle Pride
Nico Ikal Quintana, Lead Attorney, Lavender Rights Project
Hussain Turk, Associate, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

A recent study by the Institute of Management Accountants and the California Society of CPAs found that only half of LGBTQ+ employees working in US accounting view the profession as equitable and inclusive. Even more alarming, less than 35% of respondents openly identifying as LGBTQ+ believe they receive equitable treatment or similar promotional and career development opportunities as that of their non-LGBTQ+-identifying peers. In the legal profession, a similar “bottleneck” exists as one advances toward law firm partnership. Indeed, according to American Bar Association surveys, LGBTQ+ lawyers constitute less than 2% of attorneys in a given firm, yet average an 11% annual attrition rate, and appear overrepresented as Non-equity (as opposed to Equity) partners in large and midsize organizations. Such conclusions underscore a crucial need for better support networks and LGBTQIA+ employee retention strategies across professional services firms. This breakout shares a timely take on best practices and operational strategies toward reversing this accelerating trend.

Moderator:
Kimberly Scott, CAE, President & CEO, Washington Society of CPAs

Panelists:
Kirk B. Maag, Partner, Stoel Rives LLP
Rob Moore, Senior Consultant, Technology Consulting, Armanino LLP
Kinman Tong, CPA, Partner & Member, Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, Moss Adams LLP

According to a new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law, 37.7% of survey respondents experienced at least some form of workplace harassment or discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. More distressing, an astounding 67.5% of survey participants also experienced derogatory jokes, slurs, or general commentary toward LGBTQ+ people from workplace peers, including nearly 33% reporting such reprehensible behavior within the last five years. Suffice it to say, for as much as Bostock v. Clayton County transformed workplace experience for many LGBTQ+ professionals, more can and should be done. This conversation offers important guidance on reporting and managing anti-LGBTQ+ workplace behavior in the current climate. As multiple generations continue to enter the workforce, and many employers embark upon hybrid or remote working models, how can individual employees and diversity or human resources professionals reinforce inclusive cultures across the enterprise?

Moderator:
Katie Carter, Chief Executive Officer, Pride Foundation

Panelists:
Zaher Lopez, Senior Counsel – Employment, Walgreens
Carlisle M. Pearson, Associate, Lane Powell

Homosexuality and organized religion share a lengthy if often vexed past. From quiet disapproval to “sanctified” execution, varied and at times ambiguous cross-denominational attitudes toward same-sex desire and homosexuality underscore a profoundly rocky relationship for LGBTQ constituents with religious inclinations or beliefs. Indeed, in an era where synergies between religious fundamentalism and homophobia coalesce with salacious headlines of sexual abuse and the Catholic Church, outbreaks of antisemitism, and anti-LGBTQ violence in Africa and the Middle East, religion—or more precisely, religiosity as such—has come to occupy a special place in the eyes of a general public. This closing conversation takes an earnest look at the role of organized religion in informing policy and social norms around the world.

Moderator:
Hussain Turk, Associate, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

Panelists:
Rabbi Allison Flash, Support Rabbi, Kol HaNeshamah
Matthias Roberts, Author, Beyond Shame
Reverend Jermell Witherspoon, Executive Director/Senior Pastor, United Church of Christ; Faith Leader Engagement Coordinator, Lambert House

Please join us for cocktails and canapés as we wrap up the day’s discussion.