Browse Stories
Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Olga Kensington's Experiences
I would attend company dinners at executives' homes. People would bring their wives and husbands, but I could never bring my partner. People always thought I was single and couldn't find a date, so th
It was a big deal that I was a vice president at this company. I was the youngest vice president in the company's history. I was a woman. I had bucked the trends. My boss thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I showed up on my first day of work and a co-worker had put lines of coke on my desk. Later, he had had sex on my desk and he bragged about it. So I guess you could call that a hostile work environmen
When my boss said, "I hear you're a lesbian." I just looked at her and said, "So?" I was in management already. I wasn't a worker bee - I had a title. It was the first time I stood up to something in
There was a very strong fundamentalist Christian culture at the office. They had unofficial policies that were implemented by the executive who was the head of marketing and sales. He would call people up and say, in no uncertain terms, "It is unacceptable for you to live with your boyfriend or girlfriend.
There was a dress code at the ad agency and at this oil company where you had to wear short skirts and heels. That was a published dress code policy! For someone who considers herself a butch lesbian, everyday of my life I felt like I was in drag having to go to work in drag.
My friend, who knows I am a lesbian, becomes my boss. The woman who had been my executive assistant was also a closeted lesbian, very closeted, and she started to hate me because she feared I would tell my friend.
I ended up being more slowly promoted than a coworker. I was a better performer, brought in more money, supervised people better. But it was the good old boys' club and I was a woman. I really do think that, had I had a husband, I might have been taken more seriously.
On a business trip one of my superiors called me at 2AM from his hotel room and said he wanted me to come to his room and have sex with him. I was so shocked. I couldn't go back to sleep. I thought, "What am I suppose to do about this?" At breakfast the next morning, he didn't show up, even though we were suppose to go to the airport together.
They had a very active LGBT group, but it was a secret that you were in the group. So people would meet secretly at off places.