 President's Message: Building a Federal Community Across the NationPittsburgh! Third GLOBE National Conference November 12Executive Order 13087 StandsFederal GLOBE Committee Explores Domestic Partner BenefitsFederal GLOBE Board Member DepartsLambda PTO Happenings |
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Deadline for the January-March issue is February 10, 1999.
Contact: Jeffrey Brooke Jeff@fedglobe.org |
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Building a Federal Community Across the Nation
Federal GLOBE has made tremendous progress toward becoming a national organization. It's important to look at that progress and its implications, and acknowledge the work that went into achieving a national presence for our organization and a platform for our concerns.
We must unite behind the idea of having a stronger national presence. Since we work for the largest employer in America, Federal GLOBE has the potential to become the largest GLBT workplace organization in the United States, even one of the largest GLBT organizations in the ranks of HRC and NGLTF.
We've made many strides to increase our national presence. During Len Hirsch's tenure as president, Federal GLOBE began attending the Creating Change conferences sponsored by NGLT, first as a participant and then holding our own one-day conferences in conjunction with NGLTF. Federal GLOBE's conference will take place in Pittsburgh on November 12, 1998. Kitti Durham, Federal GLOBE board member, has coordinated the conferences which have been key to enhancing our national presence. Please join us in Pittsburgh-see our web site for more information or call Kitti Durham at 202-267-2076.
A greater sense of connectivity between federal and agency GLOBEs has grown with the conferences and through our web site - www.fedglobe.org. Diane Herz, Federal GLOBE board member, got our web site off the ground and recruited Annie Rivera of the Department of Labor to manage the site. The web site has brought new ideas and new contacts with federal employees from Alaska to Atlanta who now have the resources to effectively organize locally. Our web site has catapulted our role as a clearing house of information and best practices in the Federal government. Federal GLOBE's web site content and resources have been praised by outside groups, and we have received numerous positive comments from diversity managers and individual employees about the value of the materials available. We add information to our web site almost daily.
Jeff Brooke, Federal GLOBE board member, has coordinated a revamp of the Federal GLOBE newsletter-GLOBALView. He recruited John Kerwin, a corporate identity specialist and publication designer volunteering his time, to redesign and produce GLOBALView, and Clare Brigidini of the Library of Congress, to proof and copy edit, to improve communication with the far-flung Federal employee community. GLOBALView increasingly highlights the activities of agency GLOBEs-please contribute your group's progress and plans to Jeff@fedglobe.net.
Federal GLOBE is also pursuing a more active presence. In the political and social discussion, Kitti Durham has headed our efforts to issue more press releases, especially about our role in the discussion around Executive Order 13087 which bars sexual orientation discrimination in the federal workplace.
I and other members of the board received numerous calls from the straight and gay press across the U.S. to speak to the importance of President Clinton's Executive Order and the failed Congressional attempt to overturn it.
Board members have made numerous speaking engagements this year, including appearances before the Federal Council of EEO Directors, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Senior Seminar of the Department of State, the EEO Office of the IRS. Board members have also participated in diversity events at FDA, NIH, Justice, and Commerce.
Brendan Doyle, of EPA GLOBE, has spearheaded a Federal GLOBE discussion group on partner benefit issues in the Government. This group held its second meeting on September 17-for more information see Federal GLOBE's web site. Through our web site, we have created an electronic Federal National Coming Out Day Register, which gives Federal employees across the U.S. a site to access and apply to be listed as an openly gay Federal employee. There is no more personal way for each of us to effect change than to come 'out.' National Coming Out Day is October 11. Urge your GLB colleagues to register through our web site! You don't need to be a member of any GLOBE organization.
Federal GLOBE continues to demonstrate the Sexual Orientation in the Workplace workshop we developed with HRC and Hollywood Supports. Please promote the workshop, aimed at EEO and HR mangers, in our agency. See our web site for more information or call Rob Sadler at 202/543-9583.
Federal GLOBE is a voluntary non-profit organization with no paid staff. Our accomplishments are due to hard, after-hours work. Think of what more we could accomplish if you were to join or volunteer your time and talents. In this time of increasing polarization and political upheaval, it is more important than ever to continue our work and present a united front.
Has your agency taken serious actions to implement President Clinton's executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal work-place? Is ensuring the safety of your workplace part of your supervisor's annual review? Have your supervisor or coworkers been educated about sexual-orientation in-the-workplace issues? Federal GLOBE's third annual day-long training conference, with this year's theme 'Implementing the President's Executive Order,' will discuss actions that agencies should and can take to fulfill the President's order.
Federal GLOBE's conference will be held in Pittsburgh on November 12, 1998, as a pre-conference to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF) annual Creating Change conference. The purpose of the conference is to coach members of agency GLOBE organizations regarding how to work closely with agency management to successfully implement the President's order. We will evaluate implementation progress up to this point and update you on the Office of Personnel Management efforts to issue implementing guidelines to the agencies.
This conference will be an exciting one, coming on the heels of the Congressional elections. We will address the impact of the election results on the GLBT Federal employee.
As we continue to partner with federal employee unions, Susan Lander of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, will participate in a discussion concerning how to gain and maintain the assistance of your local Union.
Most importantly, the conference provides us with another opportunity to network with GLBT Federal Employees 'outside of the Beltway' and to continue to strengthen community ties throughout the United States by sharing workplace success stories. These conferences present opportunities for us to hear from each of you, and for you to let us know what you need from Federal GLOBE.
The cost to attend Federal GLOBE's training conference is $65, which also includes lunch, snack and beverages. You may register by either completing the attached form, or through the Federal GLOBE web page, www.fedglobe.org.
We strongly encourage you to also attend the NGLTF "Creating Change Conference,' which will be held from November 12-15 at this same location. By doing so, you will receive a special discount price of $125, if you pre-register through Federal GLOBE. Your total cost is $190 for both conferences. You may make hotel reservations at the conference rate of $86/ Single; $96/Double; $106/Triple or $116/Quadruple. To make reservations, call 1-800-937-8461 and mention the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change Conference.
Executive Order Stands:
The House of Representatives voted 252-176 against an attempt to overturn President Clinton's executive order banning workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians in the federal government.
Executive Order 13087, signed by the President in May, extended the federal workplace EEO process to include sexual orientation.
As Congress debated overturning the order, Federal GLOBE worked with the Human Rights Campaign and others to provide real life stories of discrimination in the workplace experienced by GLB federal employees. These stories helped members of Congress understand why the current system was not working, and why the President's Executive Order 13087 is not a special right or affirmative action. The bipartisan vote, with its strong 76 vote "victory margin" defeating the Hefley amendment, signals a new era of tolerance in Congress, at least with respect to protections for GLB workplace issues.
Federal GLOBE has been working closely with the White House, the Office of Special Counsel, and the Office of Personnel Management to develop implementation guidance for federal agencies. Federal GLOBE expects that OPM will issue this guidance this year and include, among other things, mandates for providing training on sexual orientation issues in the workplace for EEO and personnel employees who will administer complaint systems.
Federal GLOBE believes that OPM's implementation guidance will also mandate that agencies establish procedures to investigate allegations of sexual orientation discrimination. All cabinet-level departments, excluding DoD, have issued non-discrimination statements that include sexual orientation. Even prior to the President's order several departments, including the Justice, Treasury, Transportation, HHS, and State, had developed parallel EEO procedures to investigate allegations of sexual orientation discrimination.
The vote took place on August 5, 1998. The U.S. House of Representatives defeated by a vote of 252176 an amendment, originally offered by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO), to the Commerce, Justice, and State Department Appropriations bill which would have nullified Executive Order 13087. An earlier attempt to add the same amendment to the Treasury appropriations bill failed because of the opposition of Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), an openly gay member of Congress.
Federal GLOBE commends the work of Rep. Kolbe, Rep. Barney Frank, and others in defeating this measure.
For further information check the Federal GLOBE web page (wwwfedglobe.org) or call Rob Sadler at 202/543-9583.
U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and U.S. Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) were instrumental in defeating an amendment offered by U.S. Representative Joel Hefley (R-CO), which would have nullified the President's Executive Order banning workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians in the federal government.
Representatives of seven federal departments and agencie! met July 23 to explore commo interests in domestic partner benefits for federal government employees. Rob Sadler, Federal GLOBE president, opened the first meeting off the group which will explore legislative and administrative options for advancing the government-wide availability of domestic partner benefits. Sadler shared background and resource materials on partner benefits with the group and noted that these materials would be available on Federal GLOBE's web site (www.fedglobe.org).
There is a wide array of benefits for the group to consider, such as health coverage, leave, retirement and pension benefits, access to facilities and services (such as day care), and relocation support. Members of the group focused primarily on the availability of leave and medical benefits.
Gays and lesbians would not be the sole beneficiaries of domestic partner benefits; heterosexual couples who choose not to marry and pensioners, who might loose benefits from a deceased federal employee spouse, could also benefit. EPA GLOBE members distributed a draft fact sheet explaining the various types of benefits currently available to EPA employees. Representatives of other agencies will explore the availability of similar benefits available from their agencies.
Several members expressed concerns about the need to balance information sharing with the need to avoid drawing attention to those agencies who are breaking new ground in partner benefits. This concern is driven by recent congressional appropriations bills which contained riders proposing to void the provision of domestic partner benefits in cities such as San Francisco d Washington, DC.
The group will meet monthly to share information on how different agencies and departments provide domestic partner benefits, focus on special areas of interest (e.g., maternity benefits for domestic partners, market-based approaches to purchasing health care coverage, and what private sector business and organizations are doing in this area), and develop information for other GLOBE members. Members of the group will follow-up and research domestic-partner-benefits information available from the Human Rights Campaign and unions.
Participants agreed that they should focus on nonlegislative and administrative solutions within their own agencies to secure benefits. This in light of the surety that the two bills currently pending in Congress that could provide domestic partner benefits are not going to be enacted this session.
Anyone interested in joining the group should e-mail Brendan Doyle at: doyle.brendan@epamall.epa.gov.
Eileen Fesco, a Federal GLOBE Board Member for the past year, and an active member of EPA GLOBE, has taken a year's sabbatical from EPA and has stepped down from her Federal GLOBE post. Eileen did a tremendous job for Federal GLOBE supporting and coordinating our presence at Black Pride, Montgomery Pride and D.C. Pride in 1998. We wish her the best of luck and we will miss her energy.
Lambda PTO, the GLBT employee association at the Patent and Trademark Office, will elect new officers in November. Lambda is instituting a new meeting policy, with business meetings and lunch outings alternating every other month. This year Lambda PTO continued its tradition of participating in the Community Day celebration on August 6. A day of food, dance performances, and a fashion show, Community Day celebrates the diverse cultures comprising the Patent and Trademark Office. Lambda sponsored an information table at the event which received an Honorable Mention. On August 22, Lambda PTO sponsored a sailing trip with the Rainbow Spinnakers.
In September, Lambda members heard from Whitman-walker's Legal Clinic about volunteer opportunities for attorneys and non-attorneys. In mid-September Lambda members got together for dinner and a performance of Oscar Wilde's Salome at the District of Columbia Arts Center, featuring one of our members. Also in September, Lambda members collected money for a drive sponsored by the Native American Employment Program to purchase school supplies for Native American children on reservations.
Rob Sadler, President, Federal GLOBE
Pittsburgh! Third GLOBE National Conference November 12
Federal GLOBE Fights with Information Consults with White House on Implementation
FEDERAL GLOBE COMMITTEE EXPLORES
Domestic Partner Benefits
Federal GLOBE Board Member Departs
Lambda PTO Happenings