Happy 2017 Pride Month!

This is not a tech post, and it’s a personal post.  Feel free to turn away right now!!! 

I always am quick to remind people, while it’s impossible to fully “separate” work and personal personas (after all, we are all each ONE person :-) Virtual Geek is a personal blog, and the words I write are mine and mine alone.

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Still with me?  Ok!

Distinctly from leading the Converged Platform and Solutions efforts in Dell EMC - I’m also the exec sponsors of the Dell Pride Employee Resource Group.

With the June 1st start of Pride Month – I wanted to share publicly the internal message on June 1st, the start of Pride Month.   I’ve made a few additions here, but no cuts.   If you’re not a Dell employee – some of the links below won’t work (they are internal), but I wanted to keep them for any readers who didn’t get the email.

I really deeply, personally believe in the principle of treasuring diversity in all forms.   I believe it makes a society, a team stronger – just like biodiversity makes an ecosystem stronger.  Likewise, homogenous/non-diverse ecosystems are fragile, and struggle to deal with change. 

People sometimes ask me why I’m passionate on this topic. 

Yes, I have many friends and colleagues that are part of the LGBT+ community – but that’s not why.   Yup, I’ve learnt that paraphrasing the immortal MLK, it IS about the “content of their character” - people can be terrible humans or great humans regardless of color, sex, creed, nationality, you name it.   Goodness/badness doesn’t correlate with any of those things in my experience – but that’s still not why I’m passionate on this topic.

When I was in my teenage years, I was exposed to the seminal (though dated) Kinsey reports research from the 1940/50’s on human sexuality, and it was fascinating to me.   The Kinsey scale (since then many more studies have been done) showed that sexuality is a continuum and shattered the myth of the “binary” nature of sexuality.  

Sometimes using that work “sexuality” makes people squirm, but think about it – it is a fundamental part of being human, a fundamental nature of human existence, and something at the core of each of us. 

It’s not just humans either.   We see that much more complex “continuum” nature of sexuality in the whole natural ecosystem.  We see it across different eras, and different cultures.  So YES there has been change, and YES awareness and acceptance of this intrinsic nature of humanity has moved a lot in the last 50 years - this is not just a moment in time, a cultural point, as someone commented (yikes – some of the trolling gets DARK) on a post from last year – a “homo fad” :-)

This learning in my teen years made me think about all the people struggling to be honest with themselves to fit into a “binary” state that just was not them.   Put simply, that would suck.  It would not be fair.   That’s why I’m passionate on the topic.

I know that publicly talking about topics some consider “morality” questions has some risk.   I do consider this a “moral” question – in the light of moral questions of fairness, and equality.   Why people hate (in any direction) on people/ideas who don’t hurt them I’ll never understand.   Disagree – totally get it.   Hatred – don’t understand.

It’s been interesting as an “accidental” public figure – when I’ve talked about International Women’s day (here, here) , or Pride Month (here, here) – yup, it generated some passionate dialog (it’s enlightening to read the comments), but I welcome the dialog.   I think talking, particularly with those that disagree – it moves ideas forward, and thus moves humanity forward.

Respect for diversity is principle is somewhat like freedom of speech – I respect the principle of diversity such that I respect the diverse views of people that disagree with me, and me with them, and I will fight vigorously for their right to disagree with me – so feel free to comment.   I don’t edit the comments on Virtual Geek, never have, and never will.

Happy Pride Month all – and without further ado, the internal comms that went to our Dell Pride ERG members…

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Pause and reflect for a moment.

• Do you believe fairness is important?
• Do you believe equality is right?
• Do you believe in personal freedom, in personal accountability?
• Do you believe everyone should be free? Free to be the best version of the person they were born to be so long as they are not harming others in any way? Free regardless of who they were born, their sex, color, creed or otherwise?
• In your experience – are the strongest teams made up of members that think the same way and have the same strengths and weaknesses? Or are the strongest teams the opposite – made up from people with all sorts of different points of view, but with shared goals?

Some think of diversity as a corporate buzzword. I don’t.

I think fairness, diversity are not only fundamentally the right thing to do, but also the right way to move teams, companies, countries, and humanity forward.

You can think of Pride Month in the historical sense:

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June (and in some places into July) to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Pride month celebrations have expanded to many countries around the globe.

Personally, to me Pride Month means something a little different.

Yes, it is an LGBT+ event, in honor of the history of the sacrifices, the daily challenges overcome by so many. Pride Month is a celebration of the hard-fought progress the LGBT+ community has made over time – not a straight line, but a zigzag of 2 steps forward, one step back.

Perhaps more fundamentally, I think of it as a moment to reflect on the power of diversity, to reflect on our shared humanity, and to hug our friends, our families and colleagues.

Being LGBT+ isn’t a choice, isn’t a lifestyle, isn’t about morals. It’s who people are. I believe people should be free to be the most complete, the most honest, version of themselves – at home, at work, anywhere.

If you believe in fairness, in equality, in personal freedom – and in the strength of diversity – in all forms: sex, color, creed, you name it…. Then whether you know it or not, you are an LGBT+ ally. And, yes, that means respecting people who disagree with you – at the same time that you challenge them – fighting ideas with ideas. That’s how humanity as a whole moves forward.

It is an honor to serve as the Executive Sponsor for our newly integrated Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG) for our LGBT+ team members and their allies. There is no limit to what we can accomplish now that the heritage EMC LGBT Advocates and heritage Dell Pride ERG have come together as one.

As I cut the virtual ribbon to commence Pride month celebrations across our company, I am excited about all of the great events and activities that our Pride chapters have planned around the world to inspire, commemorate, and educate our diverse community. There will be great parades in San Francisco, in Boston, in London, in Toronto and all around the world – but I encourage you to participate in some way around the globe, even if it’s just reflecting or talking about diversity and what it means to you with the people around you.

June 2017 will be the first time we celebrate Pride month together as a united ERG for our combined companies. We will be using our community page on Inside Dell to plan, share and recap all of our events during the month. Please be sure to:

1. Add all of your planned Pride month events (parades, activities, etc.) on the community page to keep everyone informed.
2. Post photos and recaps of your Pride events on the community page
3. Invite your Pride members to wear something (Pride t-shirt, pin, etc.) on June 30 to show support and celebrate together.

To cap off Pride month for Dell, we are designating Friday, June 30, Global Pride Day!

I am thankful for everything we all do as part of this team to make our company stronger, better. Diversity and Inclusion is one of our important differentiators. Embracing each other for who we are, seeking to understand those who are different from us, valuing diverse perspectives…that’s how we win.   It’s not only about fairness, it’s also about competitiveness, the best brains, the best talent, period.  

It’s one of the reasons I’m so glad that Michael represented all Dell in signing the letter joining many other tech leaders fighting the discriminatory legal proposal in Texas.   It’s a totally silly, totally manufactured issue.   It makes Texas a less competitive business climate (something North Carolina found out the hard way).    Businesses and people want to be part of looking FORWARD, not looking BACKWARD.   There is NOT a crisis of people lurking in bathrooms.   Just chill everyone.   I used a co-ed bathroom for years and it was totally fine.  If you’re that insecure about that human in the stall beside you – maybe the issue is YOU.   Don’t we have more important things to do as a society than target these people?

The topic of the importance of diversity – this is not a NEW thing.

Michael was recently thanked by a 23-year Dell veteran who was retiring, and shared this recruitment ad from 1994. While the fact that people were asked to fax (!!) applications in may be a funny anachronism, the more important things – ideas & beliefs - haven’t changed – it’s part of our #CultureCode.

We believed in the power of diversity before it was cool – how cool is that!

Comments

[Leo]

Do you believe that X and Y chromosomes determine the sex of the species? And isn't there only two sexes? Male or female? So how do you explain that science fact with the spectrum analogy? Bill Nye had a show in the 90's explaining X and Y chromosomes, and now that show has been removed and replaced with his Netflix version. I guess science was wrong in the 90's? Thoughts?

[Vijay]

Hey @Leo, Are you suggesting that the Kinsey Scale is scientific observation regarding genetics? What I know of the Kinsey experiments is that they were studies in the social aspects of Human Sexuality, not the genetic. Moreover, the nature of his experiments were to explicitly remove the effect of the X or Y pairing of chromosomes on a person's non-procreative sexual preference.

Thanks for the thoughts :)

[EMC Employee]

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them...That is funny considering the author states this is open dialog.

There is nothing more silencing in the work place than when your leader uses his platform to forward an agenda that disregards the laws of nature, the traditions of a country, the teachings of nearly all major religions, and the historical foundations of the family. This has nothing to do with technology and is utterly disturbing and sorrowful. Why can't we just love one another regardless of race, sex or any number of things? Why do we have to celebrate what most consider moral depravity?

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

[Chad Sakac]

@Leo, yes, XX and XY chromosomes are one of the determinant of physical sex in humans. It's much more complex than that - and there is a TON of research in this area that has moved far since the 1990s. As a reminder, in the 1990s, the Internet was just arriving into the mainstream. We used flip phones :-). It's actually sections on the XY chromosome pairing that are the primary determinant of physical sex, and there are much more complex sequences being studied (not conclusive at all yet) about sexual preference (which seems to be distinct from identity, which also seems to be distinct from physical elements). Google it. Read as much as you can (including differing opinions). That's what I do. RECOMMENDATION: be selective for science vs. belief (there are lots of sponsored links). Look for people who bring data, and filter out those who bring opinion. Thanks for the comment!

@EMC Employee - although of course, the email you used isn't an EMC one - so you could, or could not be who you say you are. I understand that you might be afraid - but you don't need to be. Nevertheless, let's assume you are!

1) The comments are only moderated because I get an INSANE amount of spam that I need to filter through (the built in filters let a lot through). I never filter a comment based on content - as I haven't here.

2) Your comment (at least to me) seems conflicted. Yes - as you say - why can't we just love one another regardless of those things? We'll, because many try to restrict people from doing that. Secular societies have come to the conclusion that you are right - people should. This is why the laws of the land (and as far as I know, the US is still a place where the law of the land is the rule) have been shifting. Religious arguments have been used for many years to say why people of different beliefs, different races should or shouldn't be able to love who they love. Personally, I'm glad that the world is moving forward. Progress is good, understanding is good.

I like this this biblical quote personally:

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" -Mathew 7:1-5

Thank you for the comment - and I welcome all, including those that have the courage to share their point of view, especially those who are open minded. If you **are** an employee - I welcome you to call me, and let's discuss!

[Non-EMC Employee ;)]

Yikes!! Alfred Kinsey's data is flawed and his conclusions proven statistically incorrect. Using the Kinsey reports as the foundation for this article is irresponsible at best. I'm shocked this has not been mentioned.

I have no problem with the overall diversity message, but for someone espousing the value of science in his comments, this seems pretty reckless. I'll make my own "RECOMMENDATION:" do your own research and do not rely solely on this blog.

[Erik Smith]

@Leo I would point out that from a genetic point of view, a persons "true" sex is not quite so simple as male or female. I found http://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html to be pretty insightful and I believe it supports the argument that sex should also be treated as a spectrum.

@EMC Employee, I agree we should "love one another regardless of race, sex or any number of things".

[Chad Sakac]

@Non-EMC Employee - thanks for the comment. I second your recommendation - this is a personal blog, no more, no less. I recommend that EVERYONE do their own research :-). Note that I recommend that exact same thing, and to select for those that bring data, bring evidence, not opinion.

I would like to make a correction to your comment. Please note that I don't refer to the Kinsey studies as the basis for diversity - rather that they were the my first exposure as a teen to the idea that sexual preference may not be binary, and triggered a thought of what that would mean to individuals who didn't neatly fit into gender + preference in binary ways that were considered the social norm, and made me personally re-frame this question in my own mind as a question of fairness.

Would love for you to follow up with a link to a study that has debunked the Kinsey studies. Not saying you're wrong, but rather that in good debate and dialog, each of us should bring things that support our arguments.

There is a TON of much more recent scientific study (Erik supplied another link, and the WHO studies are quite balanced and scientific) that people can start their research if they have a passion for the topic.

Thank you!

[Charlie Dellacona]

Chad, re:Kinsey validity/flaws, you can just google the subject. The Wikipedia article has a good section on criticism of his reports. Serious statisticians and even psychologist Abraham Maslow called his sampling biased and flawed.

Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_Reports

You can read what one of his co-authors, Gebhard, said in an interview about Kinsey's methods. He calls some of the sampling flawed and claims other parts are solid. He also disavows and regrets publishing the famous 10% number.

Here: http://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/gebhard.htm

It must be acknowledged that much of the criticism of Kinsey is morally/religiously, not scientifically, motivated. You must ignore this stuff. Poor critique always has the unintended consequence of bolstering the target!

Kinsey was important for being a pioneer, but his conclusions do not stand up because his of flawed methods, my opinion.

[Chad Sakac]

@Charlie - thanks for the addition to the dialog, and citations. It adds to the dialog!

I'll reiterate that I'm not using the Kinsey studies as the pillar of my support of the issue - rather that it was the intial trigger for my passion on the topic - which is now fueled by a motivation of "fairness", and "don't hurt those that aren't hurting you". Beyond that - it was the 1940s/1950s - a lot of work has been done on the topic - though there hasn't been (to my knowledge) anything conclusive on genetic cause. That said - genetic cause is somewhat secondary to me ("fairness" doctrine).

Hope you're doing well!

[Greg Salintias]

"Being LGBT+ isn’t a choice, isn’t a lifestyle.."
LOL ,, May want to ask NY Mayor de Blasios wife about that one. Seems to be a choice after all.

[VMW-employee]

@EMC-Employee:

I would say it's pretty clear that Chad is making the point that being unable to live openly *as yourself* is substantially more silencing than having a leader express tolerance for other people living their lives openly as they believe they need to.

If you find this post utterly disturbing and sorrowful, consider the sorrowful *fact* that suicide rates are FOUR times higher* for LGB youth than straight youth. It's intolerance that makes that happen.

If you consider people living as they are as "moral depravity", I feel sorry for you.

*CDC. (2016). Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

[Amir Safayan]

Hi Chad,

I met you briefly at VMworld 2016 in San Francisco. I recognized you, stopped you very briefly and told you how much of an inspiration you were to me. Given the attendance, don't be concerned if you don't remember me!

I'm so curious about how people develope their belief systems. I was born in Iran and raised in Indiana. Indiana was not exactly a hotbed of open mindedness.

Perhaps this blog is not the correct place for you to provide that backdrop of your life and certainly don't think I'm making you out to be a saint or the perfect man. But I've seen you in person and I've read your various technical commentary over the years and as I've described you before " you are the embodiment of intelligent positivity".

Can you please start a church and I will gladly join and - once and for all - regularly attend and tithe! : )

Joking aside, your family is so fortunate to have you as their father / husband and your IT teams are fortunate to have you as their leader.. Your approach to discourse is very refreshing and allows others with differing opinions to ponder ideas in a way that is non-threatening. I'm describing myself as I have never had a strong inclination to be pro LGBT. Nor have I had a strong inclination to be anti-LGBT. But your ideas and really more importantly the way you present them by clearly stating that you encourage dialog is awesome.

I don't care where someone falls on the political spectrum. If they dround out opposite opinions and will not allow opposite opinions to even be spoken or heard - my life is to short to even bother with them.

Just as I said when I introduced myself to you at VMworld 2016, Thank you Chad!