Being born and raised west of Indianapolis, my coming out journey was similar to many other Midwesterners. I knew I was gay as soon as I was a teenager, but I didn’t come out until I went to college and ‘got away’ from my rural hometown. I’ve lived openly as a gay man since I was 19, and I had no issues with it in college, even while attending a small private engineering school in Indiana.
However, when I interned at a small facility in Alabama, I immediately went right back into the closet. I knew right away that this site was not one where I could be open about being gay. Though I had queer friends I’d visit on the weekends, I would ‘cover’ and often just breeze over my social life, making sure no one at work knew I was gay.
When I started my full-time professional career, I first worked for a major defense contractor in Orlando, Florida. Even though Florida and my work environment were far more diverse than my upbringing in Indiana, it still took me more than a year to even search the word ‘pride’ on the internal work website. I was still so afraid of outing myself that I took specific efforts to avoid any LGBTQ+ association at work. Thankfully I was able to overcome that fear, and I have been part of LGBTQ+ organizations my entire career. Reflecting on that experience, I promised myself I’d never hide who I was, at work or otherwise.
Fast forward twelve years. After working in Orlando and Denver, I decided it was time to return home to Indianapolis. The first thing I did was search ‘Rolls-Royce LGBTQ’ to see what information was available about Rolls-Royce’s support of the LGBTQ+ community. I was excited to learn that Rolls-Royce has scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for five consecutive years. While details like this may go unnoticed by many, it told me that Rolls-Royce was a place I could comfortably work as a gay man.
I joined Rolls-Royce in July 2022. On my first day, I sought out the LGBTQ+ group in North America, and I was excited to find the Propel with Pride inclusion network. I immediately jumped on the board, and I’m happy to be part of the events and community that Propel with Pride (PwP) builds. Inclusion Networks like Propel with Pride are a great way to meet colleagues across the entire business, practice leadership skills in a safe environment, and have a pre-built community of people willing to support and help you throughout your career. I would encourage everyone to participate in inclusion networks if you get the opportunity, even if you don’t identify as part of that community. Allies are a critical part the inclusion journey, and we can only succeed if we all lean on each other.