[Dcouncil] LGBT+ Inclusivity Facebook Update

[Camille Ginsburg]

Dear Rebecca,

Thank you for bringing this to my (and others') attention.  I was not aware of the FB post.

I know we have a lot of work to do, to make the lab feel more inclusive to all staff, users, etc., but I am very proud of Stuart for making clear our positive intentions and especially that the only reason we need is simply humanity.  Great.

Best wishes,
Camille
________________________________
From: Dcouncil <dcouncil-bounces at jlab.org> on behalf of Rebecca Duckett <duckett at jlab.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 9, 2021 9:08 AM
To: dcouncil at jlab.org <dcouncil at jlab.org>
Subject: [Dcouncil] LGBT+ Inclusivity Facebook Update


Hi all-

Some of you know that yesterday we posted a message of LGBT+ inclusivity on our Facebook page<https://www.facebook.com/JeffersonLab>. It was a post I authored and I was very intentional about the way it was worded and the accompanying graphic we designed. This is the post:[cid:image001.png at 01D75D0F.0D2685C0]



Unfortunately, it was met by some folks who do not understand the purpose of recognizing and honoring such things.

One post (now deleted by the original poster) was very pointed and mischaracterized the lab. I have part of the deleted post because I screenshotted Stuart’s response, but I do not have the posters’ full message in its entirety. Here is what I have:



“This is like every other company that posts for pride only during pride month. Peer pressure into supporting rather than supporting because you feel strongly for it…”



Stuart doesn’t often comment on social media but he addressed this particular opinion directly:

“As the Director of Jefferson Lab I can tell you that we do support our LGBTQ+ all year long. And the reason is simple: they are our coworkers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, parents, friends and neighbors, and therefore deserve our respect and love.”



The poster said some other nonsensical things before she deleted her post, resulting in the deletion of the whole thread altogether. Unfortunately for her logic, she showed her hand in some of her other replies when it became glaringly obvious that her concern was not about LGBT+ equality and recognition throughout the year.



Stuart’s reply immediately saw positive engagement both on the post itself and on other channels.

One person’s direct message to me yesterday after seeing Stuart’s reply:

“I actually feel even more protected after reading his comment. Not that I have ever felt threatened working at the lab and being gay, but it feels good to know the director’s position. Even more reason to love working here!”



Happy Pride Month!



-R



Rebecca Duckett
Internal Communications Specialist
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Jefferson Science Associates, LLC
757-679-7575 (c) | duckett at jlab.org<mailto:duckett at jlab.org>




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