This blog post was written by Celena Morrison, Executive Director, Office of LGBT Affairs
The Office of LGBT Affairs has gained national and international attention over the years as a progressive leader in fostering equitable working and living conditions of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community. Part of this work includes creating internal policies that fulfill our mission. Employees deserve the right to feel seen and represented in their gender and sexual diversity. It is our responsibility to promote visibility and authenticity in the City of Philadelphia’s workforce. We cannot advocate for a citywide change if we have not worked to promote change within our internal culture, so we need to deliver on that to live up to the title of being a progressive leader.
Mayor Kenney has long held a commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion work, beginning with signing Executive Order No. 1-16 signifying that commitment on his first day in office back in 2016. And, in 2020, he continued that work, with Executive Order No. 1-20, which further built on his vision to operationalize that commitment across our workforce. The Employment Diversity Equity and Inclusion Initiative is one component of Executive Order No. 1-20. The Initiative reviews the work each department is doing to recruit diverse talent and ensure an inclusive environment for employees, promote professional development, and solicit employee feedback
When I joined the Office of LGBT Affairs in March of 2020, I brought with me a personal vision to execute that work from an LGBTQ-inclusive perspective. Our office had gained attention for its public-facing work thanks to previous leadership over the years. Yet, I felt that it was time for us to focus inward and make good on our mission to foster a fair workplace for LGBTQ+ employees across the City’s workforce.
The Office of LGBT Affairs has worked with Employee Relations, Human Resources, and the Law Department to design the Employee Self-Identification Census in the City’s internal HR system, OnePhilly, to provide expanded sexual orientation and gender identity (SO/GI) options. This will allow employees to voluntarily report their sexual orientation and gender identity.
For City employees, providing expanded gender identity and sexual orientation options recognizes and respects that some employees’ gender identity may not fall within the historical binary options of strictly male or female. Expanded SO/GI options also makes visible the diversity of our workforce, fostering a greater sense of inclusion and belonging. It also enables the City to better determine the representation of LGBTQ+ employees in its workforce.
Our greatest strength comes from the people who make up our workforce. The Office of LGBT Affairs looks forward to the implementation of more purposeful actions in 2022.
