“Fifty percent of non-LGBT workers don’t think there are any LGBTQ people at their workplace,” Huckel said. “Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand, but most people don’t,” she said. She said people often use that all-encompassing word because the list of letters keeps growing. Getting down to the very basics and recognizing that members of her audience might fall anywhere on the spectrum of knowledge of the LGBTQ community, Huckel said that “queer” is an umbrella term under which numerous identities may reside. She provided “approaches and tools for communicating with - and to - the LGBTQ employees in a way that sends the message, ‘You are welcome here.’” Speaking to a full house, Huckel’s broad, comprehensive talk was a tutorial in how to be sensitive to everyone while navigating the gender landscape in the workplace. Huckel pointed out that “queer” was “an ‘in group’ word for a long time - if you were a part of that community.” And even though it has evolved and become more generally accepted, she admitted that she’s cautious when using the word in front of an audience of “gay and lesbian elders.”
“If you don’t get it, ask, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” “Don’t use it unless you feel comfortable explaining why you’re using it,” she said in explaining the importance of using the appropriate language to describe nonbinary people. Huckel recently spoke at a Faculty of Arts and Sciences Diversity Dialogue, “Achieving Greater Workplace Equity for LGBTQ Employees,” at Harvard Hillel. Still, it’s important to know your audience before using it, said Stephanie Huckel, senior global program manager of diversity and inclusion at IGT. Some still bristle when they hear it, but in 2019, when used to describe a gay person, “queer” doesn’t carry the same pejorative connotations that it might have 25 or 30 years ago.
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