The Big Conceal!

                                                                                 

The question I am asked this week is do I communicate differently with people from different groups and cultures?

I am a European American, upper middle class, middle age, not terribly religious, college educated woman who is legally married to another woman.  As I have learned some of these social identities have institutional advantage and others actually have institutional disadvantage.    My hope is that when I am communicating with people from groups different from mine I am always communicating respectfully and clearly no matter with whom I am communicating.  I am sure this is not always true but I certainly try.

My sexual orientation gives me a perceived disadvantage in our society.  It comes with a social stigma.  Knowing that someone may judge me negatively or even want to hurt me or my family because of my sexual orientation, I often choose to conceal it.  This is especially true in a professional environment.  Second only to my family, my career and the work I do for the field of early childhood is very important to me.  I have never wanted someone to judge that work negatively because of my sexual orientation.   When I meet people in a professional setting I am guarded with what I share about my family, because "those who have negative attitudes about gays and lesbians are less likely to have interpersonal communication with gays and lesbians"(Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011, p. 89).  I can not risk having someone choose not to collaborate with me in my pursuit of accessible and affordable early care and learning experiences for all children, because of my sexual orientation.   

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication:

Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.