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From: lmf@drutx.UUCP (FullerL)
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Re: Coming Out at Work  &  Corporate Policies (Roommates)
Message-ID: <2269@drutx.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Mar-85 13:29:48 EST
Article-I.D.: drutx.2269
Posted: Mon Mar 18 13:29:48 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Mar-85 05:13:54 EST
References: <246@linus.UUCP> <267@linus.UUCP> <268@linus.UUCP> <269@linus.UUCP>, <270@linus.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 36

I had a similar experience while I was running a gay male and lesbian
roommate service. I tried to advertise in the local straight newspaper.
They really gave me the run around. First they told me they wouldn't
advertise a roommate service that wasn't licensed. So I checked with the
city, state, and county and found out that (guess what) there was no such
license. Then I went back to the newspaper, told them that and tried to run
my ad. This time I talked to the supervisor of the supervisor of classifieds
and they said it was against the paper's policy. 

What was really happening is they thought I was running a dating service,
they didn't understand why sexual orientation had anything to do with
finding a roommate. Their interpretation was that I was setting up sexual
liasons. Totally wrong but I couldn't convice them otherwise. 
(Please don't try and tell me I'm jumping to conclusions, we had a very
long confrontation on the subject and I finally figured out what was going on)
It sounds to me like this was your company's interpretation also.

I ended up running the ad edited. The name of the service was Lavendar
Roommates so I figured people would probably figure it out. I got quite
a few calls from straight people who didn't understand and had to screen
callers right up front to avoid confusion. It was a hassle and I didn't 
advertise in that paper again. It was the Boulder Daily Camera by the way
in Boulder Colorado not some hotbed of conservativism.

On finding roommates:
I personally have found it easier to deal with the (oh by the way I'm
a lesbian) issue by coming out to people on the phone before they ever
come over. If they are lesbians fine we'll talk. I at one point considered
having straight roommates (that weren't already friends) and the responses
I got tended to be upfront no I don't think it would work or I never 
thought about it but I don't think it would be a problem. I decided against
the experiment because I figured if they hadn't thought about it then
they also probably hadn't dealt with their homophobia yet and I didn't
want to deal with it.
			Lori Fuller   ihnp4!drutx!lmf