AE is interviewing lesbians and their coworkers all across America to learn more about lesbian inclusion in the workplace. Our first stop is to meet up with Sam, a 33-year-old lesbian in the Detroit area who has worked at a marketing firm there for the last six years.
We started out by talking with Sam’s coworker Linda, who is the only other woman in their small office of 10 employees. She has worked at the desk next to Sam’s for the last four years.
Linda tells AE, “Oh yeah, we all love Sam. She’s great and this office is very gay friendly. I always make sure to tell her ‘Happy Pride’ during Pride month. ” Linda boasts.
“I really just love working in such an inclusive office space. I think everyone should just be themselves.” She says while smiling and gesturing to the mini rainbow pride flag that she has hanging from her desk. ” Also my coworker Ron is biracial” she says for seemingly no reason at all.
“Although — I do sometimes find Sam to be — Uh, ya know? — a bit friendly.” Linda’s voice drops to a whisper, “For instance, she always makes eye contact with me when I’m speaking to her, and when I’m carrying in something heavy, she always rushes over to hold the door. It just makes me wonder if she’s starting to develop…intimate feelings for me. I mean none of the other coworkers do anything like that…and they are all men!”
Linda continues, “When I had a minor operation a few months ago and I was out of the office for a week, Sam sent me flowers and a ‘Get Well Soon’ card. I mean, is that even appropriate?”
“Last year, I picked Sam for the office Secret Santa gift exchange. I felt like I needed to be extra careful with what gift I chose for her because I didn’t want her to take it the wrong way. So I got her a pack of those key chain clips that rock climbers wear. I’ve seen her wear one before so I assume she rock climbs. And I figured that there was no way that she could misread that gift.”
When asked about Linda, Sam says “I think Linda is really nice. She always seems kind of nervous and giggly when I talk to her though. Whenever I get a fresh fade, I catch her looking at my hair for a little too long. I can’t tell if she thinks I’m a weirdo or if she wishes she could have the same haircut. She also brings up her husband a lot.”
“Last year she had me in the office holiday gift exchange. She got me a multi pack of carabiners, which was of course useful, but also seemed a little random,” Sam chuckles. “And my coworker, Tom, told me that when Linda saw the picture of my girlfriend Ally and I on my desk, that she thought it was a photo of me and my little brother.”
Tom says he didn’t bother correcting her because he thought it was hilarious.
