Gay group promotes tolerance  

This is the second in a series on Ford Employee Resource Groups. 

By Marti Benedetti 

Coming out is rarely easy. Just ask Alice McKeage. When she told her family and friends in her early 20s that she was gay, she experienced devastating abandonment. 

So it was with much trepidation, 25 years later, that she began letting co-workers know about her sexual orientation. After doing so, she co-founded a Ford gay, lesbian and bisexual group in July 1994. 

McKeage, a 48-year-old computer programmer in Powertrain Controls Systems Engineering, and another employee took it a step further a few months later when they wrote a letter to Ford Chairman Alex Trotman and now-retired Vice President of Human Resources Jack Hall requesting a discussion on work issues pertinent to the gay-lesbian-bisexual community at Ford. 

"I was afraid of losing my job. I had a lot on the line," said McKeage of her decision two years ago. 

But management was supportive. And, in June 1995, Ford Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Employees (GLOBE) -- one of five Employee Resource Groups at Ford -- was officially recognized. 

"Finally, we were able to talk about issues associated with gay, lesbian and bisexual employees," McKeage said. 

One of those issues was addressed last November when the company approved a written addition on sexual orientation to Ford's policy letter No. 2 -- Relationship with Employees, which prohibits discrimination based on a variety of factors 

Now GLOBE's five-person board and more than 150 members worldwide are tackling other issues and setting new goals. The most challenging is maintaining a safe work environment, free of harassment based on homophobic behavior, particularly in the plants, McKeage said. 

"Changing our non-discrimination policy won't change attitudes overnight," said Cindy Clardy, a cost estimator in Product Development. "Even after employees go through diversity training, negative attitudes may linger." 

Clardy left Nebraska three years ago to take a job with Ford in the Detroit area, and wondered about how she would fit in. 

"It would have been a strong selling point for me to take a job with a company that had an organization like GLOBE," she said. GLOBE would like to assist the company in attracting, utilizing and retaining talented individuals regardless of sexual orientation. 

Other goals include helping Ford promote its products and services to gay, lesbian and bisexual markets. Joy Geng, manager of Retirement and Pension Administration for the National Employee Services Center, and GLOBE board members John Paschal, a legal analyst in the Ford Customer Service Division, and Uwe Grosse, a software engineer in the Scientific Research Laboratory, are working on a presentation to Ford's Marketing and Sales Diversity Council. 

"We see other car manufacturers advertising in the gay media, and we'd like to see Ford do that," Grosse said. 

In addition to its business activities, GLOBE hosts lunches and social events, sometimes with members of the gay groups at General Motors and Chrysler. 

"We need to build a work environment at Ford that accepts, respects and values all employees," said Bob Kramer, vice president, Human Resources. "Employee Resource Groups such as GLOBE help do that." 

Ford GLOBE can be reached in PROFS at BB GLOBE. The group can also be reached through voice mail at (313) 438-1970 or by U.S. mail directed to: Ford GLOBE, 23814 Michigan Ave., Suite 187, Dearborn, MI 48124. Its new web page: http://people.delphi.com/fordglobe. 

Employee Resource Groups are independent of the company, are voluntary, are established by employees and have goals that tie in with the company's business objectives.