Building Diversity

[Natasha]

Building Diversity

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=2f47360f-cd0e-4ff9-b159-27f73129b80d
8/30/2008

Not so long ago, the Monday morning water cooler conversation was a source of angst for Rachel Spencer.

A lawyer in the tax department of accounting firm Ernst & Young in Montreal, Spencer is gay, but wasn't comfortable sharing her identity with co-workers.

"Everyone comes in and talks about their weekend," Spencer said. "I couldn't share that part of myself." Assumptions that surfaced in chats with colleagues were partly to blame for some of the uneasiness