Disney’s George Kalogridis highlights Out in Biz symposium

Orlando Coming out- stories are about as personal as it gets. So Orlando City Hall seemed an unlikely place for LGBT executives from major corporations—including Walt Disney World’s George Kalogridis—to share the intimacies of their professional journey.
But after Mayor Buddy Dyer’s warm welcome, the huge lobby rotunda felt like a living room.

“Thank you for holding your event in your City Hall,” Dyer said before listing the many ways Orlando has embraced its LGBT community during his ten years as mayor. “This is a city that is committed to being inclusive. And we don’t just talk about it, we do it.”


At the “Out in Business” symposium presented by the Metropolitan Business Association and Out & Equal Workplace Advocates on Thursday, March 20, more than 300 local LGBT-and-friendly business leaders were treated to advice on how to move “from the closet to the corner office.”
“More and more members of the LGBT community now sit at the helm of Fortune 500 companies,” Dyer said. “We want them to know they’re welcome here.”
Out & Equal founder Selise Berry set the tone for self-disclosure, sharing that as an adult she “dated men but fell in love with their sisters.” At a Presbyterian seminary in San Francisco she discovered a passion for activism—and a sense of humor—when she started Seminary Lesbians Under Theological Stress (SLUTS).
After earning several degrees Berry forged a career as a non-profit administrator. In 1997 she formed Out & Equal, “the organization I wish had been there for me when I was ready to come out at work.”
More than 3,000 people representing 300 nations attended the 2013 Out & Equal Workplace Summit in Minneapolis. And a recent Global Summit in India attracted corporate support from the likes of Google and IBM in a nation that is retreating on human rights.
“Once again, corporations are leading the way when it comes to LGBT equality,” Berry said.
She also disclosed an exciting “secret” at City Hall. “The 2016 Summit will be held right here, in Orlando,” Berry announced to enthusiastic applause.
Berry introduced Kalogridis by revealing her “fantasy that every CEO who wants to come out and is afraid could meet George.”
Kalogridis was making his first public appearance as the highest profile member of Orlando’s LGBT community. His soft-spoken nature belied his powerful position supervising more than 70,000 employees as president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.

Indeed, Berry noted that someone in his position should have a bigger ego. Kalogridis’ humble response: “I don’t have time.”
Kalogridis shared that he had a difficult time growing up gay, but that changed after he got a job as a busboy when Walt Disney World opened in 1971.
“I got to Disney and suddenly realized who I was,” he said. “It was like growing up speaking a second language, and then coming to a place where everyone is using the language you were born to speak.”
“I discovered all of you,” Kalogridis said looking out into the rotunda, “and for the first time in my life I felt a sense of community.”
But as he moved up the corporate ladder at Disney, it wasn’t always easy. In the late 1990s a fellow cast member outed Kalogridis to a Christian group planning to protest the annual—and unsanctioned—Gay Day at the Magic Kingdom. They told people how to access Kalogridis’ office, and Disney was forced to station police officers outside.
And when Kalogridis opened Disney’s “It Gets Better” video offering support to depressed and suicidal LGBT teens, he was moved to see how many fellow employees once shared those feelings. After it was broadcast, hundreds more emailed him to say they now felt safe enough to come out at work.
Kalogridis noted that Disney has a perfect 100 rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index, with good reason. He shared statistics indicating that the LGBT community earns more, takes more vacations, and spends more on those vacations.

“Why wouldn’t we—or anyone!—go for this demographic,” Kalogridis said.

And like Mayor Dyer, he noted that inclusion is good for the bottom line.
“When a business depends on creativity and innovation, like we do, you can’t close any doors,” he added. “At Disney, our guests—and our cast—come from every belief system, every experience. We love kids and we love families. My fantasy is that [our society] will broaden the definition of family to be fully inclusive.”
Kaligrodos’ sentiments were echoed in a panel discussion moderated by MBA board member Andrea Hays, who also works at Disney.
Maria Ruiz Margenot, a senior VP at Wyndham Resorts, discussed the “drip, drip, drip of authenticity” in the workplace, and noted that LGBT allies had driven most of the progress at her company. New York Life VP Angela Daniels talked about the timeliness of LGBT rights, and noted that her advocacy offered the chance to carry on the work of women’s and civil rights activists.
NBC/Universal marketing director Keven Callahan talked about forming StudiOut, the company’s largest LGBT employee group with more than 1,000 members. And Motorola VP Sonia Sullivan shared that “if you’re industrious, you’ll find support.”
MBA president Mikael Audebert opened the event by observing that, “No one should have to choose between the person they love and the job they love.”
The “Out in Business” symposium discussed strategies for coming out, but Disney’s Kalogridis threw at least some of the responsibility back on corporations and elected officials.
“The absence of fear is the best thing a community can give its citizens,” he said.

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