In 1835, American Presbyterian missionaries established a small secondary school for women in Beirut, Lebanon.
The school was not only the first women's secondary school in Lebanon; it was the first institution of its kind in the entire Turkish Empire.
The school's unique progressiveness, however, made it a visible target for discrimination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There were times when the school was even forced to close its doors during periods of heavy unrest.
Undeterred, the small secondary school for women eventually became a two-year junior college and then a full fledged university. Today the school, which after multiple name changes is now the Lebanese American University, offers a wide range of studies for students who attend one of its three campuses, two of which are located in Lebanon and one in New York City.
Similarly, New York-based writer Bob Johnson has endured his fair share of hardships. As a young boy growing up in Warwick, R.I., Johnson was terrified of going to junior high school.
Johnson, who stated that while at middle school he was still unsure of his sexuality, explained that almost every day he was bullied with slurs such as "homo" and "faggot."
The young Johnson would avoid taking the bus into school and found every reason he could to stay after classes had ended so that he could take the less popular late bus home.
However, Johnson said that those troublesome years in Warwick " [ g ] ot me ready me for life in the real world" and that his life turned around as he got into high school, then college and finally the professional world.
Those hard junior high years even, Johnson stated, made him strong enough to deal with brain surgery, living in New York during 9/11 and being diagnosed with colon cancer.
Both archetypes for strength in the face of adversity, the Lebanese American University and Bob Johnson crossed paths in the summer of 2007 when Johnson was offered the position of a marketing and communications manager for the Lebanese American University ( LAU ) , New York City campus.
In April 2008, after a visit from the LAU's president, Joseph Jabbra, Johnson's supervisor presented him with a 45-day performance improvement plan that outlined deficiencies in his work performance. He was instructed to improve these problems within the presented 45-day period or face termination.
Forty-five days later, on June 11, 2008, Johnson was fired.
To Johnson, his sudden termination did not make sense. He felt he had performed all the duties that the job had required, including expanding the school's Web site and getting more media placements in North America than LAU had ever been able to achieve.
Then, five months later, while talking with a former co-worker Johnson discovered the root of his termination. LAU had not fired Johnson because of his performance, stated the co-worker—he had been forced out because he was gay.
"Unfortunately, we have found that discrimination based on sexual orientation still happens on a regular basis in the workplace," said Daryl Herrschaft, the director of the Human Rights Campaign's Workplace Project. "In recent reports we have found that in spite of the progress made by many corporations, a majority of LGBT workers—51 percent, in fact—still are afraid to reveal their sexual orientation."
The Workplace Project is an advocacy campaign that promotes inclusive polices for LGBT individuals in the workplace and, as the project's director, Herrschaft has seen both the great strides and heartbreaking stories for gays in the working world.
The project has focused hard on educating corporations on the need to end discrimination and even grades companies on their tolerance in a yearly list called the Corporate Equality Index.
In spite of the effort, however, Herrschaft still sees a lot of work left to be done.
"I'm absolutely seeing a positive progression for rights within the workplace," Herrschaft stated. "In 2002, we had 13 companies with a perfect 100 score on the corporate equality index, now there are 260 even though it has gotten harder to score 100 on the index. That being said, however, we hear stories everyday of people who have lost their jobs or are very close to losing their jobs because of their sexual orientation."
Unlike federal statutes that protect against discrimination based on race or gender, there is no current federal law that prohibits a company from firing an employee based on their sexual orientation in the United States. Presently, only 21 states have some form of law that protects gays and lesbians in the workplace and just 12 have passed regulations against discrimination based on gender identity.
New York law, however, does prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and Johnson has moved to collect damages from LAU on the basis of these New York State and City human-rights laws.
Although still in its infant stages, Johnson and his representation, hope that this case will bring attention to the plight of many LGBT individuals within the workplace.
"There have been many steps forward in terms of tolerance, but I think this story shows that discrimination based on sexual orientation is very real. I mean if it can happen to Bob Johnson, a marketing manager working in New York City, it can happen to anyone," stated David Zatuchni, Johnson's legal representation. "It is a case that is definitely more than just a case about individual circumstances. We hope that this case raises issues about cross-cultural interactions, where an institution operating from abroad that might have different views on sexuality must conduct itself while inside the United States of America."
LAU's Web site states that it values the ideas of its Presbyterian founders who believed to "always seek the truth, respect human dignity, promote gender equality, and be inclusive"—values that were, in part, forged from those early decades of constant hardship.
However, Zatuchni believes LAU has fallen short on its principles, pointing to the lack of a student LGBT organization, any LGBT-related course material and, any visible LGBT faculty or staff. He hopes the case will help to end discrimination in at least this one workplace.
When reached for comment, LAU officials refused to discuss their polices toward LGBT individuals or the court case involving Johnson.
