Washington State government employees are counseled to keep sex and politics out of the workplace -- unless one is an LGBT practitioner.

Sex:

June was officially designated as LGBT pride month, which includes conspicuous workplace displays and presentations celebrating their ways. But it has backfired, as many employees see the clear hypocrisy of promoting certain lifestyles through a selective application of agency rules.

Government agencies develop rigorous training programs to remove sexual innuendo at work. We’re reprogrammed to believe a friendly gesture or even an innocent wink might be misconstrued as sexual harassment, so don’t tempt fate. So controlling is their behavioral brainwashing that if it could, the bureaucracy would purge our pheromones and make us all androgynous automatons. Ironically, the disproportionately vociferous LGBT community might like that, even as they receive special dispensation.

The state endorses their sexuality by providing public resources that foist an exhibitionist lifestyle on the hapless silent majority that just want to go to work in a welcoming environment. We’re told to turn away if we disapprove, but unless one has access to a secret labyrinth connecting office spaces and the parking lot, it’s impossible. Everywhere one looks -- hallways, auditorium, conference rooms, rotunda -- are spectacles of a lifestyle that by definition is alternative. Before our language was hijacked by liberal progressives in the MSM, some might describe it as deviant.

I suspect that the bureaucrats wouldn’t be so blasé towards employee sensibilities should someone with equally conscientious values erect a display proclaiming that marriage is only between a man and a woman. It’s notoriously hard to fire unionized employees, but I’m sure a traditionalist would be deemed an old-fashioned provocateur and, despite superior skills and competence, suddenly become superfluous.  

My cynicism is justified, and rooted in the saying that “the squeaky wheel gets the oil.” And few squeak louder than GLAAD, an advocacy group for the LGBT community. Recently, they persecuted Duck Dynasty personality Phil Robertson for ineloquent but heartfelt declarations about his Christian beliefs. GLAAD was prominent again in defending the ousting of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich because he had supported Proposition 8 (opposing same-sex marriage) years ago in California.  Even as prominent gay rights activists like Andrew Sullivan and Tammy Bruce condemned his ousting as bullying tactics, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis contrived to defend it: "Mozilla's strong statement in favor of equality today reflects where Corporate America is: inclusive, safe and welcoming to all."  

I’m sure GLAAD approves of our state’s LGBT pride month. Diversity proselytizers are tuned-in, and the remaining state officials who don’t overtly support LGBT pride are duly intimidated, allowing minority rights to trample the majority. Their acquiescence facilitates employee friction as a comfortable and neutral worksite is invaded by controversial agendas.

Politics:

Politics is another forbidden workplace endeavor for everyone except the LGBT community. 

For me, perhaps innocence is bliss, but I hear the core of their lifestyle revolves around practices that belong in private, not in public with a captive audience. But defenders of the LGBT pride month justify their flagrant flamboyance by invoking sympathy for their plight -- it’s about civil and political rights, they exhort. Nevertheless, the workplace is not the appropriate realm for their political pursuits -- they only need read agency administrative policies to appreciate this. Or see the State’s executive Ethics Board.

The Department of Social and Health Services is Washington State’s largest agency, here’s their rule (PDF document): employees must not “Use state equipment, time, supplies, or facilities for any political purposes…” Neither must they “Lobby on work time for or against legislation for personal or professional interest…”

It’s hard to deny that events that portray unequal rights for LGBT, such as denying gay “spouses” social security benefits, serve a personal interest. Take it to the polls, preferably,or the courts, if you insist.

A month is too much pride:

We have unambiguous written rules forbidding sex and politics in the workplace. Yet sex is intrinsic, so I’m told, to the LGBT lifestyle, and political endeavors underpin their efforts to promote pride and elicit sympathy for their mission. Take both away -- as the state manifestly mandates -- and it would eviscerate their displays. There wouldn’t be much left to exhibit and the prideful month would be reduced to a day.

One of Governor Inslee’s goals, under his Results Washington reform plan, is to make state agencies places where everybody wants to work. But many are now disenchanted. For example, comments on one agency’s internal Website blog (private) reveal strife and discord. Even LGBT members seem riddled with angst as they feel obliged to defend their celebrations. But their hubris has engendered resentment and ruptured employee harmony. Blog participation on our intranet is not anonymous -- to agency personnel -- and I anticipate HR will become mired in recriminations and grievances at a time when Washington State strives to be “an employer of choice”

Deterring discrimination should be vigorous; but bold, in-your-face spectacles that offends many employees undermines the goal of welcoming everyone. If Washington State government really wants to be an employer of choice, they’d be advised to uphold their policies forbidding sexual innuendo and political lobbying in the workplace.