“David is totally open - he has a picture of me on his desk. Wall Street compels more covering from its employees than less conservative industries. “I decided, ‘OK, I’m going to do it.’ These are the things we have to think about.” He played out the steps of informing HR, thus effectively ending any “don’t ask, don’t tell” dynamic that might exist. I wouldn’t say it’s tiring, but other people’s comfort becomes an aspect you have to manage for a career in financial services.” Recently, for example, Ross wanted to add his husband to his company health insurance. “And I want to be sensitive to those discomforts, especially in the workplace. “I can’t fault someone for their upbringing or force them to see things the way I do,” Ross says. Covering is not pretending to be straight, but rather acting less “gay.” It’s a fact of life outside of the closet. When I referred to David, I’d say ‘my spouse.’ This is how you survive in the business world.” Ross’s daily work life involves “covering,” the practice of downplaying the known fact that one is gay (or a woman, or black, or disabled, or. But I started working for an Indian firm five years ago” - Viteos - “and intuition told me my sexuality could be an issue, so I didn’t talk about it. “I’m fully open - totally comfortable with who I am. But the gap between legal and equal remains vast. Ross marvels at how far and fast gay rights have progressed in his country and industry - as with all of those interviewed, he occasionally pulls back from nuanced discussion to remark, awestruck, at the turn of events. Big banks have entire squads devoted to recruiting and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender talent, starting with college students. Wall Street threw its weight behind the campaign for marriage equality in a stunning and triumphant act of coordinated corporate activism. The big-name financial firm Ross left had “very solid LGBT protections in place,” he says. The New York Stock Exchange bell pealed that June for Gay Pride Month, as it had for several years prior and annually ever since.
And once it happens, something has to change: you or your manager. There are never really specific comments. Until you’ve been discriminated against, it’s very hard to see it. But not in terms of my actual performance, but the perceptions of my performance. “I could totally feel it,” he says of the new manager’s hostility toward Ross, an openly gay man. At one of these brand-name institutions, Ross’s boss changed - and, not coincidentally, so did his career prospects. Ross’s husband moved to New Jersey, like so many New York City professionals believe they will never do until they’re co-signing mortgage documents for a three-bedroom in Edgewater.
Rowe Price, HSBC, and Merrill Lynch - where he worked that night in 2001 when he met the love of his life. Ross’s 20-year Wall Street career has taken him to its biggest names: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup’s Salomon Smith Barney group, T. They all have these apps,” chuckles David Ross, an executive with Viteos Fund Services, which runs operational plumbing for hedge funds and private equity. David met David in a straight club on the West Side of Manhattan weeks after the Twin Towers fell.