Here’s a true story inspired by a past incident of public-sector workplace inequality.

Back in the day I was low-key about defining my sexuality (its Bi / Pan), but a colleague speculated then gossiped about me being gay to people in the organisation who were anti-gay. Suddenly the treatment I received from those people went from neutral to unfriendly.

Aside from anger I thought they were being stupid. Their prejudices spoke loudly about their narrow-mindedness. I made new friends and carried on being good at my job. But that didn’t affect their disruptive, problem-causing attitudes.

I should have stepped up and taken responsibility for naming what was going on and dealing with the disruption it caused. The beneficiaries would have been my team, the organisation and me.

I have no idea whether those responsible for the bullying behaviour are leading teams or directing work somewhere these days. If they continued acting out their prejudices their colleagues will have suffered along the way.

The point to the story is this: when prejudice rears its ugly head it is always important to name it, find allies, and take a stand. Calling prejudice out makes it possible to hold people accountable for their actions.

Nothing gets better if good people say nothing.