My Turn: Town staff group voices “strong support” for LGBTQIA+ community

By the Lincoln Staff Diversity and Inclusion Committee

The Lincoln Staff Diversity and Inclusion Committee (SDIC) is made up of staff members from a variety of ages, religions, ethnicities, races, cultures, genders, and sexualities. We are proud to work for this town, with many of us having been on the staff for over a decade. SDIC’s mission is as follows:

• Create an inclusive environment by engaging diverse talent and influencing recruitment, development, advancement, and retention.
• Articulate our diversity and inclusion values through proactive communications.
• Regulate and manage workplace equity and inclusivity by reviewing and improving our policies and practices.
• Evaluate our progress by continually assessing our organizational culture.

While our efforts are mainly focused on diversity and inclusion within the workplace, we recognize that the culture of the town is just as critical to the wellbeing of its current and future employees as the culture within Town Offices.

We were shocked and saddened to read that some members of the community believe that the recognition of Pride Month is harmful. What hurts people is telling them to hide who they are. Many of us have seen first-hand the devastating impacts that homophobia and transphobia have on our children, family, friends, and even on ourselves. Pride is not just about acceptance — it is about celebrating who you are and who you love unapologetically. Pride is about support, love, and kindness.

In no way do we seek to silence those that we disagree with. As others have said, freedom of speech and equitable participation in the public process are the foundations of democracy. However, freedom of speech is not the same as freedom from criticism. Hate does not have a place in Lincoln’s community. We commend the Lincoln Squirrel’s decision to publish this article and shed light on this harmful rhetoric. It provides an opportunity for people to speak out and share their support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

With the politicization and attacks on LGBTQIA+ people in this country, they need our support now more than ever. In that vein, we are using our voices to speak out and share our strong support for the LGBTQIA+ community. We hope that others in Lincoln will do the same, and we are grateful to those who already have. It costs nothing to be supportive, loving, and kind.

Signed,
 
Victoria Benalfew, Administrative Assistant to the Building Department and Board of Health
Abigail Butt, our Director of Council on Aging and Human Services
Stacy Carter, Conservation Planner
Jennifer Curtin, Assistant Director of Planning and Land Use
Michael Dolan, IT Director
Valeria Fox, Town Clerk
Tim Higgins, Town Administrator
Dan Pereira, Assistant Town Administrator
Robin Rapoport, Reference Librarian
Ian Spencer, Sergeant, Police Department
Colleen Wilkins, Finance Director/Town Accountant

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.