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Author (or Editor): Powers, Bob and Ellis, Alan |
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Title: A Manager’s Guide to Sexual Orientation in the Workplace; A Family and Friend’s Guide to Sexual Orientation |
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Fiction? Anthology? |
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Publisher: Routledge |
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Date: 1995, 1996 |
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ISBN: 0-415-91277-6 0-415-91275-X |
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Series Name: (2 books known) |
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Physical description: Hardback and paper 209 pp 223 pp |
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Relevance to doaskdotell: “Do Ask, Do Tell” slogan |
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Review: The "Do Ask,
Do Tell" Slogan In the perception of
the public, the phrase or slogan, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" derives
from the "compromise" position ("Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't
Pursue") "worked out" by Congress and President Clinton in
1993 regarding homosexuals in the military. From the DADT
Bibliography:
Page 338. The Powers-Ellis book A Manager's Guide to Sexual Orientation in
the Workplace (New York and London: Routledge,
1995, ISBN 0-415-91277-6 LOC call HD6285.P65 )
advertises itself with a red campaign-button containing the slogan "Do
Ask Do Tell" on the spine and back cover (in the hardcover edition, on
the dusk jacket). At the end of Chapter 1, there is a brief aphorism called
"DO ASK! DO TELL!" in which the "outing" of the gay
community to the mainstream because of the coincidental "tragedy and
travesty" of the AIDS epidemic and the military gay ban debate. The book
did NOT include this slogan in its ISBN title, and please do not confuse it
with mine! As indicated from the book's front-cover header, "101 Ways to
Make Your Workplace More Inclusive," the book is targeted towards
corporate human resources departments. The book does contain a lot of
personal testimonials. Powers and Ellis have
published a second book, A Family and Friend's Guide to Sexual Orientation:
Bridging the Divide Between Gay and Straight (Routledge,
1996). I have only very recently (Dec. 1999)
found and purchased a copy of this book. The opening section, "Getting
Started," and closing "101 Steps on the Road to Acceptance" do
mention the "Do Ask, Do Tell" concept, both respect to a large
number of personal accounts presented and also with respect to red and white
"Do Ask Do Tell" buttons or stickers that have been available, in
gay bookstores and facilities. I have not personally seen these; in any
case they do not seem to be nearly as common as pink-triangles and,
especially, rainbow flags and banners. Servicemembers' Legal Defense Network, a
watchdog legall assistance group for members of the
military affected by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy
(http://www.sldn.org) provides dog-tags which read "Do Ask Do Tell"
on one side and "Say Nothing, Sign Nothing" on the reverse.
The slogan has also been used by AIDS organizations (encouraging
honesty about HIV status before sexual encounters) and other businesses, such
as psychological counseling services. A "Do Ask Do
Tell" film might well include material (such as re-enactment scenes or
discussion among parties, but probably not just "interviews," and
vaulted film clips or film strips) from some of the personal accounts in
these and other similar books (such as several major books authored by
litigants against the military gay ban, listed in my bibliography and supplemental bibliography). What
I would like to see is a bigger concept, maybe a series of historical films
(hopefully for theaters as well as cable) building on the development of
individualism, tying individualism to the ability to understand what makes
others (especially those in more “communitarian” cultures, including
religious cultures) tick, and tying it also the degree of responsibility for
others. The concept – disclosing and understanding what makes us diverse and
what makes us tick – is much bigger than its original interpretation with
respect to gay issues. |
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