Coming out with pride.
V Teamer Patrick Flaherty shares his coming out journey and the importance of Self ID.
On today’s edition of Up To Speed, we meet V Teamer Patrick Flaherty who serves as in-house counsel for Verizon based in Washington D.C.
From a very young age, around six or seven, he knew he felt different but didn’t know what that difference was.
Growing up in the West Coast of Ireland in the early 80’s, Patrick says there wasn’t LGBTQ+ representation anywhere, so for years he decided to bury his feelings and pretend to be like everyone else around him.
“LGBTQ+ people cannot come out to anyone until they come out to themselves,” said Patrick. “And I went through that process in my late 20s living in this area.”
Patrick says coming out was stressful and anxiety provoking.
“You worry that others won’t accept you for who you are,” Patrick said. “Once I was able to say it to myself, I was then able to go out and try to figure out what it’s like to be gay.”
He began to date and eventually met his husband and started to discuss marriage and having kids, Patrick says he felt over the moon.
Patrick believes V Teamers should utilize Verizon’s “Self-ID” tool, which allows employees to share personal information about themselves with the company.
“An important part of Self-ID is the ability to self ID in connection to your sexual orientation and gender expression,” Patrick said. “The process is voluntary and all of the information is confidential – I’m passionate about it because I know how important this type of statistical information is to a company and the benefits that it can offer.”
Patrick hopes other V Teamers will utilize the tool so that Verizon can continue to recognize and value the diversity amongst its employees.
