Monday, June 20, 2011

Proud to be an American

I'm proud of my country, that so many high-tech corporations today offer domestic partner benefits for gays and lesbians. I'm talking about medical insurance for my partner. That means a great deal to me. As a matter of fact, it is the single criterion upon which I make decisions about companies. I don't even bother applying to any company that does not offer DP benefits, but exceptions are rare these days, at least in the area of high tech.*

I can remember back when I was a teenager--I really didn't expect this to happen in my lifetime. It surprises me and makes me glad I'm an American. I can tell you, things were different even in the 1990's. Change DOES come and can arrive even within a single lifetime.

* - In my experience, there are plenty of gay programmers. Among heterosexual programmers, homophobia is uncommon among the competent. Only incompetent programmers have ever expressed homophobia in my presence, and their motive was to shift the focus away from their incompetence and onto sexual orientation, in which they felt they were superior.

Competent programmers look for and appreciate competence from their colleagues. They care about what is between the ears. They do not care about what goes on below the belt. The focus is upon getting things done. In most shops, there is more work that needs to be done than there are programmers to do it.
by igor 04:20 4 replies by igor 09:32 0 comments

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