Community Updates

My Experience Working and Living Openly Gay in AT&T’s Proud, Award-winning Workplace

By: Scott Sapperstein

As an openly gay general manager at AT&T, I experience AT&T’s commitment to equality and inclusion firsthand; my story as an employee is special because it is unremarkable. From the day I joined AT&T 13 years ago, AT&T fostered an environment where I feel comfortable to share who I am. My husband Rob is a part of my work life just like any spouse, and when he and I married, I was proud to share the news with my AT&T family.

Published 10 years ago | About a 2 minute read

By: Scott Sapperstein As an openly gay general manager at AT&T, I experience AT&T’s commitment to equality and inclusion firsthand; my story as an employee is special because it is unremarkable. From the day I joined AT&T 13 years ago, AT&T fostered an environment where I feel comfortable to share who I am. My husband Rob is a part of my work life just like any spouse, and when he and I married, I was proud to share the news with my AT&T family. That’s why I am personally so grateful that for the last 10 years, AT&T received a 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, which measures commitment to equality, non-discrimination and inclusion in the workplace. Today, we at AT&T are excited to share that we received a 100 percent score for the 11th year in a row! AT&T’s commitment to LGBT equality and inclusion is long standing, both inside and outside the company. In 1975, AT&T was one of the first Fortune 500 companies to adopt a non-discrimination policy toward sexual orientation and, in 1998, we were one of the first to adopt domestic partner benefits for LGBT employees. We also established LEAGUE at AT&T in 1987, which is the oldest LGBT Employee Resource Group (ERG) in the nation. In our communities, we stand up for policies that promote equality and inclusion. AT&T is a member of the HRC Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness, working to support the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a federal bill to protect employees in the workplace. As we celebrate this recognition from HRC and the continued progress we are all making to support equality and inclusion, I thank AT&T for its commitment to and continued support of the LGBT community. We have made much progress and there is still work to be done. I look forward to working with my colleagues at AT&T, the Human Rights Campaign and others to continue to strengthen the LGBT community.