The buttoned-up ranks of predominantly straight white men who run the banking world are making more room for their gay and lesbian colleagues. But as is common with the industry's other diversity efforts, this one still falters somewhere between the soaring rhetoric and the on-the-ground realities.
On the positive side, big banks have made significant strides in shutting down the frequently overt discrimination gay and lesbian employees once faced, bankers say. Many companies provide benefits for same-sex couples, and senior executives from Bank of America (BAC) to Goldman Sachs (GS) have been among the corporate world's most vocal supporters of same-sex marriage and other equal rights.
Even so, there are limits. No big-bank chief executives are openly gay, and rank-and-file bank employees say some gay and lesbian workers still hesitate to come out. That is less a function of overt discrimination than of conservative cultures that prize conformity, they say.
"It's still challenging in many aspects, but the industry really is at the forefront" of change, says Mark Stephanz, the vice chairman of the global financial sponsors group for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who came out at work about five years ago.
Stephanz was speaking on the sidelines of the third annual "Out on the Street" conference, an event devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality on Wall Street. Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein presided over this year's event, which by coincidence took place on the same day that Jason Collins of the National Basketball Association became the first active male player in a major sport to come out.
The conference, and the largely positive reaction to the news from Collins, reflect the extent to which attitudes about homosexuality and acceptance of openly gay and lesbian people have changed in the financial world and beyond.
The cheerful, nametag-filled atmosphere at Out on the Street last week seemed light-years removed from the turn of the century, when networking groups of gay Wall Streeters kept members' names secret. A top Merrill Lynch analyst at the time told New York Magazine that she didn't know of any gay colleagues in her 10,000-person offices.
Banks in the Lead
Banks still face the occasional lawsuit for allegedly discriminating against gay employees and customers. More broadly, however, financial services companies have received much-welcomed positive publicity for being among the best places for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to work. Only law firms outrank them, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
The nonprofit's Corporate Equality Index measures companies' nondiscrimination policies, domestic-partner benefits and public commitment to LGBT issues, among other criteria; its 2013 report gave perfect scores to JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America and Citigroup (NYSE:C), among others.
What happened? The AIDS epidemic may have had something to do with it. Also, minority banks have historically not done well, perhaps because people who are not members of that group do not feel welcomed. Good to know that gay people are making strides in the big banks.