Flowers in bloom at the Dallas Arboretum

LGBTQ rights activists are organizing a Let Equality Bloom protest at the Dallas Arboretum on Saturday, March 19, from 10 a.m. to noon to “bring attention to a workplace culture that rejects equity, inclusion and diversity, all the while receiving funds from the city of Dallas and violating the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance and charter.”

The protest will call on the arboretum to announce policy changes and steps that it will take to address its workplace policies that relate to employees’ use of their pronouns and to ensure that the work environment is free from any discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Organizers encourage all LGBTQ community members and allies to meet outside the main entrance to the Arboretum on Garland Road and to bring signs to be used during the protest. Additional info about parking and logistics will be posted on Resource Center’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages before the protest.

Steve Atkinson, one of the protest organizers, told Dallas Voice, “We won’t back down from this until the situation is fixed, and we will have more protests after Saturday if needed.”

The protest comes after a former employee, who uses she/they pronouns, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the city of Dallas’ Fair Housing Office alleging they were fired because of their gender identity, despite being a high-performing employee with a record of success. Problems started, the employee says, when they wore a button with “they-them” on it and added their pronouns to their email signature.

An attorney with Lambda Legal, who is representing the employee, said other employees had quotes, Bible verses, and mantras in their signatures, even though the fired employee’s supervisors instructed them to remove pronoun information from their email signature, claiming that all company emails would be required to follow a standard format.

In the complaint filed in November 2021, the employee claims that the work culture at the Arboretum is one of discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, rather than a culture of inclusivity. Arboretum management has given a statement saying the employee was not discriminated against but has not provided any information to back up the claim that their workplace is free from discrimination, that protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity are in place and understood by all employees, or that employees are free to use their pronouns.

While the Dallas Arboretum says it cannot comment on a pending lawsuit, they could comment on their policies, protest organizers say.

The city of Dallas has an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Under its operational agreement to manage the 66 acres of city-owned land along White Rock Lake, the arboretum cannot discriminate based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or other classifications.

“The citizens of Dallas deserve the assurance that Dallas Arboretum is complying with its contract and the city ordinance in every way,” protest organizers insist.

Anyone who wants more information can contact Steve Atkinson by phone at 214-334-7404 or by email at steveatk85@gmail.com.

— Tammye Nash