Today we present the conclusion of our two part Q&A with businessman and LGBT visionary Mitchell Gold. In this part of our conversation, Mitchell talks about his book, CRISIS, and about the importance of being out in business. For more on Mitchell, check out his company’s Web site.

Ben Finzel: We’ve talked a bit on this blog about CRISIS, your groundbreaking book of 40 essays by famous people recounting the price they paid for society’s homophobia. When I met you last year, you told me the book was the most important thing you’ve ever done. Tell us a bit about the book and why it is so important.

Mitchell Gold: First, it is 30 essays of a diverse group of very well known to fairly well known and accomplished people. There are also ten essays from not particularly well known young people under 23 years old. I wanted to make sure to have young people because I know there is a misconception by some that everything is getting better and easier. That might be true for some, but for the vast majority it really isn’t.

CRISIS is important because it gives the LGBT civil rights movement an effective and previously unused way to communicate why full and equal rights are so important to our community. Over the past 4 years I’ve learned that many well meaning people just don’t know the horrible harm that is caused to gay teenagers. Their vote, their church, their family and friends could be causing this harm and if they don’t know about it in the clearest of terms they will never know it and be able to do something about it. We always look for a silver bullet message to get people to change and this is it. This book is transformational. Let me share two true stories:

1) A few days ago I was in Puerto Rico having dinner with a customer who is about 45 years old, a Republican delegate for John McCain, Catholic and recently the father of twin boys. I gave him a copy of CRISIS last October after a dinner where I learned he was a delegate and supporter of McCain with the inscription “May Alfredo and Alberto grow up crisis free.”  As I gave him the book I told him John McCain would be devastating for gay kids in the future because of the potential Supreme Court appointees and the general climate of rejection he would allow….especially with Sarah Palin and her fundamentalist Christian views. I asked him to read the book before the election and think about what kind of world he wants his kids to grow up in…regardless of what their sexual orientation happens to be. 

At our dinner a few days ago he told me he was touched by the inscription and did read the book before the election and consequently changed his position. Even more interesting he told me that he showed his 81 year old mother the book and read from the chapters about Catholics. After some discussion he told me she has now totally changed her views on gay people.

2) In a few weeks there will be an article published in a well known mainstream Christian publication by a well known Evangelical Christian minister and professor of ethics. I can’t disclose much from the article yet but here are a couple of quick quotes:

“Crisis tells the sad stories of dozens of young people….. How often they have been left broken by their fundamental rejection as human beings—at the hands of Christians, and in the name of the Bible.”

“Obviously we must extend such basic acceptance, such human and Christian love.”

“But after reading these stories, it seems to me that Christians have something to request from God, and from the gays and lesbians among us. We need forgiveness.”  

Ben Finzel: We frequently blog about the importance of public figures coming out and sharing the realities of their lives – our lives – with society at large. We’re making some progress in this regard with more people coming out, but there are still some fields, including business, where out leaders are few and far between. Do you wish more business leaders would come out? What do you think it will take for that to happen?

Mitchell Gold: Yes, of course every business leader has to come out. And then they have to do a great job.

We have to have a society where being gay is just simply a normal part of a human’s being and life. It has to stop being such a big deal. And that will happen when fundamentalist anti-gay religious groups stop trying to put themselves in superior positions to others, stop being judgmental, and stop interpreting their sacred books to doing these things.

A big part of this responsibility lies within our own community. Our organizations have to teach the simple truths about our lives, that sexual orientation is not some promiscuous choice, but rather a wonderful natural part of our creation. And we have to remind people that people have been hurt in the name of religious beliefs before and it is wicked. June 20, 1995 is the date that the Southern Baptist Convention issued a formal apology to Black Americans for the Southern Baptist Convention’s role in supporting the horrors of slavery and segregation. Let’s all join together in commending the SBC for recognizing their past mistake with a wink to think about the ones they do today.

Ben Finzel: Mitchell, thanks again for your willingness to share your thoughts with us. I think you’ve made the value proposition of being out, honest and direct very clear. And I think you’ve given us all a path to follow as we consider our own actions and perceptions. Here’s to many more years of success.