Macy’s CEO Says He Was Told Being Openly Gay Would Harm His Career When He Started In 1983

Jan 02, 2023

Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said he was told that being openly gay could harm his career, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Gennette was describing the attitudes to his sexuality in 1983, when he joined Macy’s and was open about being gay.

In an interview with the Journal published Saturday, Gennette, said that other people treated his sexuality like a dark secret even though he did not. Read more at Business Insider.

One Reply to “Macy’s CEO Says He Was Told Being Openly Gay Would Harm His Career When He Started In 1983”

  1. Having started work in NY at around the same time, in publishing, this is not really a surprise. The head of one of the largest publishers in the world was a notorious homophobe, and there was much talk about the “lavender ceiling” beyond which openly gay men could not advance in most all professions, including retail, the media, and banking. Oddly, queer women could move a bit further up the ladder versus openly gay men at that time, likely due in part to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the gay male community at that time: We were viewed as a huge health and disability insurance liability.

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