Did I hit the “lavendar ceiling?”
I expected good performance and results to count at my new workplace, especially because we demanded similar principles in the firms we invested in. However, venture capital funds are mostly white, Anglo-Saxon, East Coast, Ivy League, heterosexual, type A men. To succeed in the venture capital environment all must adopt the values of the pinnacle species: white, heterosexual men. In September of 2002 I received a glowing employee review and was told I was being considered for partner and was a shoe-in. On December 16, 2002, minutes before I was to leave the office for my Christmas holidays I was summoned to the office of the same partner who had done my September review. He notified me that the firm thought I might find more success elsewhere. Why? I will never know for sure. But, I have always suspected the major factor was that I was gay. I did not quite fit in. Is it the lavender ceiling?
Frank Dell, a Gay Male in the investment industry
