Out of the Closet, Out of a Job: Following Discrimination, Lesbian Pursues Life of LGBTQ+ Activism.

My name is Angie Harden. I'm  from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When I was 15, I got my first job. I was thrilled  to have my first job. I was lucky enough to work at a recreational athletic facility in their  childcare department. My boss was the nicest lady on the planet. We formed a bond over several  years of working there. She almost became like a mother figure to me. And when I went off  to college, she wanted me to stay there. She loved me so much that she said, "I will make  anything work, come

back on weekends, come back on holidays, spring breaks, summer breaks. I want you  still working here." So when I went off to college the first time, I'll never forget it, she baked  me a tray of cookies and she said, "We're going to miss you around here, but here's something  to send you off with and you'll be back." And sure enough, she called me up holidays,  weekends, Christmas, breaks over the summer, and she said, "Let's get you on the schedule."  So I did that my freshman year. I did tha

t my sophomore year, and then I also did  that partly through my junior year. My junior year is when I decided to come out  publicly. I put my relationship with my then girlfriend on Facebook, and I decided to tell  the world, and I was very excited about it. So my junior year was coming to a close and per  usual, I called at my boss and I said, "Hey, summer's rolling around. I'd love to get back  on the schedule." Usually I was met with just great excitement, but this time was different. She wa

s cold, she was uninviting, and she just said, "We don't have room for you." And I  said, "Well, what do you mean? What do you mean you don't have room?" And she just kept  on repeating, "We don't have room for you." “What about the substitution list?" We had this  very rudimentary paper list taped to the inside of a cabinet door, and she said, "No, I'm not putting  you on that list." And again, I just couldn't comprehend what was going on. So after that, the conversation really - it almost went

dark for me. It’s blurry as to what happened  after that. I don’t remember too much more. I just remember getting off the phone and  being so upset. My girlfriend was actually in the room with me when this happened. And  I just… I just started bawling. I had lost… And it took me a while. I couldn't understand it,  but I remember my girlfriend at the time saying, "Well, didn't you just come out?" And I said, "Well, yeah, yeah, I put our relationship on Facebook, but  I'm not Facebook friends wit

h my boss, and that can't be it." I just remember  saying that can't be right. That can't be it. So she said, "Well, does anyone at your work  know?" She was convinced at the time that that was what was going on. So she said,  "Does anybody else from your work know?" And I said, "Yes. I have one coworker  who I am Facebook friends with. We have a great relationship, but she might  know, she may have seen it, I'm not sure." So my girlfriend suggested giving her a call. I called her and I said, "I

don't work in our department anymore, and  I think this is what's going on. I think our boss knows that I'm gay and she doesn't want me to  work there anymore, but I don't know how she could possibly know that." And I'll never forget it. My coworker said, "Oh my God, Ang, I told her. I told her that you came out and I told her about  your girlfriend because I was so excited for you." And that was the moment that everything clicked. So initially I was devastated, hurt, upset, and I took a couple

weeks to process what had  happened and to decide what I wanted to do. And over that couple weeks, I shifted from  being hurt and upset to just being really angry. In that moment of becoming so angry  about what had happened, I decided to call HR and do something about it. This was not right. So I called HR and I said very confidently, "I am certain that this is what has happened  to me. I have been fired for being gay. Take a look at my file, take a look at my reviews. You  guys know me. I hav

e been fired for no reason, and I'm sure that it's because I'm gay. So  either you can do something about it or I am very seriously considering filing a lawsuit." Two days later, I received a phone call from my boss. When she called, it was not the  person that I had known for seven years. The person who was on the other end  of that phone was cold. She was timid. She said, "I'm sorry for firing you. I  shouldn't have. You should come back and work." And I said, "Absolutely not. I refuse to work

for  you." It was a very short phone call. She said, "Okay." To be honest, I don't think she  was even bothered by that. I think that's probably the answer that she wanted, but I  was so fortunate that I knew so many other people at this facility that I worked at  that when people found out that I was open for a job, I got phone calls left and right. So I ended up working at a Rockwall teaching kids rock climbing classes. I ended up running an  afterschool program. I ended up driving a school b

us. I ended up teaching kids basketball. So it  ended up being a great shift for me in what I love to do. And so I made lemonade out of lemons. After living through this moment and coming out successful on the other end, it  ignited a fire in me to try to protect people from going through what I went through.  It's one of the reasons I decided to go to law school. It's the reason I decided to intern  for the ACLU when I was in law school. It's part of the reason that I do pro bono  work and comm

unity service that throughout my career as a lawyer now, I do everything I can  to serve the LGBTQ community, serving on boards, marching in the streets, protesting, taking on pro  bono work, serving nonprofit organizations. So if I can play just even a small role in helping other  people avoid that pain, that's what I want to do.