Pride in the profession

This week EG is focussing on LGBT inclusion in the real estate industry. Is enough being done to make everyone feel respected, rewarded and included in an industry that perhaps does not have the best track record on diversity? Over the course of this week, numerous professionals will share their stories, thoughts and advice on LGBT issues in property. Here David Thame, a real estate journalist for more than 30 years, tells his story. So this is how it used to go: a nice restaurant, table full of guys and perhaps the woman from the PR agency. She will have long hair and will laugh a lot. Nobody will be black. At some point during the starters, I realise I have said something that causes the table to go silent. People will look at their plates. Then the PR girl will laugh and, barely noticing the missed beat, we will carry on. That was what “coming out” amounted to in the very undiverse property industry, circa 1988. I was always the only out gay man in the room. On trips to the more far-flung regions, perhaps the only out gay man in the town and, quite probably, the only out gay man anyone round the table had ever met. In 30 years working and writing around the property business, no one has ever been homophobic to my face: probably because people are (mostly) minding their language when talking to journalists. Very wise. But what some of them said behind my back I can only imagine. However, I confess that what I said behind their backs was almost certainly much worse. Where were my gay brothers and sisters during all those years spent talking to the property industry in London and Manchester, two of the gayest cities on earth? Answer: invisible. Despite the good work, there is still a lot of fear. You hear it most clearly from suddenly and unhappily recloseted graduates who are busy keeping their head down in new and sometimes hostile teams. Almost three decades of interviewing and meetings yielded just two out-at-work gay men and one out gay woman. Outside working hours, I bumped into one gay Manchester surveyor (at my sister-in-law’s wedding. Hello, if you’re reading this) and while he was definitely out at the wedding (oh, the gin we drank!), I don’t think he was as forthcoming in the office. Today, LGBT property professionals are more visible, though, to be fair, the bar is shockingly low. Out and proud, they are working hard to build support networks and making friends and, in the process, taking surveying firms to places they never imagined they would go. Who, for instance, would have expected to see the JLL banner flying at Norwich’s pride march? It’s on 29 July, starting at the city hall – go see it for yourself. But despite the good work, there is still a lot of fear. You hear it most clearly from suddenly and unhappily recloseted graduates who are busy keeping their head down in new and sometimes hostile teams. You also see the anxiety in mid-career property professionals who fear being blamed for losing clients. EG’s groundbreaking survey – out tomorrow – shows how much further there is to go. Things have changed a lot in 30 years. And there’s plenty more change to come.