Pride Flag in Virtual Work Background?

I'll be starting my summer internship at an EB this summer. My background may have a pride flag and I'm thinking of taking it down for the summer to keep things "professional."


However, it bugs me since doing so is basically acquiescing to what I perceive as the delicate sensibilities of traditional Wall Street. Would an employee's background be considered unprofessional if it represented another piece of their identity like ethnicity? 


I'm in an enormously privileged position and by willfully shielding my pride, I worry that I'm maintaining an archaic status quo at the expense of less fortunate members of the community rather than normalizing the concept of a more diverse workplace. 


I know I'm overthinking it! A 10-week internship is not Stonewall, but I'd love to get a read on where the current culture of Wall Street is at. 


Edit: I will be taking it down. Very fascinating contention surrounding this topic though.

 

Nobody will have a problem when you have a flag in the background. I know I wouldn't. But the workplace is just that - a place where we work with others. There doesn't have to be anything else to it.
Imagine this week you'd put your flag in your background. But what if next week another colleague saw your flag and puts up a political flag in their room? Or a religious one? Or a NRA flag? Or a flag that denounces vaccines. etc.

Working at an office doesn't mean we have no free speech or rights; but we can try to make things easier for everyone.

 

Yeah it's kind of weird because I would actually not care about someone having an NRA (or other) flag in the background but it seems the 1st amendment holds true only in a vacuum--firms are profit-driven and they'll likely have super ad hoc and discretionary social standards about what's okay and what's not since it all comes down to PR. (firms telling an employee to take down a pride flag is potentially cancellable, yet firms telling an employee to take down a confederate flag or NRA flag or something denouncing vaccines may not be such a controversial policy -- "misinformation" and "hate" are overapplied as reasons for limiting free speech imo) It's all very confusing which is why I started this discussion. 

 

No one will care about a pride flag specifically and if someone does you shouldn’t work at that place. That said would recommend a semi-professional background aka not a messy bedroom.

 

I see your point about the double standard. Anyone who takes issue with it likely won't voice it because people are losing their jobs over cancellation of the smallest things. I'd personally be okay with an American flag or other things in someone's background, though anon's point makes sense too about keeping a neutral environment. I'll leave it down for now and play it by ear. 

 

It's just a little one but definitely visible. Thanks for the more qualified point. I see how a large pride flag as my entire background may come off distracting and unprofessional. It's not always a bright-line situation so drawing these degrees is an important point I missed. 

 

Generally, and especially for your SA, your background should be literally nothing. Plain walls and ceiling. That's it. Has nothing to do with anything else other than that is the most professional and safest option. No reason to advertise anything whether you have a framed photo of your favorite baseball player, a Trump flag, or a pride flag, just leave it out of the background. If you do leave it up, I don't think it would be an issue, but a distraction and clutter free background is the most accepted and recommended. 

 

Joking aside, I never understood why lgbtq+ people have to "show their pride." They're not being oppressed today and they can get married. Nothing wrong with being gay, but why do they have to advertise their sexual preference like this? If I had an intense sexual attraction towards dogs, for example, would it make sense if I paraded the streets with like-minded people while waving rainbow dog anus flags so the world knows about us? What about if I had an intense love for feet? Do I have to announce to the world I love that? It makes no fucking sense. It's a fucking kink. Keep this shit in the bedroom ffs.

 

Travis Bickle

that's interesting. I'm keeping a plain background now per advice from other comments, but I might troll HR and get a direct answer 

HR is not there to help you. Their role is to protect management. Never forget that. I have an employee who flies a pride flag in their zoom calls and care zero about it. We're in healthcare though so it's somewhat different. 

 

Seeing a lot of people saying it’s totally fine.. it’s not though, 100%. As another posted, your background should be reminiscent of your office… even though it might be a dorm room, your bedroom, or something else of that nature, try to keep it as professional as possible. I’ve heard discussions of people much higher up the totem pole stating “did you see what x had in the background”, you don’t want that to be the reason you don’t get a return offer.

 

You'd probably squeak by if you kept it up, but not worth the risk. The corporate culture on Wall Street has certainly changed since the 90s: we have affirmative action programs, women are being actively targeted for elevation to leadership roles, firms are prioritizing ESG. However, there are lots of people who detest these changes. You wouldn't want to run into one of those people while your pride flag is hanging in your background....

 

Dude this is a no brainer. Your virtual background should be politically neutral. You might disagree, but LGBTetc is still a political issue in the united states and politics do not belong in the workplace. Wall Street is generally culturally conservative, so don't fuck up your internship by rubbing bankers the wrong way. You don't want to come across as someone who will come crying to HR at the drop of the hat. Don't take this to mean you can't be gay, but don't make it your main identity. You do not want to be the "gay intern," you want to be the sharp, friendly, useful intern. Ignore all of this if you're in the SF office. Come in playing Macho Man by the Village People and your MD will slap your ass and dance along with you. 

 

Ok but let’s be honest here. You are basically a “useless” intern and now you’re virtual which means you’ll get even more busy work than usual.

How are you in any way making any real impact at all by showing your flag.

How about, exercise self control today so that you can one day reach a position of power and actually make difference / change culture?

The issue isn’t LGBT but rather displaying anything gauche or potentially distracting. This applies to basically everything especially as an intern. Good on you for stickiny up / trying to

Make a difference but check your naïveté and realize it makes none, and you should wait until youresenior

 

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