I’m a gay man working in transportation, which according to conservatives is level 2 diversity hire right behind black people and Mexicans.

You think I had it easy being out while still trying to get a job right out of college? You think employers were just bypassing all the straight applicants because they were so eager to hire me?

I was an English major and was looking to get into education but the homophobic environment I was in at the time turned me off to ever seeking anything more than a Bachelor’s.

I pivoted to aviation and got my licenses. You think I had it any easier than everyone else? That my job prospects weren’t just as hopeless as everyone else? That I didn’t have to start out working for a fly-by-night operation like everybody else, except that I had to conceal a major part of my identity from my potential employers because they were all chud small business tyrants? My mental health took a hit and so would my career if I had been open to my employers. This was the “part 91” world which was and is basically unregulated flight operations (relative to the airlines). My orientation was a hindrance to employment, not a free pass to immediately start making millions as a Boeing exec.

You think that when I became an Inspector at the FAA and went to work out of the closet that I was immediately put on some sort of career fast-track? That I didn’t have to deal with the same tired homophobic jokes from colleagues day in and day out, that I wasn’t passed up for opportunities that were afforded to lesser experienced, straight guys? That my first boss did not actively try to hinder my career there? That I didn’t experience the exact same boredom as everybody else there and the exact same dread when I had to interview a 90 year old millionaire who crashed his Cessna because he forgot to refuel it? That I wasn’t paid the same pathetic salary as every other Inspector?

I loved that job. I got to issue pilot’s licenses for fuck’s sake, how many people can say the same? To be clear, conducting checkrides is considered lowly and menial work by most Inspectors. That’s why I basically did all of them for my office. Or, my boss had me do it. You know why. If it weren’t for the homophobic office environment I might still be there.

I moved on to the airlines. You think that I got some magic free pass and that airlines were kissing my feet begging me to work for them? Fuck no. I was rejected from ~90% of the places I applied to, like everybody else. Straight white guys are still a majority of pilots in the US. Most of them range from conservative to frothing chud. They are more likely to be hired than others. The bias favors them. There is no “diversity hiring”. It’s absurd that chuds think some black people in advertisements mean that’s what the hiring scene really looks like.

It is so fucking insulting to be accused of only being where I am now because of who I fuck instead of the years of exhausting work I put into getting here.

You know who the Boeing execs are? Straight white guys. You know who most likely misinstalled that door? A straight white guy.