I was flying high after my first in-person keynote since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Finally, I got to put on some real pants, make some new slides, and talk to a live audience. I speak to audiences all over the world about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) issues, mostly related to improving our health and wellness. I have been doing this work for most of my career. When the latest research comes out showing how more and more younger Americans are publicly identifying as members of the LGBTQ+ community1 or how many people want to see corporations show support of LGBTQ+ issues,2 I feel proud to be part of creating that opportunity and acceptance millions are feeling today. So, when the other keynote speaker pulled me aside to give me some “advice” after my talk, I wasn’t prepared for homophobia. The straight woman tried to caveat her feedback with comments about how much she personally agreed with what I said but wanted to help me “tone down” my message. She said the executive sitting next to her from a Fortune 500 company wasn’t appreciating my keynote (or so she interpreted by her body language) and “she’s exactly the kind of Executive you want to win over.” This is how DEI efforts are talked about all the time. The message from entrenched leaders usually sounds like we should slow down, quiet down. Always trying to balance their support with how they think change happens – or at least how they’ve been doing it. The real job in their mind is for me to win over the naysayers. I’m not usually in rooms with CEOs. I think about how to make change from the middle. I teach other kinds of leaders the content and help them strategize about how to integrate it into their efforts already underway. I enjoy supporting those workers with less perceived organizational power become their own one-person movement for change inside of their workplaces. Most of the time, I am engaging workers who are themselves members of the LGBTQ+ community and their own professional development becomes the secret sauce to the company making real change.