What does it mean to identify as LGBTQIA+ in the semiconductor industry? It’s an interesting question to ask, but a difficult one to answer. Because we live in a world in which cisgender heteronormity is assumed, it’s possible to self-identify as LGBTQIA+ without sharing that information publicly. Coworkers and managers might not even realize that their colleague or employee is gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary or other. Unlike other minorities, notably people of color, LGBTQIA+ people may choose to keep their identities invisible.
As I began outreach for this article, I recognized that some people might not want to expose a potential vulnerability to both their co-workers and a broader global audience of SEMI members, so I tried to make them feel more comfortable. I told them I’m a lesbian. I said that I’d send content for their review before publishing. But I quickly discovered that wasn’t enough, despite sweeping cultural and legal advances around LGBTQIA+ attitudes and identity. According to a 2020 Gallup Poll, 5.6% of U.S. adults now identify as LGBTQIA+, up from 4.5% just three years ago. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage, and in 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
The semiconductor industry has been historically conservative. The times, however, are changing. Large chip companies such as AMD, Intel and Lam Research actively support diversity and inclusion efforts across minority groups, including LGBTQIA+, and that’s a good thing, but is it enough? And if not, what actions can SEMI members take to help LGBTQIA+ people in semiconductors feel safe enough to choose visibility?
According to Antoinette Hamilton, global head of Inclusion and Diversity at Lam Research, more than 46% of LGBTQIA+ employees in the industry aren’t out in the workplace. That tells us there’s still work to be done, a challenge that Lam is embracing. With its Pride employee resource group (ERG) leading the way, partnerships with organizations such as PFLAG and Out & Equal, and recruitment efforts made through organizations such as Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM), Lam has earned a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index and was named one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
“At Lam, we understand the importance of empowering employees to bring their authentic self to work,” says Hamilton. “We believe when employees feel valued and included, each person can reach their full potential.”
Back in 1992 when Intel paid to relocate Judi Goldstein, her partner and their son from New Jersey to Oregon, mainstream cultural attitudes toward gays and lesbians were very different. According to a June 1992 Gallup poll, only 48% of Americans thought that “gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should be legal,” with 44% saying they should be illegal. A May 2020 Gallup poll recorded a dramatic shift in attitudes, with 72% affirming the legality of same-sex relations and only 24% opposed.
By the late 1990s, Intel had extended domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. “I registered my partner – now my wife – and our son, and realized that from then on, my whole family would have health insurance through Intel,” says Goldstein, who identifies as a gay woman and uses she/her pronouns. “Both relocating my family and providing family health coverage solidified my attachment to Intel, which was way ahead of other companies at the time.”
By 1995, Goldstein became one of the first members of IGLOBE, Intel’s ERG for LGBTQ+ employees. Since that time, she’s observed further progress at Intel, first with the addition of gender identity and expression to Intel’s anti-harassment policy, and later with the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms at all major US sites. And advancement didn’t stop there.
“We now have international IGLOBE chapters, a celebration of Pride Month in June, company support for the Equality Act and other legislation, a provision for transgender health benefits, and the launch of Self-ID efforts in 2017,” she says.
From her start as software engineer more than 32 years ago to her current positions as director of the Open Source Audio and Security Engineering teams, Goldstein has played an instrumental role pioneering new technologies and mentoring other engineers at Intel – in addition to serving as a role model for LGBTQIA+ employees coming through the ranks. Now a grandmother with a five-year-old granddaughter, Goldstein lives in Oregon with her wife of more than 30 and two dogs.
Location, Location, Location
As social animals, we tend to value safe and welcoming places to live. When you’re LGBTQIA+, this may mean moving to an urban area that is more likely to embrace diverse orientations and cultures.
After getting his master’s in astrophysics, Chuck Chung had a decision to make. Remain in the same field, which would limit his options on where to live, or get a doctorate in engineering, which would expand them.
“In the ‘90s when I was making this choice, things were very different, and I knew that where I worked and lived would have a huge impact on how open I could be,” said Chung. “While I would have loved a career in astrophysics, I realized that engineering would be a more practical choice because I was more likely to find work in a city.”
Both personally and professionally, engineering has proved a good choice for Chung. He’s lived in San Francisco and Silicon Valley for the past 18 years, where being out in the workplace is rarely an issue. “I compartmentalize my personal and professional lives when necessary, such as when business colleagues who are overseas talk about their families in casual conversation. Most of the time, though, my identity as a gay man is a non-issue, and I work for a company that really cares.”
From his pioneering work in MEMS and genetic sequencing to his current focus on the next generation of microarchitectures at IBM, Chung has long thrived. Now, with a new book on MEMS Product Development – co-authored with two other Ph.D.’s, Alissa Fitzgerald and Carolyn White of A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates – the best days of Chung’s career may still be ahead of him. He lives in the Bay area with his husband and their two children.
Kunal Garg’s identity didn’t influence his career choices because when he started in semiconductors, he wasn’t out to himself or others. A few years into his engineering career at his former company, Garg realized his identity as a gay man at a time when the national discussion about same-sex marriage was at its apex – leading to some uncomfortable situations at work. “As some of my colleagues and managers openly debated same-sex marriage, they seemed oblivious to the fact that there were LGBTQIA+ people at work,” says Garg. “I knew then that I wanted to steer such conversations in a way that would feel safe and inviting for people like me, who work in this industry while being true to their identities.”
Once he’d come out to his family and friends, particularly after he married his husband, Garg wasn’t willing to stay silent at work. “Although it took courage and internal struggle to come out to colleagues, my identity as a gay man wasn’t something I wanted to hide or deny anymore,” he says. “Some people laughed when I mentioned my ‘husband.’ The idea that their colleague, an engineer, an Indian immigrant, a man, could be gay and married to another guy was so foreign, it was almost laughable. Luckily, this didn’t stop me from being myself at work, and over time, these types of conversations became very rare.”
Nonetheless, Garg looked around for ways to be part of the LGBTQIA+ engineering community. When he moved to AMD in Austin, he wanted to start with a clean slate. “When my manager called to invite me to join his team at AMD, I casually brought up the fact that my husband was going to need to start looking for a new job in Austin. And, very casually, he asked me what my husband did for a living, and we went on to discuss how Austin would be a great city for us to live in,” says Garg. “The fact that this was such a normal conversation was a big factor in my decision to join AMD.”
Soon after starting as a design engineer at AMD, Garg found that LGBTQIA+ engineering community for which he’d been searching. He joined AMD’s Pride ERG, a group that he now chairs. “Being a part of this ERG has been transformational for me on a personal level and has allowed me to connect with my fellow engineers and people in my industry, beyond our mutual love for science and technology.”
Become a change agent
While some chip companies actively promote inclusion and diversity of LGBTQIA+ employees, others still have a long way to go. SEMI and the SEMI Foundation are uniquely positioned to help advance LGBTQIA+ equity issues in the microelectronics industry.
"The SEMI Foundation is committed to promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our industry for the benefit of our workers and our member companies,” says Shari Liss, executive director of the SEMI Foundation. “We are designing programs for human resources departments, company leaders, and DEI allies to make the case for stronger DEI practices that will attract, retain, and promote LGBTQIA+ individuals and other underrepresented groups in our industry. We will soon publish SEMI's Roadmap to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and DEI Toolkit, which will contain tools to help companies strengthen their workplace cultures so everyone – including those that identify as LGBTQIA+ – will feel welcome, and will be able to do their best work."
“If we want to truly see the semiconductor industry flourish on a global level, we need to push for equitable treatment of LGBTQIA+ and other minority employees,” says Garg. “SEMI can help by educating industry leaders, especially in countries outside North America and Europe, on how diversity and inclusion through policy are vital to their sustained productivity. These workshops and trainings should be data-driven to encourage companies to hire more LGBTQIA+ employees and to create policies that promote the well-being of all employees.”
It’s not just at the company level or the industry association level that matters. Just as individuals are necessary change agents in proliferating greater equity among women and people of color, they’re also needed as allies of LGBTQIA+ people.
“Like so many of us, I’d love to wave a magic wand to end discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, but like any cultural shift, most change comes in small steps, not in giant leaps,” said Karen Lightman, executive director, Metro21: Smart Cities Institute – Carnegie Mellon University. “Fortunately, it’s easy to help make those small steps by becoming an ally to LGBTQIA+-identified people. When you see an injustice, don’t stay silent. Use your voice. There’s transformative power in that act alone. As one step, I’ve started using my pronouns when I introduce myself and now include them in my digital signature. It’s an easy way for me to express that I am an ally to LGBTQIA+-identified people.”
Help us make the change. Use your voice. Get involved. Encourage your company to advocate for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and diversity.
Maria Vetrano, principal of Vetrano Communications, is a PR consultant at SEMI Foundation.