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Celebrating VT Pride Week, Vermont Commission on Women Issues LGBTQ+ Equal Pay Podcast Conversation

Press Releases

(Montpelier) - HB Lozito, the Executive Director of Out in the Open and Representative Taylor Small, the Pride Center of Vermont’s Director of Health & Wellness speak with Vermont Commission on Women (VCW) Commissioner Sarah Mell in this third podcast in the Commission’s Equal Pay Day series.

Equal Pay Day is a symbolic day chosen to illustrate the point into the current year to which women must work to earn as much money as men made in the year before, due to the gender wage gap. With these video podcast conversations, VCW hopes to raise awareness about pay equity, and the ways racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism intersect, creating much larger wage gaps for women of color, women living with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Another goal of the project is to listen to women about their experiences with pay inequity, how it impacts them, and what they think could help.

Introduced by VCW's executive director Cary Brown, this episode explores equity and the economic impacts of COVID-19 in our LGBTQ + community. It also considers additional impacts to those community members living with disabilities and BIPOC members. The conversation touched on rising costs, lack of internet access, and lack of transportation, concerns shared with so many Vermonters during this time. Solutions explored included wage transparency and workplaces that support self-care practices, and that uplift and value their employees, cultivating an environment of connection and trust.

Watch this video podcast on YouTube, or listen on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.