A Military Perspective of Workplace Equality and What to do in the Interim

Speaker event with Pat Baillie

Associate Director of Training & Professional Development, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
Pat Baillie joined Out & Equal in January 2008 after retiring the second time in her career from Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to that, she served in the US Air Force retiring in 1993 as a Major. Her entire career has been involved with training, adult education, and activism and she is ready to pull all those parts of her history together at Out & Equal to make a difference for those in the workplace.
Pat graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Master’s Degree in Physical Education, Biology and Psychology. After college, she joined the Air Force and worked as a Weapons Controller and Space Operations officer. She was also active in LGBT causes her entire career thanks to her mentors and decided to retire on the day that President Clinton announced “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” She was then able to publicly come out and was the featured speaker at the Veteran’s Day memorial in Sacramento, California in 1993. She has also worked extensively with sexual freedom issue as a spokesperson and educator and has worked on national grass roots organizing.
Pat worked as an intern on the Joint Chiefs of Staff when she was a Captain in the prestigious Air Staff Training Intern program – now called Air Force Intern Program (AFIP). She was also combat rated in her role as a Weapons Controller and in Space Operations. She was among the first women in these fields to break down the barriers for women in combat. She was also under investigation 2 times in the military for being a Lesbian. Her decision to retire and continue advocating for workplace equality have shaped her career since.
She currently lives in Oakland with her partner and travels extensively teaching, presenting and discussing the issues impacting LGBT equality in and out of the workplace. The opportunity to influence the workplace is truly a dream job bringing together her political/activist passion with her love of teaching.

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