For those who work in the tech industry, Wired's new cover story won't exactly shatter your worldview, but it's still a really great read.
Reporter Zoe Barnard spent several months talking to 51 people, 31 of them gay men, to paint a picture of a subculture that has been an open secret in Silicon Valley for years. It's about gay men in the upper echelons of technology quietly starting their own networks, just as those in power have always done.
As one angel investor puts it plainly: “Gay men who work in the tech industry are highly successful… They support each other, whether it's hiring someone, angel investing in a company, or leading a funding round.” Another source frames it almost philosophically: “Straight men have golf courses and gay men have orgies. That doesn't mean there's a problem. It's how we bond and connect.”
This work does not completely ignore culture. As is the case wherever power relationships exist, nine of the gay men interviewed said they had experienced unwanted advances from older colleagues. Bernard doesn't shy away from considering where networking ends and coercion begins. But her source is cautious about its implications, saying: “This is a complex topic and I don't think readers will be able to draw the distinction between some bad men being gay and all gays being evil. That could be a slippery slope to homophobia.”