I used to think coming out as a pagan was a good idea at work until I got royally harassed. Coming out as gay is one thing. It’s something about yourself you can’t change but coming out as pagan can be fucking stupid because it is a choice and as far as the holy rollers are concerned you are fair game because you are going to hell anyway. It’s their holy duty to show you, you are going to hell.
I was perfectly fine being out when I worked at P and everyone knew even though I never said officially until the hired the holy rolling Bible thumping bitch. She was new to our dept and used to being the Queen Bee and unfortunately for her I was Queen Bee in the dept. Not by doing anything to make myself that way but by being the first hired and the trainer for the dept of everyone coming in. So she wasn’t predisposed to like me anyway. It was right before Hallows and everyone knew I always take Nov 1 off because I see no reason to miss the fun at work and the coven used to stay up late that night and I wanted to sleep in. My sister and I used to spend Nov 1st at Disneyland, that was our personal holiday celebration before Disneyland switches to Christmas decorations.
Anyway, I cackle when I laugh sometimes and M made some crack about me needing to stop that because people would think I was a witch and everyone in the dept burst out in laughter at her. Queen Be wannabe did not like this. I was also the only white person in the dept and the other women until she came used to go out to lunch together and have a good time. They were my friends until M started her campaign. She told them my whiteness was rubbing off on them and they weren’t really black anymore. She told them I was going to hell and if they hung out with me they would be going to hell. She got a crony hired into the dept and they started praying over me while I sat at my desk. She went through my Disney day calendar and ripped all the witches out of it. She started quoting the Bible at me until I quoted the correct passages to her and that really pissed her off that I knew the Bible better than she did and then she got our Director in on it and after going through my desk again and finding a tiny ½ inch big pentagram on a post it under my computer and reported me to HR as having made a terrorist theat. This, in short was my life in hell and HR backed my harrassers. Then P got bought by A and we had all new HR and we were told there was a no tolerance policy towards harassment so I went to the new HR.
Finally someone came down on my harrassers and they sent to Director to sensitivity training and when that didn’t work they took all the people that she supervised away from her and assigned her to a closet and my record was expunged. And M got sent to another dept but I never got my friends back. They took too much shit for being my friend.
So no, I’m not coming out at work and when I’m asked directly I say I’m a Druid which is way less threatening to people with I Love Jesus plastered about their desks than saying I’m a Wiccan or a Witch. Coming out as a pagan at least in a conservative insurance company is as I said bloody stupid. I know I have a pentagram tattooed on my shoulder but no one else needs to as far as I’m concerned.
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