Everyone has a right to a successful life and regretfully, societies have learned this lesson with a very slow pace. But, the twenty-first century has seen some of the glorious victories from the most suppressed factions of society. With a tolerance towards gender identity CEOs of fortune, 500 companies and athletes stepped forward and revealed their gay/lesbian identities. Here is the list of some renowned CEOs who dared express their gender identities.
Tim Cook – Apple
Peter Thiel – PayPal’s Former CEO
Chris Hughes – Facebook
Beth Ford – Land O’ Lakes
Alan Joyce – Qantas airlines
Inga Beale – Lloyd’s of London
Martine Rothblatt – United Therapeutics Corp
Peter Arvai – Prezi
Megan Smith – VP of Google, CEO of Planet Out CTO of USA
Claudia Brind-Woody – VP of IBM
António Simões – CEO of HSBC Bank
Juergen Maier – Siemens UK
Mark McBride-Wright – Chair and Co-Founder of InterEngineering
Stephen Clarke – CEO WH Smith
Trevor Burgess – CEO of C1 Financial (First openly gay CEO of a bank on the New York Stock Exchange)
Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has not witnessed any transgender entrepreneurs until the date. With such low status in society, there are countless hurdles that hinder the way of these very talented people. With schools opened in Lahore, there is hope that someday transgender (Precisely those from the very humble background) will be able to stand honorable in society. Education can open gates to several opportunities for this community.
Pakistan seriously lacks representation at international forums and a lot can be done in performing arts. Only if some performing arts schools could take responsibility for training the transgender, a win-win situation can be created. Social entrepreneurship can play a vital role in this regard.
With so much work being done for gender equality, we hope soon Pakistan will be among the nations where people are respected and rewarded for their talent, integrity, and character and not for their gender.
