LGBTQ+ individuals will share their experiences in the workplace at a panel Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Charleston/Mattoon room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity and Career Services are sponsoring the “Out @ Work” panel as part of Gender and Sexual Diversity History Month, celebrated in October.

Kurt Ness, assistant for the Center of Gender and Sexual Diversity and graduate student studying college student affairs, said attending the panel is important for students because “being out of the closet at school and in campus jobs is different than being out in your career.”

Ness said students can expect to learn a lot of information that will be beneficial to their careers.

“By attending the panel, people will get to hear real-life stories from people in different industries of how it is to be out at work,” Ness said. “You get to hear from people of different ages their experiences of being out at work in their different jobs and careers they have had.”

The “Out @ Work” panel comes just a day before the Coming Out Day Tabling event held Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Doudna Fine Arts Center steps. 

National Coming Out Day is celebrated Friday.

Future Gender and Sexual Diversity History Month events at Eastern include an event called “Discussion of Queerness: Today’s Accomplishments and Challenges” on Oct. 30 at 12:15 p.m. in the GSD Center. 

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or at hlshillo@eiu.edu.