Worcester didn’t have to be Massachusetts’ second city when it came to acceptance of sexual orientation, in Peter Bacchiocchi’s view.
Bacchiocchi, vice president for operations at G9 Financial, has been president of the Worcester Pride Association and has consulted with local businesses and government to increase their inclusivity scores on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
He helped the City of Worcester boost its CEI rating from 55 to 100.
“We don’t have to rely on Boston to lead us into understanding,” Bacchiocchi said. “We can say it’s OK to be gay here in Worcester.”
On a smaller scale, he promotes DEI at G9 by teaching anti-racism and LGBTQ+ courses to his colleagues. One result is the firm views job candidates more holistically.
“They no longer automatically assume Mr. Smith has a wife,” he said. “That is significant. It’s not just the language. It means the thought [process] has changed.”
Bacchiocchi also has worked on autism acceptance, inspired by his daughter, who is on the autism spectrum.
Although he didn’t come out until his 40s because of societal pressures, he said he still had many advantages. “For a lot of people, their struggles are more dangerous and more threatening to them as a person,” he said. “That’s why I work to try to create a more open and welcoming world [for] people … to be who they want to be.”
— Mark Schoeff Jr.