Moss Adams Voices

Jonathan Weller, marketing senior specialist, is passionate about the Pride business resource group (BRG). He asked about the BRG while interviewing to join the firm and felt encouraged by what he heard—the enthusiasm for inclusion and diversity (I&D) shared by every interviewer demonstrated the firm’s investment in cultivating a more inclusive culture.

Jonathan looked forward to contributing to that work.

Today, Jonathan is the leader of the Pride BRG’s Southern California and Phoenix regional chapter. He connects his passion for I&D to his personal experiences and discusses the resilience and advocacy that shaped the global celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

How has the Pride BRG made a difference for you at work?

The Pride BRG has been really important for me. I’m blown away by the energy of the members and our allies. As a gay man, it’s so affirming to have people who celebrate me for who I am.

It hasn’t always been that way for me. Growing up in a socially conservative part of Texas, I knew it wasn’t safe to come out. That didn’t stop me from getting bullied for it anyway, which is why I moved to San Diego right after graduation.

I found the queer community while in college and started to embrace myself for the first time. I explored my sexuality and gradually started coming out, which felt like a big weight off my shoulders. I felt like I could finally breathe. I never looked back.

But my community really came through for me when I was diagnosed with HIV in 2006.

What can you tell us about that experience?

It was the scariest time of my life. I started feeling ill and losing weight. The doctor tested me and confirmed my diagnosis.

I thought it was over for me. I grew up in the 1980s with news reports and teachers telling us that contracting HIV was a death sentence.

Clinically, my low T-cell count initially indicated an AIDS diagnosis. I told my boyfriend Ken, now my husband, and he was more grounded than I had been. We focused on treatment, tried some medications, and I shared my status with my family. Most were so supportive.

Today, HIV treatment is so much different from what it used to be. Medications help people like me live normal lives and protect our partners. My medications have changed over the years as regimens have been improved, but my T-cell numbers are normal now. My viral load is undetectable in blood tests, which means I cannot transmit the virus to others.

There’s no cure for HIV yet, and it doesn’t discriminate based on sexuality, but there are many ways to keep ourselves safe. I share my story to advocate for understanding and education.

But it’s also important that I advocate for those who don’t have easy access to treatment. I’m privileged to have great health insurance and an income to afford my medications. Not everyone has that.

How do you leverage your experiences to advocate for others?

Funding is the lifeline of HIV organizations, so I’ve used my story to fundraise in my network to help those organizations provide testing, training, support, and medication for the community at large. I’ve done the local San Diego AIDS Walk.

I also completed the AIDS/Lifecycle ride, a 7-day 545-mile bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. In 2018 and 2019, I fundraised a total of $15,000 for the organization to participate, so I’m really proud of that.

I’m grateful for the privileges I have, but it’s important for me to do what I can so those without the same privileges can have access to the same drugs and care that keep me alive and thriving. These organizations are under scrutiny right now, and fundraising has been getting more difficult every year, so we must do what we can to help.

That sentiment connects with the theme for this year’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month celebration. What does ‘Stand Proud, Stand Together’ mean for you?

It’s historically relevant to the LGBTQ+ community. When one segment of our community has been under attack, we come together to support them. In the early days of HIV and AIDS, when health care workers were reluctant to care for the gay men who were sick and dying, it was the lesbian community that took care of us. That’s the resilience of our community, and it’s helped us survive.

That’s true now more than ever.

The LGBTQ+ community has always been stigmatized over the years, and it’s happening again with attacks on the trans community. It’s our turn to stand up for them as they stood up for all of us during the Stonewall riots. That’s the cornerstone of the modern gay movement and the inspiration for LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

I’m proud to stand together and support the people who have supported me. We have to protect the trans community as one.

Have you seen advocacy in action at work, and what has that looked like for you?

I’ve benefited from the advocacy of Gen Z and Millennials, who have helped make workplaces more meaningful, which is a win for all businesses. When I was coming up, we went to work and left our lives at the door.

That’s a really stressful way to go about things—it means the other part of you doesn’t exist at work. We don’t have to bring everything to the office, but I exist beyond the hours I sit at my desk, and it’s important to validate that. Otherwise, people don’t understand who I am.

Think about it this way: If 100% of you isn’t welcome at work, you’re using energy to conceal yourself at the office. How much energy do you have left to do your job?

My generation didn’t demand a workplace where we were embraced as we were, but the younger generations have made it clear they don’t want to work where they’re not accepted as a whole person. I admire them for that. We’re all in this together.