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This section features several successful gay corporate leaders in the U.S. as of March 2005. Paul Frene, a financial services representative for MetLife Inc., spent nine years closeted at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. As he gained more responsibility, he found it tougher to hide his sexual orientation from his staff and his secretary, who took messages from a frequent male caller--his partner. When he interviewed for a job in 1999 at MetLife, he came out. Asked what market he would serve, Frene said he planned to offer retirement and estate planning to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clients. Keith Powell recently became one of the highest-profile openly gay executives at Eastman Kodak Co. Daniel Carp, chief executive officer of Kodak, chose Powell for a job that's comparable to serving as the CEO's chief of staff. The company uses the post to groom executives like Powell for its senior ranks. A defining moment came to Louise Young, senior software engineer for Raytheon Co., in 2001, when she was given three minutes to speak at Raytheon's first diversity forum. Young used the time to talk about life for GLBT employees and the need for domestic-partner benefits. It worked: In 2002, Raytheon, one of the country's largest defense contractors, added them.

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p38-45 8p; 6c