Celebrating Pride at Charles River: LGBTQ+ Employees Share Their Stories

Sam Paterson, Research Surgeon, Senneville

Pronouns: he/him/his

Scotsman Sam Paterson’s career in science took off when he graduated with honors with a degree in animal biology at University of Stirling. He initially wanted to become a veterinary surgeon, but after his grades slipped under the weight of multiple events --coming to terms with his sexuality, the death of several family members and the collapse of his primary caregiver’s mental health—he chose a different course. He got a temporary job at Charles River never intending to stay. But he began to see the possibilities of a long-term career there, and before long found himself transferring to one of Charles River’s Canadian sites. “I showed Charles River my knowledge, my flexibility, and my commitment to career growth, and they gave me the opportunity to perform surgery in a research capacity,” he said.

Sam was cautious about coming out. “Many families do not pave the way for their children to come out. They can send mixed messages or treat LGBTQ2+ people as an afterthought”, he said. “Queer people, like all people, need a strong support network. We need to be safe.” His own coming out was short, relatively simple, and, his words, “thoroughly alienating” especially after being seen in public with the boy he was dating. School became uncomfortable. “I found my support network soon after. I had queer friends, I had allies, and quickly things returned to normal. I even regained the friends I'd lost now that they understood what I was going through,” says Sam.

Although he considers himself a privileged person (someone who is protected from certain forms of discrimination due to facets of their identity), he still faces challenges because of his sexual orientation. “Some people will speak to me without issue until they find out I am engaged to another man, at which point they become cold. And, of course, there will be a lot of relatively new or uninitiated allies who make well-meaning but inappropriate comments,” he says. However, he considers himself lucky to not have faced much blatant discrimination in school or in the workplace. Knowing that this experience is not necessarily true for his nonbinary, trans, lesbian or more feminine gay friends, he has tried hard to educate people where he can.

Sam is glad to have an ERG to join at work that focuses on an issue that is of such personal importance to him and is happy to collaborate with all other ERGs to improve diversity efforts on his site. He appreciates that his company emphasizes the importance of improved training for employees around LGBTQ2+ issues.

“It's great to be in a country like Canada where the Proud ERG is encouraged and where people can live openly at work and be celebrated. This isn't the case around the world, including countries where CRL is situated. So, I really appreciate it that Charles River recognizes and provides protections for sexual orientation and gender identity globally – and explicitly – via our Global Code of Conduct.”