Chitchatting before a meeting, Justin remarks to a group of employees that "gay marriage is nuts!" He means no harm, but quite passionately states his belief that, "Marriage should be a sacred union between a man and a woman." No one challenges him, including Beth, a lesbian, who is excited about the possibility of legalizing her eight-year relationship with her partner. It's well known to all present that Beth is gay. While offended by the comment, she knows Justin is deeply religious and a fan of George Bush. With religion and politics colliding, she makes the decision to expend her energy quietly simmering rather than engaging in debate.

When the meeting concludes, Beth departs quickly.

Sensing her mood shift and frustration, Amy, who attended the meeting, catches up with her and says, "I'm surprised. How could you of all people let Justin rattle on like that?" Beth tells Amy that despite being deeply offended, further discussion with Justin would have only created more tension and complicate a client event scheduled for later that week in which they were both involved.

The reverberations from Justin's comments, however, don't stop there. A flurry of e-mail chatter among some meeting participants ensues. One person notes, "Beth is way too sensitive. She simply has to get used to the fact that a lot of Americans feel the same way Justin does," while others decide to give Justin a cool reception at the upcoming event, (a tension which was later noted and commented on by the client). Most notably, few of their peers had the courage to act as Diversity Change Agents and express their concerns directly to Justin or Beth.