Wall St is no Liar’s Poker, at least when it comes to being openly gay, reports Bloomberg.

In fact, it almost seems like the Street may be entering a purely meritocratic age. Says Simon Yates, a Credit Suisse exec:

“‘It’s not like back in the Liar’s Poker day,” Yates, 35, says, referring to Michael Lewis’s book … depicting macho young bond traders at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s. ‘The culture is just about how you perform now. It’s only a hard place to work if you are losing money.’”

Could it even be good to be gay?

One research analyst’s story is a lesson learned for some of our gay readers out there:

“[Robert] Barry … was one of five diversity network leaders to make a presentation in 2004 to the firm’s management committee, which included Henry Paulson, the U.S. Treasury secretary who was then the firm’s CEO, and Lloyd Blankfein, who is now chairman and CEO.

‘I got to know them in a way I otherwise wouldn’t have,’ Barry says. ‘That was clearly very valuable as a young executive working my way up.’”

And you need not lead to charge to have access to networking opportunities; last year, two Lehman Brothers executives held a special recruiting dinner with HBS’ gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students association. Citigroup has an LGBT organization called Pride. Morgan Stanley has 127 members of its gay/lesbian network, and Goldman Sachs also has a similar network.

And banks like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are even kicking in money for social events, like a celebration of Gay Pride Month.

On the benefit front, banks are extending coverage to same sex couples (Merrill, Morgan), and offering medical insurance that covers sex change operations (Credit Suisse, Lehman).

Sure the article is about how banks have made a lot of progress, but it actually sounds like you can use being gay to your advantage.

I don’t think anyone would go so far as to fake being gay to have access to these networks, but it’s not totally beyond certain cutthroat people who would do anything for a leg up. I also wouldn’t rule out the idea of straight people who *happen* to support the LGBT cause suddenly getting more involved around recruiting time. Kinda reminds me of a certain white dude who suddenly turned Hispanic when we were applying to college. (Note to university admissions staff: FACT CHECK.)