Pride Month – A blog in 2 parts (1/2)…

Throughout Pride month we have been outwardly fairly quiet. In the lead up to this event, a colleague shared some thoughts that acted as a provocation. It gave us pause to consider how, as an organisation, we best offer our support for Pride month and our fellow LGBTQIA+ citizens. We know that flying the flag, pinning the badge or borrowing the banner for a month does not bring about real meaningful change.  

Human rights and equality are at the heart of our values and what we do. We reflected that making this statement by itself is not good enough. We should not take for granted that everyone who is part of the organisation feels comfortable being who they are, as they are, without fear or discrimination.

We wanted to challenge ourselves to be better allies for LGBTQIA+ people, to listen, learn and be better. The organisations values and principles aim to create a working environment that is inclusive and welcoming for all. An open / listening culture where everyone can speak out and be supported if their experience does not live up to our stated values.

Again, this is all very good, but not enough. So in an effort to do more and be better we drew on guidance from LBGT Youth, to ask ourselves a fundamental question which we shared on our internal communications platform.

‘When it comes to championing LGBTQIA+ inclusion, where everyone feels safe, supported and included, do we do enough?’

Our relatively quiet external voice on this issue has not reflected the thoughtful, intentional consideration within the organisation to move beyond performative support to authentic allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community.

Part 2 of this blog highlights some of the thoughts and ideas generated through our Pride month of reflection. The next step will be to put these words into action.

#PrideMonth

Click here to read Part 2