LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in the Workplace
Cator Sparks, Boon Coach
Happy Pride Month Y’all! Since June 1970, the LGBTQ+ community has been celebrating Pride in the form of parades as well as protests to raise awareness of the community and to ensure equal rights. Why June? Because on June 28, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn (a gay club in Greenwich Village that is still going strong) resulting in six days of protests, now known as The Stonewall Riots. While the date has always been important to the queer community, it wasn’t until 1999 that Bill Clinton recognized June as ‘Gay & Lesbian Pride Month’, and it has been growing in awareness ever since.
Today, Pride month is celebrated by major brands, and corporations from Doritos to Ralph Lauren, but what are these companies doing to actually support and care for their LGBTQ+ employees? Many companies have been called out for marketing for ‘the pink dollar’, while not donating to LGBTQ+ causes or supporting their LGBTQ+ employees.
It’s vital for businesses to align their values with their marketing campaigns, especially in the era of social media where they can so easily be called out.
So what can your company do to be an ally to their LGBTQ+ employees? Here are some idea below:
Start with the application- be sure to include proper pronouns (he/she/they) to show potential LGBTQ+ employees that they are seen and heard in your organization.
Ask employees of various genders, sexualities, and gender expressions what they see missing in the company and what they would like to see change.
Remove genders from bathrooms and make them single use. This provides safety and security to non-binary/trans employees who are often nervous about entering bathrooms that they don’t feel aligned with.
Include non-traditional hetero- normative families in marketing and internal language.
Coaching is a great way for employees to address diversity and inclusion topics in a safe space. Working with LGBTQ+ coaches can help straight employees better understand the community and offers LGBTQ+ employees a connection to a coach who can relate to their story.
All of these ideas clearly show that your company does not just talk about diversity and inclusion; it acts on it.
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