Reinventing support for inclusive practice in the workplace: Pride Month

Reinventing support in the workplace: Pride Month and LGBTQIA+
Delta Capita want to do everything we can to sustain employee success. This includes supporting LGBTQIA+ colleagues and Pride Month in June.
As we celebrate Pride events this month, Greta Kaqi, consultant at Delta Capita, looks at the movement and what it means to LGBTQIA+ communities.

What is Pride Month?
June marks Pride Month, the annual celebration for the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s a time when this community and its allies honour the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and the subsequent progress on equal rights.
Pride Month embraces the wonderful diversity of this community, and celebrates people’s identities. As well as reflecting on the improvements we’ve made towards equality, it also promotes awareness and education on the issues these communities still face.
It is a time to recognise that societies can still make much progress in their support of LGBTQIA+ people everywhere.

What is LGBTQIA+?
• L stands for lesbian. This is a female-identifying person who is attracted to another female-identifying person.
• B is for bisexual - someone who is attracted to more than one gender.
• G represents gay. This is a male-identifying person who is attracted to another male-identifying person.
• T is for transgender - someone whose gender identity or expression does not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth. This is to do with gender and not sexuality, so transgender people may also identity as other LGBQIA+ terms.
• Q stands for queer or questioning. It refers to anyone who is not straight or not cisgender, which means identifying with the gender assigned them at birth. Queer is also an umbrella term for those who do not wish to use labels.
• I is for intersex — referring to people who have biological traits that don’t match what is typically identified as male or female.
• A represents asexual, aromantic, and also for ally. Asexual and aromantic describe people who do not experience sexual or romantic attraction to others. Allies are those who identify as cisgender and straight but who support the LGBTQIA+ community.

The origins of Pride
Pride honours the Stonewalls riots, which took place in June 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City. Participants were protesting about the laws against homosexuality.
Stonewall’s patrons fought back against a police raid looking to impose the anti-gay legal system. That weekend was the first-time queer communities had resisted the regular police raids on the city’s gay bars and clubs. It was the birthplace of the modern gay liberation movement.
The first Pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco one year later. Bill Clinton was the first US President to officially recognise Pride Month in 1999. In 2011, Barack Obama declared June LGBT Pride Month.

Why there is still work to do?
Data from the International Gay and Lesbian Association (ILGA) show there are many countries throughout the world that continue to criminalise and oppress LGBT+ people. This includes 49 countries that punish homosexual acts with imprisonment and 11 countries that use the death penalty against LGBT+ people.
Taking a stand and showing support this Pride Month is more important than ever.

How to support Pride this month
There are many ways to show your support for Pride Month. You could attend a Pride parade or event, or become an LGBTQIA+ ally or advocate. You could educate yourself on the issues. You could volunteer or donate to LGBTQIA+ causes, or support the community’s art and culture.

The history of Pride and equal rights timeline

Support from Delta Capita
If you work for Delta Capita, there is another great way to support Pride this month - join our Pride Committee!
Delta Capita want all our employees to feel included, regardless of their background, beliefs, sexual orientation or gender identity. We support and encourage staff to allocate time to causes they believe in or identify with; their cultural and religious practices; and to their physical and mental wellbeing too.
Employees that feel supported in these activities generally feel healthier, happier, and have more sense of belonging and engagement at work.

Are you looking for a new workplace that values diversity and employee wellbeing? Check out our latest vacancies. Also find out how Delta Capita are reinventing the workplace through employee-centric projects at our Reinventing Hub.