03 May 5 Ways Companies Can Show LGBTQ+ Allyship All Year Round
LGBTQ+ Pride month is nearly upon us, which means that we can look forward to increased awareness, demonstrated by a sea of rainbows, and news feeds flooded with D&I initiatives. While this activity is incredibly important for raising awareness and demonstrating advocacy, it is important for companies to be aware of when they are straying into the territory of performative allyship.
Before we talk about what needs to be done, it has to be acknowledged that LGBTQ+ inclusion has come a long way in the last 10+ years, especially in the world of business. It is often forgotten that seeing explicit LGBTQ+ support in banks, supermarkets and large corporations would have been rare, if not actively discouraged in the recent past. For LGBTQ+ community members who have lived through direct attacks on their rights, such as Section 28 in the 1980s, as well as debates about their suitability to marry, become a parent or serve openly in the military, there is no doubt that these gestures mark progress.
However, as we attempt to move LGBTQ+ rights forward in 2022 we are still struggling against divisive public and private sector initiatives – see the recent government decision to exclude transgender people from the ban on conversion therapy. LGBTQ+ employee resource groups in businesses continue to be underutilised and underfunded, whilst simultaneously expected to “fix” everything from hiring policies to company cultures.
One small part of a very complicated answer to these continuing problems is year-round allyship. Pride month creates an easy opportunity for companies to engage their LGBTQ+ colleagues and empower allies, however, it should be seen as a jumping-off point as opposed to a single act.
With that in mind, we’re sharing five ways that companies can show their allyship to the LGBTQ+ community all year round:
- Run your LGBTQ+ initiatives all year round
This seems like an obvious one – and it is! – but it’s rarely put into practice. Pride month is a celebration of LGBTQ+ identities and history, but there are so many more key days to be marked as part of your calendar. These include more sombre moments of reflection like Transgender Day of Remembrance, and identity specific days like BiSexual Visibility day. Activating around these markers can help you keep your allyship relevant and powerful all year round, allowing you to highlight individual groups within the community and show support not just during celebrations, but during moments of reflection and activism.
Check out our guide to 5 key LGBTQ+ dates for your LGBTQ+ calendar here.
2. Set up an LGBTQ+ specific Employee Resource Group (ERG)
Many companies will hold space for LGBTQ+ initiatives within the wider DEI umbrella, but it’s incredibly important to create and fund a specific ERG for LGBTQ+ activities, as it is similarly important to create for other marginalised communities. With the level of discrimination faced by the community, both socially and legally, a specific group can not only help to connect team members but also actively recognise and challenge internal and external policies. For larger organisations, it may also be feasible to set up identity specific groups to recognise the unique challenges faced by each “letter” of the community.
3. Make sharing pronouns a part of all communications
If you’re sharing your name, you should also be sharing your pronouns. Normalising the sharing of pronouns is a great way to be inclusive of trans and other gender-variant identities, it also encourages a wider understanding of trans inclusivity within your organisation. Adding pronouns to Zoom/Microsoft Teams names, signatures, social media bios and introductions normalises conversations about gender and removes the guesswork for anyone referring to you. As a trans person, I always feel reassured when I see or hear someone sharing their pronouns, as it means they have an understanding of transness, gender neutrality or simply recognise the validity of trans identities. It’s important that pronoun initiatives are well explained and easily set up to encourage maximum uptake. It may be tempting to make pronoun use mandatory, but this can cause problems for trans or gender variant people who are not yet out, so we recommend encouragement via simplicity and leadership buy-in.
Want to champion pronoun use in your organisation? Transmission PR can help you get buy-in from senior stakeholders, train your team and design high-impact communication strategies to help. Get in touch.
4. Actively seek out, and support, LGBTQ+ talent
An intentionally diverse hiring policy and practice is key to LGBTQ+ allyship. A lot of queer or trans people often don’t feel comfortable or supported applying for roles via traditional routes. Organisations like MyGWork and Stonewall are great partners to work with and enable you to list roles in an environment where LGBTQ+ people know they are applying to work with inclusive organisations. Once hired, ensure your LGBTQ+ community has access to relevant support, for example; Trans inclusive healthcare policies, non-gendered parental leave and spousal recognition.
5. Show your commitment with charity partnerships
Finally, it’s key to ensure that all of your LGBTQ+ initiatives include a charity partner or partners. Charities like Stonewall, The Outside Project, Diversity Role Models and Mermaids (to name a few) can help you to actively demonstrate your commitment to change, and guide your programs to make sure they are as impactful as possible. Many charities offer training, resources and guides for your team, as well as being able to act as speakers and consultancies for inclusion. When choosing your partners, be sure to champion smaller or regional charities in need of support, for example, East Sussex Trans support group The Clare Project, or Mind Out LGBTQ+ mental health support.
To learn more about how to run LGBTQ+ marketing campaigns that don’t suck, join Max and TransMission PR founder, Aby Hawker, at Mama Shelter on May 17th 2022. Tickets are £5 including a free drink with all proceeds going to Not A Phase charity. Book now.
- 5 Ways Companies Can Show LGBTQ+ Allyship All Year Round - May 3, 2022