Colours & celebration, are we describing Holi? No, our title doesn’t say so. We’re talking about the all-important & glorious Pride Month! A controversial topic, we know, but we need to voice out. For those not aware of its history, here’s a gist of it before we get into the seriousness of the topic.
The first Pride event took place in London way back in 1972, this was created as a response to the Stonewall Riots that occurred in New York back in 1968. The reason for the riots being, the obvious, police brutality against the LQBTQIA+ community. Inns were raided & people were being arrested for doing drag or wearing clothes that didn’t align with their perceived gender & in the early day of June, a riot began, wherein the community fought back for 3 days straight & this led to the birth of Pride.
The movement got attention from all around the world & has led to changes in legislation & has given more representation & inclusivity to the community among various countries. It goes without saying that there are still many countries who consider it “not normal” but we hope that as we progress, mindsets & views change for the better.
With Pride Month ongoing, for those active on social media, everyone must’ve noticed all companies (including us, of course) changing their logos to embed the Pride Flag in support of the cause & the community but, let’s get to the point of this blog, how many companies even hire people from the inclusive segment and really give a chance to diversity?
While everyone decides to promote it on their social pages, do they deep down support it? Or do they in the back of the mind have some sort of resistance? While many companies are still lagging in this process others are flourishing. We’ve had companies implementing thoughtful policy changes & this not just uplifts the LGBTQIA+ community but also brings a change in the mindset of many.
But the unfortunate reality is, even companies that show support on social media just do it to add in their CSRs, they don’t believe or support the community or the cause, which is sad. In the end, aren’t we all human? Why does it matter if the person comes in the “others” category of the gender drop down?
According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 46% of LGBTQIA+ individuals are closeted at work. Having a fear of being treated unjustly, most individuals from the community chose not to disclose their gender identity. For the companies to pretend, you may be fooling the world, but you know that you as an individual or company are closing doors to opportunities, different perspectives & diversity in your company.
Conclusion
We as individuals, as an entire team or as a company need to develop a growth mindset, not just in terms of numbers, productivity & performance but also in terms of openness & attitude. The LGBTQIA+ people are just people, why treat them differently? Companies who work to create a healthy & acceptable work environment will gain loyalty & respect, not just from the employees but also from the public at large.
