Doing something different this Pride month

This Pride month, we are partnering with four LGBTQ+ changemakers to bring their expertise and insight to topics that, as Wim Dejonghe explains, enable us to have more varied and nuanced conversations about issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community.

“Today marks the start of Pride month across many parts of the world – a time when we celebrate LGBTQ+ culture, but also stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in support of their rights, recognition and acceptance.

Sharing stories is not always easy

Every year we make strides towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels they belong. In previous Pride seasons, we have shared the experiences and achievements of our open and willing LGBTQ+ colleagues through internal articles and on social media.

We’ve done this to highlight their incredible stories and to create role models for others across our firm. Visibility is crucial in showing that we are a safe and supportive workplace for LGBTQ+ colleagues and friends, and somewhere that people can feel comfortable bringing their authentic identity to the workplace.

But it’s not always easy for people to tell their stories so openly, and we should all be grateful for the insights and experiences our colleagues have shared.

This year, we have spoken to colleagues about how we can best use the platform of Pride month to stand together with the LGBTQ+ community. Together, we have opted for a different approach.

While Pride is often full of bright colours, glitter and celebrations of love, the experiences that come with being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, non-binary, pansexual – or any other identity within the LGBTQ+ community – are often laced with struggles and adversity. With sharing deeply personal stories comes vulnerability, and our colleagues shouldn’t always be responsible for our education.

Partnering to educate and spark change

So this year, we have teamed up with four thought leaders and changemakers from the LGBTQ+ community who are experts in sharing their stories to educate and ignite change.

In the coming weeks, and in collaboration with our LGBTQ+ network A&Out, these experts will be sharing their insights into subjects we haven’t talked as much about before, both internally and on our social media channels. We hope this will start important conversations and promote a more nuanced understanding of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community.

The four LGBTQ+ thought leaders we’re partnering with are:

• Jarvis Sam – Founder & CEO of The Rainbow Disruption; former Chief DE&I Officer at Nike; Forbes 30 Under 30.
• Yasmin Benoit – Model, writer and asexual activist; ‘Campaigner of the Year’ at the Rainbow Honours 2022.
• Fabrice Houdart – Executive Director, Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors; Advisor to Fortune 500.
• Max Siegel – Transgender and neurodiversity inclusion speaker; LinkedIn’s Top 10 LGBTQIA+ Voices.

I am very much looking forward to learning from all four during Pride month.

Together with the chairs of our A&Out network, we hope these changemakers inspire you to seek out and learn from the LGBTQ+ community during Pride month."