Jen Denby global head of inclusion and diversity at Willis Towers Watson on reimagining Pride Month
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the cancellation or postponement of hundreds of LGBT+ Pride celebrations around the world this year. However, we recognise that for many of our LGBT+ colleagues the need for community and connection is greater than ever, and although our celebrations look very different to last year, cancelling Pride was never an option.
Pride Month is recognised in different countries at different points of the year to recognise and celebrate people on the diverse spectrum of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) individuals. We celebrate Pride throughout June.
This year our team of LGBT+ inclusion network leads led by Suzanne McAndrew, global head of talent advisory, data and software, and global LGBT+ chair, swiftly moved all of our Pride programming to be delivered virtually. This ensured we could continue to connect and celebrate the LGBT+ community, the true spirit of Pride, as well as offer an opportunity to bring together our global community in a way that we haven’t done before.
Our goal was to leverage our global LGBT+ community and the magic of our virtual tools so that no LGBT+ colleagues were left without a Pride event to attend, regardless of location.
In addition to the virtual events taking place in many of the countries where we operate across the world, we are also hosting two globally run sessions on Wellbeing and Resilience and Rainbow Families. The first session will include stories shared by our LGBT+ colleagues about how they’ve managed their mental health and social isolation both during the pandemic and at other points in their lives.
Second, taking advantage of the fact that many of our colleagues are parents currently working at home alongside their children, living with other family members or unable to be with their families during the pandemic, we are hosting another global session focusing on diverse families. During this virtual fireside chat, we’ll be widening the lens on ‘family’ and hearing from speakers about how they define family, how that has evolved over time and what family has meant to them during the recent weeks and months.
Our colleagues are invited to bring their family members along to join in and listen from home, which is something that wouldn’t have been possible without our current remote working set up.
This year has given us additional reasons to celebrate during Pride Month, with the first same sex marriages in Northern Ireland this year, and the more recent SCOTUS landmark ruling in the US affirming the rights of LGBT+ workers (discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are now clearly prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act). However, there’s also the need to stand more closely together with our black and African American colleagues at this time (many of whom are also LGBT+), as well as recognise and understand that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the LGBT+ community and other marginalised populations.
It is important to remember that the Pride movement began with the Stonewall riots against police brutality and oppression in 1969, and were spearheaded by many LGBT+ people of colour, and that none of the progress made for the acceptance and equality of LGBT+ people over the past 51 years would be possible if not for the action and courage of those protestors.
The author is Jen Denby, global head of inclusion and diversity at Willis Towers Watson.
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