Happy Pride! Here are a few tips for allies on how to best support LGBTQ+ colleagues.
Do more than just show up for Pride.
Pride occurs once a year on the commemorative anniversary month of the 1969 Stonewall riots. Pride is more than just the stamp of rainbows and marketing to LGBTQ+ people, it’s a time to remember LGBTQ+ history, celebrate the community’s resilience, and remind us of the call for freedom from a society that still targets LGBTQ+ people’s lives.
Lift up the most marginalized in the community.
Pride is not just about lifting up LGBTQ+ people. It is about centering those who are most marginalized within the LGBTQ+ community, including Black and Indigenous queer people, trans and nonbinary people, disabled queer people, and many other identities. People of color are more likely to identify as queer than white people, and are more adversely affected by economic issues like unemployment, poverty, and homelessness. Use an intersectional approach to your LGBTQ+ advocacy in the workplace and beyond.
Understand the challenges that LGBTQ+ people face.
LGBTQ+ people face a high amount of workplace discrimination and are more likely to be fired from a job or denied a position compared to their straight counterparts. And, there is a slew of anti-trans legislation in state legislatures across the country right now targeting LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans youth. Become aware of the challenges that LGBTQ+ people face and listen to their lived experiences.
Everyone has a role to make LGBTQ+ inclusion in the legal workplace a reality.
Read what Kristopher D. Brown, Partner at Goodwin Procter LLP, has to say following a Lavender Law 365® training:
“As I continue on my journey to become a better ally to the LGBTQ+ community within my firm and beyond, Dru’s presentations have provided me with both inspiration and the resources I need to do the hard work I must do as a white, cisgender man to ensure professional and other opportunities are shared equally among colleagues who feel at ease in an open and all inclusive and accepting community whose greatest strength is its diversity.”
The LGBT Bar’s DEI consulting practice, Lavender Law 365®, is designed to strengthen and build allyship in the workplace, and the key to a more LGBTQ+ inclusive culture is having everyone be a part of the conversation.
Want to learn more? Book a free 15 minute consultation with Dru Levasseur, the LGBT Bar’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He is ready to work with you to implement the highest practice standards of LGBTQ+ inclusion.