It’s Pride Month!
June 1, 2023
The month of June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) Pride Month, or, simply, Pride, a time to celebrate this diverse and vibrant community with parades, concerts, and educational events.
This month-long series of events highlights the contributions of LGBTQ individuals; educates people on the history of discrimination, violence, social stigma, and hate crimes that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had to endure; and provides education and opportunities to remember and memorialize those members of the community lost to HIV/AIDS.
Pride is celebrated in June to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising in New York City in 1969 that followed the police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Manhattan. This event marks the start of the Gay Pride Movement in the United States.
What does Pride Month mean for employers? Pride can be a great time to emphasize your organization as a diverse, equitable, and inclusive one. Here are some ways an organization might acknowledge/celebrate Pride:
· Decorate the office or work space with flags or balloons in the rainbow colors that symbolize LGBTQ Pride.
· Send a Happy Pride Month! text to all employees on June 1.
· Offer a special DEI training or workshop to your employees in honor of Pride Month.
· Give your organization’s website a “rainbow twist” in June to honor the occasion.
Perhaps most importantly, Pride is a great time to take stock of your organization’s inclusiveness. Think about whether employees feel a sense of emotional safety, an ability to be themselves, and the opportunity to fully contribute and excel. (Studies show that about half of all employees who identify as LGBTQ feel they must hide this from their coworkers.) What about your customers, clients, vendors, patients, students, or interns? Do they feel safe, appreciated, and included?
If people feel excluded, self-conscious, uncomfortable, even afraid to be themselves, address the problem with open communication, compassion, and DEI education.
Pride Month is a colorful and fun time. It allows us to express our sense of community and remind ourselves and each other of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion at work. Let’s take this opportunity to learn from and support each other!