Celebrate Pride with Flags and Reflections

Happy #prideweek to all members and allies of the LGBTQI+ community!

PRIDE WEEK is a wonderful reminder of love, human rights and diversity.

However…

Although spreading awareness on your company’s social media accounts during Pride Week is a great way to show support for the community, inclusion doesn’t happen in one week.?

Pinkwashing – or #rainbowwashing – is the use of rainbow-themed symbolism as an expression of solidarity used nearly exclusively for marketing or branding, having very little or nothing to do with LGBT+ equality and inclusion, or support for diverse people’s identities and rights (Russell, 2019).

Pride Week is a reminder that we still have a long way to go and a great opportunity to look inwards and say “What are we as a company?actually?doing for LGBT+ -related DEI?”

Large numbers of LGBT+ employees still report how they feel a need to alter their?portrayed?lives?in their workplace. This concept of actively downplaying or hiding parts of you identity is known as “covering” (Yoshino, 2002) and includes a variety of actions and behaviors:?using vague language about your relationship when coworkers ask or hiding your relationship completely, avoiding social situations at work, making specific decisions about where to work, live and shop, change the way you dress, talk and?look?to not appear stereotypical and having limited social media presence in fear of coworkers discovering your sexuality (Mahowald, Gruberg & Halpin, 2020).

”But it’s not like that in Denmark though, right?”

Unfortunately - yes, it is.

At @ConnectingCultures, we do analyses - questionnaries and focus groups - of how included employees (including different minorities) feel - and we see that feeling non-included, excluded and in some situations even discriminated is a real concern for LGBT+ and other minority workers in Danish companies.?

Having to 'cover' - to hide?ones?identity in a professional environment over long periods of time?can have strong negative impact on employees. It?can lead to decreased physiological and psychological well-being, stress,?sick leave?and – surprise – a lacking feeling of belongingness in the company. It also results ins a lack of motivation and negatively impacts both networking, relations and possibilities for developing professionally.?

You cannot thrive, if you cannot be yourself.

So while flagging this week - take the opportunity to ask yourself and your colleagues how you are working actively with #DEI and which steps you are taking to secure the well-being of your LGBT+ employees.?We are very happy to see that more and more of our clients do.

What do you do in your company to help create inclusion for LGBTQI+ and other minorities?

Ref:

Mahowald, L., Gruberg, S. & Halpin, J. (2020) The State of the LGBTQ Community in 2020: A National Public Opinion Study, Center for American Progress?

Russell, E. (2019). TheDiscursive Ecology of Homophobia: Unraveling Anti-LGBTQ Speech on the European Far Right. Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters.?https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788923460

Yoshino. (2002). Covering. The Yale Law Journal, 111(4), 769–939.?https://doi.org/10.2307/797566