In a divided world, be unified and OUTstanding…

Like many leaders, my life sometimes feels like a never-ending hamster wheel, always on, dashing from meetings to calls to flights and back to meetings again. I can’t complain as I wouldn’t want it any other way, but it does make me appreciate the down time that I have.

My year is punctuated by the release of our OUTstanding, EMpower and HERoes lists and their accompanying Gala Dinners. Each one provides a moment of reflection. Time to take stock, review what we are doing, where we are going and what our role models have achieved over the past 12 months.

This year was no different. Our OUTstanding LGBT+ Role Model lists 2019 came out last week, and my introspection started as usual. But the timing of the lists (the day before no-Brexit) combined with my current political preoccupations, led me to cast my mind back further. Three years ago at our OUTstanding Gala 2016, I stood up on stage, lamenting the political turmoil in the UK and anxiously anticipating the change of government across the pond. Fast forward to today, and little has changed. It feels like some of the progress of recent years has been reversed, with the global rise of populism and increasingly more extreme political leanings making for worrying reading:

• In the US, Supreme Court deliberations are threatening LGBT+ workplace rights.
• In Uganda, MPs are pushing for the reintroduction of an old law making homosexual acts punishable by death.
• In Chechnya, we see the continued unlawful detention, beating and humiliation of suspected gay and bisexual men.
• In Brazil, a country with some of the highest levels of anti-LGBT+ violence in the world, 1 LGBT+ person is killed every 19 hours. 

Here in the UK, homophobic and transphobic hate crime is on the up again, fuelling the rise of hateful movements, using uninformed rhetoric to promote their warped view of inclusion; a view which excludes the entire trans community. It sickens me to see such hatred and vitriol threatening our rights and freedoms globally, and reminds me of our duty to stand together in solidarity.

Some of you may have noticed that this year, our lists had a charity partner, the brilliant Give Out. Give Out is an award winning charity started by the incredible Elliot Vaughn enabling individuals and businesses to donate funds to support LGBT+ activism. We were lucky enough to be joined at the Gala by the recipient of a GiveOut grant, Amir Ashour, founder of IraQueer – the first and only LGBT+ led human rights organisation in Iraq. No one in the room could fail to be moved by his powerful words and infectious ambition, providing a sobering reminder that whilst the LGBT+ community faces challenges in the UK, members of our community elsewhere have a far tougher time than we do. Across the world, LGBT+ people face serious human rights abuses simply for being themselves. 

As our 2019 LGBT+ and ally role models can testify; whilst there’s a lot of hate in the world, there’s also lot of love. These role models are showing bravery and resilience in the face of adversity, driving change and inspiring those around them. 2019 marked the seventh year of our role model lists, celebrating 230 role models across 24 countries and 5 continents. For a project that started with just Rachel Gardham, Alex Evreinoff and I networking our socks off back in 2013, this kind of reach blows my mind.

I was so delighted that many of our role models flew in from afar to be with us at the Gala. It’s always a special feeling being in a room alongside our listers, putting faces to names and inspirational stories. This year we actually welcomed a record number of them to the Gala in person, as well as many of our members, partners and the bit I was most excited about, ALL FOUR OF OUR NUMBER 1S! Having Pedro Pina, Jose Berenguer, Ann Limb and Bobbi Pickard at Banqueting House to collect their awards in person was a real treat. Hearing their unique stories and learning about the work they’re doing around the world and across generations served as inspiration to us all and reminded us why we continue to produce these lists.

Yes, there is still inequality in the world and yes we are still facing political chaos and uncertainty. The rate we’re going, in three years’ time I may still be on stage anxiously anticipating Brexit! But one thing is certain. Thanks to the commitment and dedication of our role models, we are slowly but surely moving in the right direction; and with these brilliant leaders at the helm, the future of business is bright, inclusive and progressive.