Why LGBTQ+ Inclusion Training is Critical to Small Business Leaders and Solopreneurs Alike
Veronica Kirin
I study and implement paradigm shifts. // Founder Asterisk Women's Health, Anodyne Magazine, GreenCup Digital // Author “Stories of Elders” // 2x TEDx Speaker
“I don’t need LGBTQ+ Inclusion training,” you may think. “I’m a solopreneur / I work for myself freelance / I don’t have a team. I’m an ally. That’s enough.”
WRONG.
At the least, you may be accidentally offending your colleagues. At the worst, you are erasing identities, losing out on opportunities to build strategic partnerships, and failing your customers.
I recently had such an interaction.
I was contacted by a friend and close colleague about a Pride Month article regarding LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. It’s well known at this point that I am out and proud as an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur and that I offer inclusion training to my clients, so I was not surprised to be approached and was thankful my friend thought of me.
What did surprise me was the gatekeeping that followed due to a lack of understanding of the LGBTQ+ community.
“Wait, your partner is male, isn’t he?” I was asked after saying yes to the opportunity. I replied that my partner is, indeed, male. I knew what would come next.
“They said they want only non-hetero relationships for the article.”
BAM.
Right there.
That’s the stuff that makes LGBTQ+ people in straight-passing relationships roll their eyes and pull out their hair. While I know my friend meant well in trying to connect two highly regarded colleagues, my friend’s lack of understanding led to queer-erasure of both myself and my partner, and I had to out my partner and talk more deeply about my own sexuality than I typically do in professional spheres just to be seen as VALID.
Ouch.
This is why I’m so passionate about providing LGBTQ+ Inclusion Training for small businesses, solopreneurs, and freelancers. Will we also work on your employee handbook? Are there opportunities to shape your language on social media to be more supportive and inclusive? Of course. Of course we can do that during your training.
But the most important part of the LGBTQ+ Inclusion Training is helping my fellow entrepreneurs understand the LGBTQ+ community so when they want to make a good referral, they don’t accidentally gatekeep or erase one’s identity simply because they don’t look queer.
Originally published: https://veronicakirin.com/why-lgbtq-inclusion-training-is-critical-to-small-business-leaders-and-solopreneurs-alike/