All The Letters, All The Time: LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Beyond Pride
Does your organisation only focus on the ‘G’ in LGBTQIA+? Do the rainbow flags just come out once a year for Pride?
In this guest post, bisexual activist and writer Vaneet Mehta shares his thoughts on including all parts of the queer community and making an impact beyond Pride.
When looking at the LGBTQIA+ community, a lot of companies understand that they must make gay people feel included. Some may march in Pride, others may have a network. They may state clearly that homophobia is not to be tolerated or put up (in my personal opinion, cringey) slogans like “love is love”.
But what about the rest of the community? What about bi, trans and ace people? A lot of companies forget about these parts of the community, or treat us like a box-ticking exercise. June is Pride Month, which should celebrate the whole of the LGBTQIA+ community. Yet, as a bi activist, I am rarely contacted for any public speaking or writing engagements during this month. And most bi activists I know report the same.
So what can you do to be a better ally to all parts of the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month, and year round? Let’s break it down!
Educate Your Staff
Without proper education, your LGBTQIA+ staff may end up on the receiving line of a barrage of questions from others or, worse, bigotry. When I came out in my previous job, I thankfully didn’t receive any hate. But a lot of people had a lot of questions on bisexuality, and eventually those questions spilled into the rest of the community too.
The workplace can be a great place to educate people, but you need to ensure that this education, whether you’re starting out or already doing this, is inclusive of different LGBTQIA+ identities.
Make sure your onboarding training specifically mentions biphobia or transphobia, and showcases examples of it. Ensure that HR, People Management and leaders are equipped to deal with instances of these in the workplace. If you’re hosting events for Pride, like a panel, make sure bisexual people (and other forgotten parts of the community) are considered. Invite diverse people to be on your panel, or even hold a keynote speech, so that your staff can learn about the lived experience of bi, trans and ace people.
Have Policies In Place
It is incredibly important to have rules and guidelines in place on behaviour that isn't tolerated in the workplace, especially when it comes to various forms of bigotry. Most workplaces have a code of conduct that staff must follow, but are the rules laid out inclusive of bi, trans and ace people? It might explicitly state that homophobia is not to be tolerated, but is biphobia or bi-erasure mentioned, or other types of discrimination? It’s important to make sure language is inclusive and explicit.
Making sure that the policies are inclusive can make people feel safe in the fact that they are more likely to be understood and listened to should something go wrong. This is especially important for parts of the community whose experiences are often erased as their identity and their issues are not known.
Use Of Language
Instead of using "gay relationship", maybe try "same gender relationship", to avoid erasing bi people. Instead of saying "opposite sex", use "different gender" to be more inclusive of non-binary people and avoid enforcing a gender binary. Use “they” rather than “he/she” to be more inclusive of people who use different pronouns. I would extend a lot of this inclusive language to not just a code of conduct, but any paperwork or systems etc. that your staff may need to interact with.
Inclusive Networks
Having an LGBTQIA+ network is great, but if that network is run solely by one demographic from that community, it's not really an LGBTQIA+ network. Often, our community is dominated by white, cis, gay men and this is true of all spaces, even in the workplace. It's important to make sure you have a diversity of voice in this and make this environment inclusive, so everyone feels able to contribute.
If you already have a network, great! Check on who is part of the committee. Are bi voices being heard? What about trans voices? Queer people of colour? If you haven’t got a network yet, make sure that when forming the committee that all voices from all different areas of the LGBTQIA+ community are part of it.
Ensure that bi voices are involved and included. This can go a long way in making sure that the events this network holds, the way they help inform your policies and ultimately the inclusion you are trying to foster actually includes bisexual people among others.
Think Beyond Pride
A lot of corporations’ first step in “how we foster diversity and inclusion” is applying to march in their local Pride. I want to question: why? Beyond a marketing ploy to show society you care about the LGBTQIA+ community, what does it do? Why not have some internal events instead? Hire an external speaker or guest? Better yet, why not donate some money? So many bisexual organisations are grassroots, with little to no funding. Give them some money, it would go a lot further than spending money to be in Pride.
Remember that Pride is something that you can celebrate all year round. You don’t have to wait for Pride Month or even some key date in the calendar. As a bisexual activist, the only time I tend to get contacted by companies is during Bisexual Visibility Month. I am so often inundated with requests! Why am I only being contacted this one time in the year? Inclusivity must be more than a box-ticking exercise, making sure you've marked all the relevant days in an appropriate way.
Inclusivity should be embedded into the very fabric of the company. You don't have to have a specific reason to hold an LGBTQIA+ event, whether internally or externally. You don’t need a date to tell you to educate your staff or review your policies. Don’t wait for Pride to make a change, celebrate the community all year round!
Want to improve LGBTQ+ inclusion in your organisation, and make sure that what you’re doing has real lasting change all year round? Why not check out our workshop, Proud In The Workplace, or else contact us to see what else we can do to help you.
