progroupinc.com: Article: June is Pride Month

June is Pride Month

June 2005 diversity newsletter

One set of photos showed Jill at the Grand Canyon and another set showed Amy. Jill and Amy are lesbian partners working for the same company who brought pictures of their vacation to share with their co-workers. The shots with both of them together having a good time remained at home.

"I know that Larry was trying to be friendly when he asked me if I wanted to date a woman he knows. I told him that I have been with my partner for seven years and wasn't interested. He seemed genuinely surprised but thanked me for not making him feel stupid."

Citing a new policy to remain neutral on political issues, a company long known as a "best place for GLBT employees" pulled its support for gay rights legislation. The company's GLBT employees were shocked and disheartened. GLBT networks around the world spread the word and threatened to boycott the company's products. The degree of backlash surprised the company and, within days, it reversed its position.

The experience of being a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (GLBT) employee varies from person to person just as these examples illustrate. Some employees are "out." Some are "closeted." Some have the full support of their company and their straight colleagues while others live in fear of being "outed." Many celebrate their commonalities together in June.

June is Pride Month: a time that was sparked by the June 28, 1969, Stonewall Rebellion, the first organized effort by gays and lesbians to seek equality under the law. Once primarily a celebration for the GLBT communities in major U.S. cities, Pride Month is now a regular event around the world in cities as diverse as Des Moines, Salt Lake City, Jerusalem, and likely a city near you. Today, Pride festivals have corporate sponsors and some receive government funding. Many are major tourist attractions for the host cities.

If you have ever taken part in one of these events, you will understand their significance. I can remember inadvertently participating in my first Pride parade on the streets of San Francisco in 1980. I was attending the National Library Board Conference as a Library Trustee and wandered outside during a break. To my surprise, I found myself caught up in the contagious excitement as a montage of proud faces and community groups moved before me, electrifying the crowd. What I took away from that experience was how freeing it must have been for this community to have an outlet to express itself openly and honestly. Unspoken, in the midst of this jubilance, however, was a serious side; one that I missed due to my naiveté at that time. Now, as I attend these events, I recognize that Pride festivities are more than a parade. They bring families, friends, co-workers, and organizations together in support of the day-to-day, year-to-year challenges that GLBT individuals face in order to be accepted for who they are and to instill a sense of pride in themselves and their communities.

One might wonder who would negate the notion of having pride in oneself. Yet, even here at ProGroup, we are challenged each year as we decide which photo to use for June in our Honoring Differences® Diversity Calendar. How do we visually represent Pride Month in a way that accounts for the diversity among GLBT individuals? It is always the last month we complete because no matter what we show, some organizations will use this as the determining factor in their purchasing decision for the coming year. Some organizations will choose not to purchase the calendar based on the photo we select for June.

The good news is that during the 20 years we have been consulting around diversity, we have noticed that things are changing, because companies are providing more visible support through their policies and practices. In fact, according to a report by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, U.S. businesses are leading the way in granting protections for GLBT families through expanded domestic partner benefits and nondiscrimination policies.

Pride, however, cannot be legislated or written into policy. Pride is the satisfied feeling that results from personal beliefs, often triggered by the attitudes and behaviors of those around us. To understand, think about how it feels to have a sense of pride in who you are, what you do, and the community with which you identify. Hold that feeling for a moment. Then, think about what you, your co-workers, and your employer can do to create an inclusive environment where all employees including those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender feel valued and respected and, it is hoped, feel pride in themselves.