June is the Pride Month, a month to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) group in our society. Pride is celebrated in June all over the world to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which took place in late June 1969. Maybe some of you may have come across individuals who belong to the LGBTQ spectrum. If not, here are 5 ways to understand, and be part of the inclusiveness practiced across many corporates across the world.
1. Educate yourself Learn more about the LGBTQ population, not what you’ve learned from media stereotypes. If you do not have colleagues, family members or friends who are LGBTQ then, look up on the internet, read articles, books and watch interviews to understand them better.
2. Listen The best place to gain knowledge is from the individual itself. Listen to stories, experience or facts that they would like to share with you. Take the time to listen and learn from them and once you’ve done that, take the time to educate others.
3. Be sensitive and respectful This might be new but there are things to keep in mind. It is common practice for people to assume a coworker or a client is your same sexual orientation, marital status or religious persuasion. There are multiple pronouns used (they, them) instead of (he/she), ask them how they would like to be addressed else, to be on the safer side - use their name.
4. Be a role model Hate speech or slang play a very big role in sculpting the image of those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender. So, when you hear someone say, “that is so gay” or using words that directly cause harm to those in the spectrum, stop them. Incidents of bullying and harassment aren’t something new, and so try to discourage others from harassing people belonging to the LGBTQ group.
5. Always ask People go through a long thought process before they come out or reveal their sexuality to another person. Your colleague or friend might have come out and revealed to you and maybe not everyone else. So be careful when you speak about this in front of anybody else. Since, workforces are still trying to bring inclusion, a slip of tongue might cost an opportunity for your colleague, or worse - being discriminated.
