Celebrate Pride Month 2024: 5 Ways to Support Your LGBTQ+ Employees
With LGBTQ+ Pride Month taking place in June, now is the best time to reflect upon your company’s stance and make your workplace a more welcoming environment. For your LGBTQ+ employees, inclusion can mean the difference between feeling understood and feeling excluded, emotions that can impact their confidence and performance. As diverse companies see 2.5% higher cash flow per employee, confident LGBTQ+ employees are key to business innovation.
How do I celebrate Pride Month in the workplace?
- Hire an LGBT Speaker
- Organise Inclusivity Training
- Celebrate Pride Month
- Embrace Preferred Pronouns
- Fundraise for Charity
Below, we have created a comprehensive guide to celebrating Pride Month in your business. From booking an LGBT speaker to organising inclusivity training, learn how to celebrate your LGBTQ+ employees this Pride Month.
1. Hire an LGBT Speaker
What better time to hire an LGBT speaker, than Pride Month 2024?
When you book an LGBT speaker, you are investing in your workplace’s inclusivity. You are telling your LGBTQ+ staff that you care about their experiences, their happiness and their identity. An LGBT speaker will relate to their struggles, and open the eyes of their straight colleagues, leading to unity and understanding.
At The Motivational Speakers Agency, we have collated a list of the Top 10 LGBT Speakers to Promote Workplace Inclusion, the perfect place to find your speaker. Browse our selection below.
Top LGBT Speakers for Pride Month 2024
- Kellie Maloney - Transgender advocate who empowers audiences with her story of transformation.
- Gareth Thomas - A speaker who was voted the Most Influential Gay Person in the UK by the 2010 Sunday Pink List.
- Matt Ellison - A transgender activist and the co-chair of FTM (Female to Male) London.
- Dr Ranj Singh - TV star and vocal campaigner for LGBTQ+ inclusion, both in the workplace and wider society.
- Jake & Hannah Graf - Two speakers who are known as the UK’s Transgender Power Couple, proving that love is love.
- Nigel Owens - Famed as a rugby union referee and the Gay Sports Personality of the Decade in 2015.
- Colin & Justin - Celebrity style experts and married partners who have long fought for gay inclusion.
- Inga Beale - Openly bisexual businesswoman, famed as the first female CEO of Lloyd's of London.
- Paris Lees - Vogue's first transgender columnist and founder of META, a British magazine for the transgender community.
- Gina Battye - Mental health and LGBTQ+ inclusion advocate known for her insight into workplace culture.
2. Organise Inclusivity Training
LGBTQ+ inclusion requires all employees to cultivate a welcoming environment. However, it is not up to your lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff to educate their peers. Inclusivity training workshops fill this role and serve to educate members of your team.
A lack of education can lead to misgendering, incorrect terminology and hurtful phrases, whether on purpose or not. Many LGBT+ advocates have dedicated their careers to leading such workshops, to ensure that attendees receive the most relevant and impactful advice possible.
3. Celebrate Pride Month
One of the best ways to support your LGBTQ+ employees is to publicly celebrate Pride Month. This sends a clear message that you see them, you support them, and you will not stand for discrimination.
Decorate the office with rainbow flags, host a charity cake sale or even book a slot at your local pride parade, where you can pledge your company’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. Getting everyone involved will promote an inclusive environment that celebrates pride.
4. Embrace Preferred Pronouns & Gender Neutrality
Removing the Male/Female signs from your toilets and embracing gender neutrality may seem trivial, but for transgender and non-binary employees, it is incredibly empowering. It eliminates the everyday stress caused by gendered toilets and makes it easier for all staff to find an available bathroom.
Asking for someone’s preferred pronouns should be second nature, but for many, it is an afterthought. This can put non-binary and transgender people in an uncomfortable situation, and cause unnecessary trauma. This pride month consider adding all of your employees’ preferred pronouns to their email signature, to normalise not assuming someone’s gender.
5. Raise Money for LGBTQIA+ Charities
Raising money for an LGBTQ+ charity does not just support your employees; it improves services in your local area for all members of the community. Whether you can pledge funds, volunteer or simply promote the charity as a beneficial resource, investments of all kinds will have a positive impact on your LGBTQ+ employees – especially for those who rely on such services.
LGBTQ+ Charities to Support:
- MindOut: A mental health charity for the LGBTQ+ community.
- LGBT Foundation: A national charity offering support and advice.
- Stonewall: One of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities.
- Galop: An anti-violence organisation for the LGBTQ+ community.
Contact a Booking Agent
To book an LGBT+ speaker for your event, get in touch via our online form or call us on 0207 0787 876 to receive your free quote.
Alternatively, why not hire talented entertainers to make a Pride Month parade special? Take a look at Champions Music & Entertainment's selection of the finest music acts and entertainers for LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2024!
