According to the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), Fortune 500 companies and CEI-rated companies are actively working to approach parity, and many are succeeding. In the business world, LGBTQ+ (which is also now written as LGBTQIA+ to include intersex and asexual) is an important part of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts to bring everyone to the table with an equal voice. LGBTQ+ is one area where these are the most pronounced. The intersection of our unique facets with those of the people around us, and the respective advantages and disadvantages they generate, is more commonly referred to as “ intersectionality.” The advantages are what we call privilege, while the disadvantages can include systemic institutional discrimination and biases. We all carry multiple identity facets-gender, race, ethnicity, social class, religion, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity-that make up our whole selves.
This is the reason you’re seeing an explosion of rainbow-themed products and clothing and rainbow-hued logos on social media. Pride Month is the annual, global (46 countries and counting) event that recognizes and celebrates the historical impacts of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) communities, and spotlights our progress-or lack thereof-in creating a more equitable life for members of these communities. As we referenced in our blog on the impact of inclusion and diversity in the workforce, all of those things are better for business.
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Working remotely has meant giving our colleagues literal windows into our worlds-homes, family, and pets, giving us all the opportunity to show up every day as our whole, and most authentic, selves. One of the great levelers of the pandemic is that it dropped many of the walls we put up at work.