Special Pride Month Episode: Stories of Belonging
June is Pride Month. A catalyst for the LGBTQIA+ Rights Movement happened on June 28, 1969 when police raided a gay bar in New York City, sparking the Stone Wall Riots that were largely led by LGBTQIA+ people of color. That incident ignited protests around the country in the push for equal rights.
Today in 2020 protests are again sweeping the nation, prompted by the death of George Floyd and others, and accelerating the Black Lives Matter Movement. The intersectionality of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the LGBTQIA+ Rights Movement is as clear now as ever.
In this episode of Break the Bias, you’ll hear from a number of voices on what Pride Month means to them personally, and why we must continue the fight for equality for all. Read on for a few key takeaways, and listen to the full conversation here.
*Quotes may be edited and condensed
A MILLENNIAL ON HOW WE HAVE A LOT MORE IN COMMON
“I do believe the Pride Movement and the Black Civil Rights Movement is our fight to be recognized as humans in the workplace. It’s despite our skin tone and despite winning this melanin lottery. Despite being remarkably fabulous and having this sexual orientation or this sexual identity. It’s knowing that we are not less. It’s the opposite: I would say we are more in value. We’re more in culture. We’re more in perspective and love and passion and vision. We’re more human and, ultimately together, we’re more in numbers. We have a lot more in common than different.”
Mark Reyna, Associate, Exp. Associate, People & Organization at PwC and founder of the talent blog Ingrativation
A MOTHER ON WANTING HER SON TO BE ACCEPTED IN THE WORKPLACE
“I will say one of the [bosses] at an organization that my son worked at was not comfortable with the fact that he was gay…I look at where he is now at the same company, but in a different group. He is doing phenomenal: He got promoted and has a great year-end review. Prior to that, with the other department, it was constantly being called out in front of people, constantly being told he was not doing the right things, constantly being excluded. As a mom, I provide them with guidance, support, love, and, hopefully, some insight as well as on ways to possibly handle things internally at an organization. But that’s probably one of the hardest things that I had to see was seeing my son being challenged for who he was.”
Dawn McCartney, VP of CWS Council at Staffing Industry Analysts
Related: Pride: A Story of Coming Out & Self Acceptance
AN EDUCATOR ON LEARNING THE VOCABULARY
“A big thing I hear from a lot of people is, ‘You guys have all these letters, LGBTQ plus LMNOP.’ I say, ‘I understand where you’re coming from. It can be overwhelming…I can see where if you grew up thinking one thing is supposed to be normal, why are there all these alphabets? You have to teach people…Labeling is important. If you actually sat down and went through the umbrella and different words in the vocabulary and what they mean, I think it would bring a brighter understanding. ”
Annie Brown, Professional Trainer
A GAY MAN ON COMING OUT AT WORK
“Being in the closet in the workplace gives people power over you, because then they can speculate. If you’re living your authentic, honest self at work, people don’t have a chance to talk or gossip because you’ve set the record straight. When you say, ‘My husband and I,’ rather than ‘my partner and I;’ they’ve lost that power over you. Unfortunately, so many people don’t realize that when they come to work and they put on their ‘closet face.’ I think owning it in the workplace is super important.”
John Dyer, Non-Employee Talent Retention and Acquisition Expert
AN ACTIVIST ON WHY EQUALITY IS A WIN FOR US ALL
“Some may think that by giving rights and liberties to other people, that somehow something is being taken away from us. But in reality, if you think about making space for the most marginalized among us and creating laws that protect the most marginalized among us, it actually creates more space for everyone.”
Dimitri Joseph Moïse, Co-founder of Claim Our Space
SHOW NOTES:
“What is Otherness,” by Dr. Zuleyka Zevallos
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