A guest session with Charity So Straight

Tereza Litsa

Digital Engagement Manager

30 Jun 2022

We invited Charity So Straight at #TeamLightful for a Lunch & Learn about workplace diversity and Pride allyship.

As part of Pride month, we wanted to find out more about Charity So Straight, a campaign group calling for charities to be more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ people.

Lucy Straker and Kevin Taylor-McKnight joined us for an interesting session on diversity, inclusion, and allyship for LGBTQIA+ people.

Here are some of the takeaways.

Workplace diversity matters

Promoting diversity and inclusion should be everyone’s work
It’s important to encourage ‘different’ conversations to take place within the organisation
An opportunity to value and celebrate different voices and unlock everyone’s full potential
The goal is to aim for better and more inclusive outcomes that serve all the communities of the charity or business

How to be a great ally for the LGBTQIA+ community

Here are some tips on how to be a better ally.

Make time to find out about the experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community
Use and encourage the use of pronouns
Respect the colleagues who may not be comfortable using pronouns
Be sensitive and don’t ask intrusive questions
Step back and ensure you are enabling the voices of LGBTQIA+ people

How to recognise 'rainbow washing'

'Rainbow washing' is a term that refers to businesses that show their support for LGBTQIA+ people during Pride month without necessarily engaging in meaningful support.

For example, you may notice organisations changing their profile picture to add rainbows in June without necessarily adding more context throughout the year.

Here are some tips from Charity So Straight about it

If you spot ‘rainbow washing’ recognise it and call it out
Being a proud ally isn’t just for Pride season
Pride is a protest so capitalising on it for one month every year erases queer people’s struggle for equality

Diversifying your workforce is a journey

Interested in diversifying your workforce? Here is what you need to consider.

It takes time, resources, and commitment at a senior level to make it work
Be open and honest about where you are right now
Change and working through change can be uncomfortable
Keep going, build on today and continue to develop

We’ve had some great conversations during the Lunch & Learn and we are excited to support Charity So Straight in their next steps.

Resources

Follow @CharitySoStraight on Twitter

Join their Slack Community for LGBTQIA+ people working or volunteering in the charity sector

Follow @QueerTrustees on Twitter

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