Pride month conversations: What Pride means to us
We asked multiple team members questions like:
π What does Pride Month mean to you personally?
π What does it feel like to be queer or a queer ally at work?
π What are some concerning developments like pinkwashing look like?
…and we simply listened.
Our question for every organisation watching is:
“If you turned the camera on your team today and asked them how inclusion actually feels, what would they say?”
Happy Pride, everyone. During Pride Month, I think it’s always really important to remember what Pride stands for and where it comes from.
Originally, Pride started as a protest and a fight for rights against the violent suppression and discrimination faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community. Of course, we’ve come a really long way since the first Pride protest in 1970, but unfortunately, we are once again seeing a significant pushback against inclusion and equality for the community, including in the workplace.
Pride Month is really important to me. I would say it means having a chance to talk about topics related to how LGBTQ+ people live, and also how we can find ways to make sure that we are integrating them into society. It’s also an opportunity for people outside of this community to understand our challenges and struggles.
Did you know that about 40% of Fortune 500 companies cut down on Pride and LGBTQ+ inclusion messaging last year? This is actually a huge danger for members of the community, and exactly why inclusion can’t be a seasonal or situational thing.
Pride is not a corporate branding exercise in the month of June; it is really a fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
At Nexio, we have a 50/50 gender split in the management team and 25 nationalities, so the concepts of both diversity and inclusion are really in our DNA.
I’ll be honest: before joining Nexio, I thought being an ally just meant not being part of the problemβnot discriminating, not excludingβand that really felt like enough to me.
Working here changed that. I saw what it actually looks like to create a space for people to show up as their authentic, full selves and to be more vocal.
Allyship is really not about being passive. It’s about being active.
Moving from passivity to being an active ally can start with one simple element: communication. Being vocal rather than staying in complicit silence, but doing that in a way that amplifies queer voices rather than replacing them.
I would like a new colleague who joins Nexio to know that it’s actually a place where diversity is valued all year round.
One thing that I noticed when I came to my first interview, before I joined Nexio, is that the Pride flag is always hanging outside. It’s something that is very visible. Of course, we also have a gay CEO, which I find very, very inspiring.
It’s not only about being open about it, but also about understanding that many people in other organisations are having trouble because of being queer or because of being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
So, I think at Nexio, that’s something that everyone’s aware of and that everyone respects. Everyone sees the value of creating a diverse workplace in which everyone feels welcome.
I want to create a place where I am safe to be myself, but where I can also offer the same to all my colleagues.
This type of environment can only be fostered through everyday actions, consistent policies, and support systems that create belonging all year round, not just in June.
This is the kind of workplace that we’re creating at Nexio Projects, and I’m very proud to be a part of it.