Pride month... and beyond
We celebrate our LGBTQIA+ community every June – but what about the other 11 months of the year? How comfortable do your colleagues feel to be their true selves?
INNOVATION & IMPROVEMENT
Image: Istock
Hannah Harvey
Chief Operating Officer, Saffron Housing
Hannah Harvey
Chief Operating Officer, Saffron Housing
Issue 67 | September 2023
When I look back over my career, I don’t have many regrets. In fact, I am hugely proud of how far I have travelled both personally and professionally. I have been fortunate to find a job that gives me a sense of purpose and has enabled me to make a small difference.
But as I have entered my – yes, I am going to say my age – 40s, I often wonder how much easier the road could have been if I had felt able to share my whole self at work much earlier.
Playing it safe
I was often so crippled by fear of judgement or rejection that I chose to play it safe and hide my true self from those in my orbit. Eventually, as I built enough trust in the people around me, I would ‘come out’.
This was often nothing to do with the people around me, more the result of scars that I have carried with me from the past. I have been subjected to homophobia for too many years to mention.
Sometimes this has been overt, sometimes subtle, but whenever it happens it stings like the first time. It can be a simple comment like “but you have children”, or people pointing at my wife and I as we hold hands, or the diminishing list of countries we feel safe to visit.
Celebrating difference
I cannot wait for the day when I no longer feel ‘other’, or like my worth as a human being is less than another’s because of who I love. When you are part of our community ‘coming out’ is not a one-time thing. You spend a lifetime doing it and it can feel like a perpetual reminder that you are ‘different’.
Our differences as humans should be embraced and encouraged. Imagine a world in which our ‘otherness’ was celebrated continuously and we didn’t need Pride month to remind people of diversity and its value in society. This would be the greatest gift for future generations.
From an organisational perspective, the argument is persuasive – the more diverse the group, the better the service. Hardly surprising when you think about it.
Only when the voices in the room carry multiple perspectives, do you have the best platform to provide a service that understands and caters for all. Isn’t this something we are desperately trying to achieve?
Sector challenge
So, my challenge to the sector is this: to create a work environment that enables us all to be our true selves.
Just imagine the positive impact this would have on the people who work with us and the communities that we serve.
Equality shouldn’t be something we have to fight for, or be confined to a few weeks each year. So let’s take the positivity of Pride month and keep celebrating those differences all of the time. That way, the next generation won’t have to wait until they are in their 40s to feel a sense of ease.
“The more diverse the group, the better the service. Hardly surprising when you think about it.”
