Pride Month was born from protest.<\/p>\n
The Stonewall Riots are typically seen as the spark; an act of defiance that was commemorated a year later with the first New York City Pride Parade on June 28, 1970.<\/p>\n
Stonewall wasn\u2019t the first time the LGBTQ+ community rallied against the prejudices they faced on a daily basis. But as Michael Bronski \u2013 an activist, author, and Harvard professor \u2013 noted, it was a direct act of resistance. It tapped into an outrage and passion that defined this moment in history (which saw a patchwork of protests for civil rights, gender equality<\/a>, and against the Vietnam War).<\/p>\n These feelings of outrage, and overlapping issues of inequality, defined our past year as well \u2013 from the murder of George Floyd, to the health care disparities made clear during the pandemic, and the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.<\/p>\n So, in celebrating Pride Month, we wanted to have a frank discussion about the importance of speaking out, and how companies and individuals can help push inclusion efforts forward for the LGBTQ+ community. <\/strong><\/p>\n Because there\u2019s still work to do. A recent study<\/a> from the Human Rights Campaign found that 46% of LGBTQ+ workers say they’re closeted at work. And 53% of those workers said they\u2019ve heard derogatory jokes or remarks about lesbian or gay people at least once in the workplace.<\/p>\n In our discussion on How to Include, Celebrate, and Support LGBTQ+ Employees in the Workplace<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>we were honored to be joined by:<\/p>\n In the past, there\u2019s been a hesitancy among companies to weigh in on social issues, putting on this front of being \u201cpolitically agnostic.\u201d But that\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n As Udi Ledergor noted:<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies are coming out of the closet, pun intended, and taking a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Companies are taking a clear stance on social issues. <\/strong><\/h2>\n