Reflecting on Pride Month

With the official Pride Month drawing to a close, but with the commitment that every month we should acknowledge and show up for all members of the LGBTQ+ community, we at ICP are reflecting on what this month represents and how we can do our part to move forward in equality and inclusivity.

As part of Pride Month activities, we were able to organise an LGBTQ+ and Intersectionality Workshop facilitated by Tony McCaffery on behalf of the Diversity Partnership, which offered a deep dive into Intersectionality and LGBTQ+ history. We encourage you all to continue that conversation and would love feedback and suggestions on how we can do that as a company.

Pride Month is a tribute to the Stonewall Riots, an event that inspired social change and progress around the world. As we celebrate and recognise how far we’ve come since June 1969, we also have to take the time to look at how far we have yet to go and acknowledge the changes that still need to be made.

We know that the workplace is still a complicated terrain to navigate for LGBTQ+ people:

• In the UK, 18% of LGBT workforce have been the target of negative comments from work colleagues in the last year because they’re LGBT, including being the target of bullying and abuse, and being outed without consent. The number rises to 33% for trans people (Stonewall, 2021).
• 35% of UK LGBT workforce are hiding that they are LGBT at work from fear of discrimination (Stonewall, 2021).
• The number of closeted people in the workplace goes up to 46% in the US, with 36% of LGBT workforce having faced harassment or discrimination (American Progress, 2020).

At ICP, we believe that only when people show up as their full and authentic selves can their collaborations yield the most inventive and creative solutions. Diversity and Inclusion is crucially important to us and we aim to foster an environment in which our staff feel that they can be themselves without fear. We want everyone working at ICP to feel included and accepted for who they are.

Our support for the LGBTQ+ community does not end once the month of June is over. We vow to listen to you, learn from you and to be held accountable while we continue to work to make ICP a company in which you feel supported and heard, all year long.