Celebrating Pride Month

Pride Month, celebrated every June, is a time to recognise and honour the LGBTQ+ community – celebrating diversity, promoting inclusion, and reflecting on the progress made toward equality. It commemorates the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history that sparked a global movement for civil rights.

By recognising Pride Month, we reinforce our commitment to fostering an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to be their authentic selves. Supporting the LGBTQ+ community not only enriches our workplace culture but also drives innovation, creativity, and understanding.

Navigating the waves of change

Did you know that until the year 2000 it was illegal to serve in the UK armed forces if you were a member of the LGBTQ+ community? For those serving, being discovered could lead to severe consequences, including court-martial, imprisonment, and dishonourable discharge. This created a climate of fear and secrecy, forcing individuals to hide their true identities and relationships. For the Royal Navy in particular, life onboard ships, with their close quarters and lack of privacy, made this even more challenging.

Although the UK has come a long way in its acceptance and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, these issues can still impact our seafarers as some of the countries our ships visit still believe that being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is a crime.

The power of allyship

Supporting and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community holds significant power in driving positive change and fostering inclusion. Here’s how you can be an ally:

• Be curious and educate yourself: Doing some research, reading up online and learning a little more about the LGBT+ community is a great place to start. Even if you’re part of the community, find out about people whose orientation or gender identity differs to your own.
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• Listen and learn: Ask how someone is doing and be aware that other people’s lives and experiences will be completely different to our own, especially in terms of discrimination and prejudice. Remember that just because someone has come out to you, they might not be out to everyone. Be respectful of each other and enjoy learning about all the differences and diversity in the communities around us.
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• Share your pronouns: Gender pronouns are how we identify ourselves and how we refer to others, for example ‘they,’ ‘he’ or ‘she.’ Be an ally by sharing your pronouns and recognising the pronouns of your colleagues. By doing this you’ll help others accept that everyone is unique, and we should never make the default assumption that someone uses a ‘she’ or ‘he’ pronoun.
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• Be visible and Speak Up: Be loud, visible, and proud. We want as many positive messages out there as possible. If you hear people making negative comments or using hurtful or abusive language towards LGBTQ+ people, Speak Up and challenge it, if safe to do so. If it’s online, report it. You might not always have all the answers or know exactly what to say and that’s OK. 

Together, let’s celebrate diversity and stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ colleagues and friends.