For two weeks during Pride month, Kingsley Napley are publishing a series of blogs to celebrate Pride and highlight LGBTQ+ issues from home and abroad. We have included a glossary of terms at the end of this blog.
How can you put the spotlight on intersectionality to remind others that, even within the LGBTQ+ community, not everyone is treated equal?
Are you proud of who you are, your journey and the person that you’ve become? Do you truly wear your heart on your sleeve? For some, being open and honest about who we are (which includes our gender identity or sexuality) does not come easily and can be extremely hard. It can be even tougher at work, and for those that hide their true self, the energy expenditure is endless. That survival cost of energy makes you less productive, or even worse still, it has a detrimental impact on your mental and physical health.
In person, many allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community may choose to wear their staff ID with a rainbow lanyard at work all year round, showing their clients and colleagues that they are proud of who they are and also, (perhaps more importantly) being a positive and visible symbol of equality and allyship. This rainbow lanyard, representing the rainbow flag, was ultimately designed to showcase a natural overarching sign of love and peace, a positive sign of hope for all in the LGBTQ+ community.
Now more and more, companies, including us here at Kingsley Napley, wear their pride on their digital sleeve with their logo. Each Pride month, websites, such as LinkedIn and Twitter, provide their profiles with a sprinkle of glitter in the form of a rainbow version of their corporate face. This visual sign of allyship is powerful as, even when some companies use it as a marketing tool, it generates dialogue, it raises awareness and the rainbow spotlight shines bright.
I can say very confidently that the KN Pride logo is for life, not just for Junemass. The on-going enhancements, passion and senior sponsorship though out the year is far more than any marketing campaign. Regular and on-going changes happen internally and externally, sometimes they can be so subtle that you may miss them. One of the most recent areas that we have been working on is our focus on BAME and Transgendered members of the LGBTQ+ community and how the original pride rainbow, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, doesn’t necessarily provide the visual platform that is needed in the 21st century. After all, a picture (or a flag) can paint a thousand words.
Baker’s Pride flag contained only eight colours, each with a specific meaning of sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature magic, harmony, spirit and this was meant to be all-encompassing and in many ways it still is today. However, changing this visual symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, is perhaps a great way to start to change the focus and the dialogue of the needs of that community. As equality and society moves forward and evolves, so has the imagery of symbolism of pride and the rainbow flag.
The recent refocus on Black Lives Matter campaign as well as the killings of our trans brothers and sisters reminded us of those who are still far from equal and need to be put at the forefront to ensure that equality for all can truly be achieved. This is further magnified for those in the LGBTQ+ community, who are also members of the BAME community and/or the transgendered community. Intersectionality multiplies the challenges that these groups face on multiple fronts, and this can mean that your colleagues, your friends, your clients or your relatives are less likely to wear their heart on their sleeve.
Just like many corporate rebrands, aiming to draw new glances and generate new dialogue, Daniel Quasar’s 2017 Progress Pride flag has now been put centre stage and the focus has shifted. The new arrow head (progressing forwards) symbolises with explicit inclusion the BAME and transgendered community and creates a new focus with these new colours in the flag. It puts our BAME and transgendered community centre stage where this new flag will hopefully paint a different story for the LGBTQ+ community moving forward. I am glad that KN has adopted this flag into our logo this year.
Having an identity is important to us all, but being proud of your identity is not always easy for all. Showing your colours all year round is an important way to maintain that dialogue and to keep the spotlight on the areas currently in the shadows. Wearing and displaying the Progress pride flag, will in some small way, help those who need it. Wearing your pride for them on your profile photo, as a lapel badge, as your staff ID lanyard helps. Another way to flag your support and engage an open dialogue is by including your pronouns on signatures and correspondence, showing you are aware, showing that you care and that you want everyone to be treated equally.
The BAME and transgendered members of the LGBTQ+ community, who once were forgotten or hidden in the shadows due to the fact that they were over shadowed by the ‘one size fits all’ rainbow, now are very much part of the front row of the chorus. Visibility matters and who you are matters. One lanyard, one pronoun, can make a person’s day. It’s finally time to join our brothers and sisters in the front row of the chorus and joyously sing out “I am what I am”.
About the author
Jamie Gash is an IT Training and Change Manager, working in our Information Technology department, he has extensive experience working on legal change projects, specialising in technology exploitation and user adoption.
Jamie leads the IT Training team at Kingsley Napley to develop all areas of the legal and business support teams in both current and new technical solutions. He's also part of the Kingsley Napley LGBTQ and Allies Network.
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