Happy February Out & Equal Community!

We hope this issue of Out & Equal's monthly newsletter finds you well and in the midst of celebrating Valentine's Day, Black History Month, and UK LGBTQ+ History Month!

We've compiled an issue of content we hope brings additional substance and inspiration to your February workplace inclusion efforts. In between the celebrations that you and your team, your organization, or your Employee Resource Group(s) have planned this month, we hope you'll take some time to follow your curiosity and explore the content below to learn more about some of the intersectional workplace experiences and cultural conditions impacting LGBTQ+ employees and what you can do to show up as a more inclusive colleague today! 

And on that note, we feel we must recognize that although the importance of annual observances dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of Black and LGBTQ+ histories shouldn’t be understated – especially considering the historical and current silencing and erasure of Black and Queer voices – it’s important to recognize that Black and Queer histories, and the individual and community journeys that make them up, must be shared and celebrated year round. 

Much love and solidarity,
The Out & Equal team
Black History Month is widely recognized as a time to celebrate and honor the remarkable achievements and important sacrifices made by Black people, in the United States, and around the globe.  

Black History Month is also an opportunity to recognize and celebrate Black queer people, whose brilliant identities and contributions to the larger LGBTQ+ community too often forgotten and erased from history.

Black people have always been at the center of the LGBTQ+ liberation movement, including for example, Marsha P. Johnson and Stormé DeLarverie, who were major figures in the Stonewall uprisings of 1969.

In order to create a world where all LGBTQ+ people are invited to be their authentic selves and contribute to their fullest potential, we must acknowledge and understand the unique experiences of Black Queer people in the workplace, and more intentionally show up as allies and antiracists for our Black colleagues at every opportunity. 

All year-round, Out & Equal aims to highlight and amplify the incredible contributions that Black people have and are making toward greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in our workplaces and world more broadly. 
Here are just a few voices inspiring us this month:
Our friends at GLAAD are spotlighting numerous Black LGBTQ+ trailblazers this month, noting "...it’s important to remember that Black queer people exist, and should be celebrated, during all twelve months of the year." In an inspiring blog by Kayla Thompson, Communities of Color Junior Associate, the team compiled a list (that they expect to grow with names and achievements) of Black LGBTQ+ people who have made and are in the process of making history, and whose work you should be supporting this year (and every year after that). Be sure to check it out!
In celebration of Black History Month, we interviewed one of our own, Shivon Jackson-Manuel (she/her), Senior Manager of Corporate Engagement, whose story is resonating with so many of our community members — and for good reason! Throughout the blog Shivon highlights the increasingly critical nature of understanding and addressing intersectional workplace experiences (not one demographic group is a monolith!) and the value of Black queer talent… not just in February, but throughout all twelve months of the year!

Click here to read more from Shivon, in her own words. 
We are diving deep into this expansive new report from the gender inclusion experts at Catalyst: Expose of Women’s Workplace Experiences Challenges Antiracist Leaders to Step Up

Key Findings include:

  • 51% of respondents have experienced racism in their current workplace.

  • The study identifies a large disconnect in what leaders say they want to do (e.g., commit to anti-racism efforts) and the reality that racism and exclusion is still pervasive in workplaces internationally.
  • What’s worse, the links between the multiple oppressions that women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups — like women within the LGBTQ+ community — experience at work are often ignored and go unaddressed. 
  • The study suggests that leaders who demonstrate allyship and curiosity can combat racism.
Inspired to get more intentional about coaching, mentoring, and sponsoring your Black and LGBTQ+ colleagues? Revisit our January blog to learn more about inclusive coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship.  
Out & Equal is thrilled to be the exclusive LGBTQ+-focused organization partnering with the Korn Ferry Charitable Foundation to end underrepresentation in business leadership. LGBTQ+ employees from Out & Equal Partner organizations are eligible to apply for the Leadership U for Humanity leadership learning program.

Leadership U for Humanity offers a six-month, virtual learning journey including 1:1 career coaching, peer community building, and business skills development leveraging the Korn Ferry advance platform and community of coaches, and is an immediate, tangible way for our Partners to support Black LGBTQ+ leaders and at no cost! 

To nominate yourself or a colleague, or to learn more about the program, please contact learning@outandequal.org. Priority will be given to individuals who are BIPOC, transgender, gender expansive, women, or who have another intersecting identity that is underrepresented among business leaders.
February is LGBTQ+ History Month in the United Kingdom. The month was launched in 2004/2005 as a means to highlight role models and build a sense of community, while uncovering previously untold stories. Since its inception UK's LGBTQ+ History Month has, recognizing the need to accelerate progress, evolved beyond celebration and into to a month of reflection, learning, and community action to better ensure more equitable access and greater inclusivity for LGBTQ+ individuals in our workplaces and beyond. 

This evolution is reflected in this year's theme: "Claiming our past. Celebrating our present. Creating our future."

In related UK news, be sure to check out our newest blog post on the potential impact the UK Census might have on other parts of the world below!
The recently released results of the 2021 UK census offers a snapshot of what a state-run, intentionally inclusive census can look like. For the first time, the census, which is administered by the Office of National Statistics every 10 years, offers a voluntary question on gender identity for those aged 16 and over. This more inclusive approach lies in contrast to the United States, whose most recent 2020 census still demonstrates a built-in assumption that gender is the same as sex assigned at birth, and that sex assigned at birth is strictly binary (wholly excluding intersex persons).

In this blog post Virginia notes, "There is no aspect of anyone’s life that is not touched by census data and your community is rendered invisible in the data when you cannot get an accurate count about it.”

"Representation matters," she states, "and we cannot effectively value what we do not measure. The UK provides an excellent blueprint for how a nation state can evolve survey design to better reflect its people. Put simply, we need to ask the right questions to get the right answers. Without questions on sexual orientation and gender identity on the census, LGBTQ+ communities risk erasure in the public sphere."
In two weeks Out & Equal will host its annual Executive Forum (February 28-March 2, MGM National Harbor, Maryland). This one-of-a-kind immersive community engagement and learning experience will bring together thought leaders and practitioners from both government agencies and leading corporations from around the world to problem solve and co-create cutting-edge workplace practices to address the most pressing challenges and opportunities in LGBTQ+ workforce inclusion and belonging — at a time when the LGBTQ+ community needs inclusion most.

Past attendees have praised the event saying: 

  • "We get a year’s worth of critical networking with some of the world’s most important minds in LGBTQ+ inclusion work in two and a half days!"
  • "Executive Forum’s expert facilitators address the whole person… transforming individuals to change agents, within their own careers, within their companies, and in societies at-large."
  • "Executive Forum is for those who demand progress!"
This year's Executive Forum attendees will once again experience "Momentum", a closing ceremony that includes a special dinner, remarkable keynote speakers, and a silver-themed dance party to kick-off Out & Equal's 25th Anniversary celebration that will have us radiating for months to come!

Executive Forum is an invitation-only event, developed and hosted exclusively for Out & Equal Partners. You can view our current Partners list here. 

Only limited seats remaining! If you are from a Partner company and are interested in attending the event, please contact partnerships@outandequal.org. 

If your company is not currently a Partner and are interested in joining the community, please reach out to partnerships@outandequal.org.  
LATAM Forum happening May 3rd in São Paulo, Brazil!

Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks! For more information on how to get involved, email global@outandequal.org.