How to Welcome the LGBTQIA+ Community in Your Workplace

June 3, 2021 The CultureAlly Team

You’ve probably heard variations of the acronym LGBTQIA+ including but not limited to LGB, LGBT, LGBTQ and LGBTQ+.

But what do all of these letters mean?

📢Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and the plus sign represents all other members of the community.

Over the years, the acronym has expanded to include more members of the community who felt marginalized by previous letterings. Some find the ever expanding acronym unifying, while others find it exclusive and prefer the umbrella term queer.

Learn more about LGBTQ+ and check out our Free Glossary!

In this article, we explore:

The LGBTQIA+ Community Throughout History

The LGBTQ+ community has been around since the dawn of time. LGBTQ+ figures can be found in Viking culture, Indigenous culture, Greek mythology and literature spanning the centuries.

While the existence of queer individuals is not new, they have often been cast into the shadows and pushed to the margins of society, their history being largely ignored.

💡DID YOU KNOW: The following are well-known people all part of the LGBTQ community:

Artemis - Greek goddess of the hunt, daughter of Zeus
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) - King of Macedon, an ancient Greek Kingdom
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) - A genius of all trades, known for painting The Mona Lisa
Michelangelo (1475-1564) - Legendary sculpture and painter, known for creating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) - Popular London playwright, known for writing The Picture of Dorian Gray
Alan Turing (1912-1954) - Brilliant mathematician, who helped defeat the Nazis in World War II
James Baldwin (1924-1987) - Prolific American Novelist

Stonewall: An Historical Event

On June 28, 1969 police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York. Stonewall was a safe place for members of the LGBTQIA+ community during a time when homosexuality was illegal.

The raid did not go as planned when patrons refused to cooperate. During that time, raids were commonplace and only served to antagonize the LGBTQ community. The patrons of Stonewall had had enough, and what followed would go down in history.

Riots broke out and lasted 5 days after the initial raid. Famous queer figures Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson were present. The aftermath of the riots brought gay rights groups to the every major city in America and gay pride marches occurred for the first time in United States history.

Many scholars, activists and community members cite Stonewall as the catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights today. This event changed the course of history and should always be remembered when discussing the LGBT community.

Statistics About the LGBTQIA+ Community

Learning about the history of the LGBTQIA+ community is an opportunity for growth and to show your support. Learning about queer folks expands your window of tolerance and promotes allyship.

The same rings true in the workplace. Learning about the queer community is key to creating an inclusive workplace based on understanding and empathy. It mitigates marginalization and shows LGBTQIA+ employees that they are valued.

Population

Bisexual individuals account for the largest part of the LGBTQ+ population, approximately 1.8%.
72% of LGBTQ+ individuals said they had never lived in a known LGBT neighborhood.
77% of gay men and 71% of lesbians said that most or all of the important people in their lives knew that they were LGBTQ+. Only 28% of bisexual individuals could say the same.

Young adults were the most likely age group to identify as LGBTQ+, approximately 7.3%
(Data cited from the Pew Research Center)

Discrimination

A national public opinion survey conducted by the Center for American Progress produced the following statistics. The survey was conducted in June of 2020.

More than 1 in 3 LGBTQ Americans faced discrimination of some kind in the past year, including more than 3 in 5 transgender Americans.
Discrimination adversely affects the mental and economic well-being of many LGBTQ Americans, including 1 in 2 who report moderate or significant negative psychological impacts.
To avoid the experience of discrimination, more than half of LGBTQ Americans report hiding a personal relationship, and about one-fifth to one-third have altered other aspects of their personal or work lives.
Around 3 in 10 LGBTQ Americans faced difficulties last year accessing necessary medical care due to cost issues, including more than half of transgender Americans.
15 percent of LGBTQ Americans report postponing or avoiding medical treatment due to discrimination, including nearly 3 in 10 transgender individuals.
Transgender individuals faced unique obstacles to accessing health care, including 1 in 3 who had to teach their doctor about transgender individuals in order to receive appropriate care.

How Can HR Ensure Inclusiveness in the Workplace?

First and foremost, create a diversity and inclusion team!

The purpose of this team is to ensure, well, diversity and inclusion. Whether that be enforcing inclusive hiring practices, advocating for the celebration of all religious holidays in the workplace or leading team bonding exercises. A strong diversity and inclusion team is beneficial for all employees and integral to a healthy workplace.

Attend workshops, courses and retreats centered around the LGBTQ+ community to learn about the rich history of queer folks, how to create an inclusive and supportive workplace, strategies for properly addressing discrimination and alienation and so much more.

Create, strengthen and enforce policies that support your LGBTQIA+ staff. Allow medical leave for those who are transitioning, provide health insurance for those who require hormone therapy and gender-confirmation surgeries and change gendered restrooms to gender-neutral restrooms.

Set company-wide behavioral standards and hold individuals accountable for inappropriate or discriminatory behavior. This will show LGBTQIA+ employees that they are valued and protected.

Train employees on relevant topics like implicit bias, microaggressions, stereotyping and tokenism. These are all covert methods of discrimination that create an exclusive atmosphere.

How Can Leaders and Employees Ensure Inclusiveness at Work?

Employee Resource Groups (ERG) are beneficial to any company culture. These support groups are run by employees for employees, and are inclusive by nature. Your company may already have several ERGs for different populations (employees with disabilities, employees of color etc.). Creating an ERG for LGBTQIA+ employees is a superb idea, as it will make them feel valued and understood, while providing a safe space to discuss issues they face in the workplace.

Attending courses or workshops to learn about your diverse staff/colleagues is extremely beneficial for healthy communication and productivity. Courses and workshops can create a hands-on experience, compelling you to create innovative solutions and work with those around you to solve problems. They also provide a wealth of knowledge and strategies that you can use in your everyday life. Here are several recommendations to further your knowledge of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Utilize inclusive language when talking to or about employees or colleagues (e.g. y'all, everyone, folks, friends) and be rid of outdated and offensive terms once used to describe members of the community. Politely ask individuals what their pronouns are (e.g. he/him, she/her, they/them) before assuming their gender based on their appearance. And, always call an individual by their preferred name (the name they told you they would prefer to be called). While these gestures may not come naturally, they are greatly appreciated by members of the LGBTQIA+ community as they affirm their identity.

Further Resources for Reading

🌈Keep it Inclusive

The LGBTQIA+ community has faced nonsensical discrimination over the years. Seeing as the community is still underrepresented in the workplace today, it's important for human resource departments, leaders and colleagues to demonstrate their allyship and commitment to wholehearted inclusion.

There are numerous ways to cultivate an inclusive and professional environment for LGBTQIA+ employees. Take the time to learn about the history of the queer community and the challenges they face today. Use that knowledge to shape your policies, behavioral standards and language to create a more inclusive workplace.

Making others feel welcome will never go out of style, so keep it inclusive!

CultureAlly