Stonewall: Creating inclusive workspaces for all LGBTQ+ employees to thrive

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are non-negotiables in modern workplaces, despite an emerging attempt to erase them. Catering to employee needs and fostering work environments in which they can thrive have been proven to not only improve individual productivity but overall improve a business as a whole. This includes creating workplaces in which employees feel comfortable to be themselves and do not face discrimination for who they are. 

However many workplaces still struggle to build safe spaces for LGBTQ+ employees. It has been reported that in the UK 1 in 2 LGBTQ+ people are bullied or harassed in the workplace and that 1 in 8 don’t feel able to disclose their identity at work.  This UK LGBTQ+ History Month, I’d like to highlight how leading charity Stonewall are attempting to change this.  

Through Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme, companies can obtain a membership to receive ongoing support in fostering an inclusive workplace for their employees. The programme offers businesses tailored guidance and access to resources that can improve their working culture and productivity tenfold. Stonewall also allow Diversity Champions submission to their Workplace Equality Index, to be assessed for their progression on LGBTQ+ equality and highlight their achievements. 

I got in touch with Stonewall for their take on the importance of inclusivity in the workplace, which allows LGBTQ+ employees to thrive and, as they put it, 'unlock their potential'. 

A Stonewall Spokesperson got back to me, saying:  

‘It’s a sad reality that LGBTQ+ people still experience discrimination in the workplace - 1 in 2 LGBT+ workers said they’d been bullied or harassed at work in a recent TUC poll. Inclusive practices and policies can make staff more motivated and improve productivity, so by championing their LGBTQ+ staff, workplaces can attract and retain talented people and help to create a world where LGBTQ+ people can thrive.’ 

The Diversity Champions Programme aims to support companies to do just this… and yet in recent years it has faced significant backlash. 

Over the course of the last few years, large corporations like the BBC have quit the programme due to the charity’s ‘gender ideology’, which supports gender identity over biological sex and thus is trans-inclusive. For the BBC the decision to leave came from a desire to “minimise the risk of perceived bias” which would interfere with the broadcaster’s guarantee of impartiality. For other companies, a concern about backlash from right-wing sources that do not support the existence and rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people is their reason for leaving the scheme. Stonewall’s position on gender does exactly what they claim to do - includes ALL of the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to protecting their rights and, in terms of the Diversity Champions Programme, building inclusive and supportive workplaces for employees. The ‘protection of freedom of speech’ argument has been routinely used to vilify Stonewall’s work in battling transphobia and campaigning for all employees to be treated with respect and dignity - but I struggle to understand how encouraging companies to respect their employees’ gender identities threatens freedom of speech? We live in a world where transgender, gender-fluid and gender non-conforming people have existed for millennia and now finally feel somewhat safe to do so openly and proudly. Trans rights are human rights and if not even an LGBTQ+ charity can campaign to protect them, something is seriously wrong.

Just to consolidate my own opinion here, the backlash facing the Diversity Champions Programme, I believe, is quite frankly bigoted, cowardly and ultimately transphobic. Protecting ALL employees is not a threat, it is a step in the right direction towards a world where everybody has their existence and dignity respected.

LGBTQ+ and in particular transgender rights are important now more than ever, as discriminatory and bigoted policy makers across the globe attempt to erase them. After a summer filled with Pride parades we’ve seen the world championing LGBTQ+ rights on the global stage. However surface level inclusion in modern workplaces is no longer enough and the statistics, and attitudes, need to change. 

The more we celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, listen to their experiences and learn from them, the more inclusive, progressive and thus more successful modern workplaces will become. Companies need to be actively pursuing inclusive practices by listening to the needs of their LGBTQ+ staff and implementing effective inclusion training, with the help of initiatives like Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme.