By Jill Miller, Diversity and Inclusion Adviser

February is LGBT history month. Although part of an ongoing programme to educate-out prejudice, it’s a useful formal marker to remind us that the history of progress is very recent. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which decriminalised (male) homosexuality in England and Wales. The stark reality is there’s a long way to go before we reach true, lived equality.

Stonewall champions fairness and equality for the LGBT community, and their research has demonstrated some startling issues. Their Gay in Britain (2013) report found:

• One in five (19 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees have experienced verbal bullying from colleagues, customers or service users because of their sexual orientation in the last five years.
• One in eight (13 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees would not feel confident reporting homophobic bullying in their workplace.
• A quarter (26 per cent) of lesbian, gay and bisexual workers are not at all open to colleagues about their sexual orientation.

And Stonewall’s international work found on a global scale we have a long way to go to reach equality, with ‘40% of the world’s population living in countries where gay, lesbian and bisexual people can be imprisoned, just for being themselves’.

Diversity and inclusion research tells us that a workforce of people from different backgrounds and with different identities can benefit innovation, decision-making and positively impact customer relationships, enabling a wider customer base to identify with the company. And what attracts most senior-level attention… putting real effort into developing a culture of inclusion can create an environment where talented people from a whole host of backgrounds feel able to perform at their best.

It’s clear there’s more we can do as employers. There’s still a big education piece which starts with raising awareness about matters affecting the LGBT+ community. What I believe can make the biggest difference is ensuring our workplace cultures are an inclusive and safe space for everyone. An inclusive workplace isn’t a ‘nice to have’; it’s about equality, human rights and fairness. It’s a fundamental pillar on which workplaces should be built; and a premise extending way beyond LGBT+ issues.

What are we doing at CIPD?
Increasing awareness of issues facing the LGBT+ community is one of the main focuses for our LGBT+ and friends network. There’s posters in the atrium raising awareness of issues facing the community across the globe and showing CIPD’s support for its staff. An intranet page encourages people to engage with our LGBT+ network and join the social events. Most recently the network hosted a themed quiz with people invited from across the Institute. Our decision to add ‘and friends’ to the network name was intentional; we didn’t want to create an exclusive community as we believe to support LGBT+ rights you don’t need to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans.

We’re also working with Stonewall to become a Diversity Champion to ensure all of our LGBT+ staff feel accepted without exception, and the network is working towards attending London Pride.

Take a look at employers section of the Stonewall website for ideas and resources of what you can do in your organisation. And do share what has worked well in your organisation so we can help each other continually develop our cultures.

For me, LGBT history months serves as a call to action and in HR we have the opportunity to drive change. Change won’t happen overnight but if we resist addressing the issues, we’ll continue to face.