What is the origin of Pride Month?

Pride Month has its origins in Stonewall riots in New York in June 1969, triggered after homophobic and transphobic violence during a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar. The event marked a turning point for LGBTQIA+ rights and inspired the first Pride Parade organized a year later in San Francisco by bisexual activist Brenda Howard.

Today, Pride Month is celebrated around the world to celebrate freedom and equality for all gender identities and sexual orientations and Pride walks are organized every year!

It's important to note that Pride Month is as much about the public as it is private, and more importantly, it's not just about members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Pride Month, and more broadly the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people and the fight against LGBTQIA+ people, concern us all!

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But what does LGBTQIA+ mean?

The acronym LGBTQIA+ includes various sexual and gender identities and orientations, including:

• Lesbian: a woman who is romantically, emotionally, or sexually attracted to women;
• Gay: a man who is romantically, emotionally, or sexually attracted to men;
• Bisexual: a person who is attracted to more than one gender;
• Transgender: a person whose gender identity is different from that assigned to them at birth;
• Queer: originally an insult (Queer = weird), the word has been reappropriated by the LGBTQIA+ community. Today, it expresses an identity that is contrary to cisgender and heterosexual norms, with a political and activist scope (this term should be used with caution because it is primarily claimed by the persons concerned);
• Intersex: a person with sexual characteristics (genitals, chromosomes, hormones) that do not fit the definitions “typically male” or “typically female”;
• Asexual: a person who has no (or little) sexual attraction to others. The A in the acronym also represents “aromantic” people - a person who has no (or little) emotional attraction to others;
• And all the other sexual and gender minorities.

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Why hire your business during Pride Month?

Les Études de l'Autre Cercle as well as The annual report on LGBTphobias by SOS Homophobia highlight eloquent figures on the situation of LGBTQIA+ people at work. Three of these are particularly striking:

• 3 out of 10 LGBTQIA+ people have already been victims of at least one LGBTQIA+ attack in the workplace;
• Openly gay candidates are on average 36% less likely to receive a positive response from an employer with an equivalent CV than heterosexual candidates;
• 40% of LGBTQIA+ employees in France are not happy with their colleagues and 51% with their line managers. Choosing to hide your identity is often a strategy to avoid and/or confront violence.

Fortunately, the workplace can also be a vector of change, in particular by raising awareness and mobilizing its employees, by creating associative partnerships, by organizing internal and external speeches... Businesses have a role to play!

Also to read: Combating discrimination in business: good practices

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How to mobilize your employees around Pride Month and the fight against LGBTphobias?

1. Get informed and be aware

The first step to take action is to find out: about the situation of the LGBTQIA+ community, about the problems and challenges it faces, about the fight for rights...

Discover examples of actions to raise awareness among your employees!

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Share informative content with your teams

To make your teams aware of the fight against homophobia and transphobia, you can share guides, videos or even testimonies from LGBTQIA+ people.

Some examples of resources to communicate to your employees:

• The employer guide for the inclusion of trans-identities and non-binarities from the Other Circle;
• The guide”Becoming an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community“from Komeet and 4 partner associations (Le Refuge, Les Audacieuses & Les Audacieuses, Le Mag Jeunes LGBT and the Collective Famille.s);
• La Compass by SOS homophobia is a tool for raising awareness about LGBTphobias that promotes awareness of the realities experienced by LGBTQIA+ people and helps those concerned to act in the face of violence they may suffer.

You can also encourage your teams to learn about the fight against homophobia and transphobia independently by offering them the following options:

• Consult specialized media articles on the fight against LGBTphobias such as Tétu or Komitid ;
• Or to follow the news of LGBTQIA+ associations on social networks (SOS homophobia, Family Collective , or The Other Circle).

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Communicate internally about Pride Month and the fight against homophobia and transphobia

Communicating internally is essential to involve all of your employees around this highlight and fight against discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people.

For example, you can:

• Display visual materials in your premises (cafeteria, break room, lobby) such as The poster of the Collective Famille.s association that highlights the diversity of LGBTQIA+ families;
• Or share awareness-raising messages in your internal channels (newsletter, intranet, instant messaging).

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Organize awareness-raising workshops

There are several awareness-raising workshops on the fight against homophobia and transphobia, among them:

• Workshops run by the association Gen·Club include the definition of key LGBTQIA+ terms and practical cases for using inclusive language;
• The [Diversity Mural] (https://fresquedeladiversite.org/lgbtqia/#:~:text=La Diversity Fresque is a fun workshop and, discriminate and promote inclusion.) is a fun workshop lasting 3 hours to open the discussion on the issues of diversity, to free ourselves from the biases that lead us to discriminate and promote inclusion.

Also to read: Everything you need to successfully raise awareness among your employees

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2. Support associations

There are multiple ways to support associations that work daily for the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people.

The first way to help an association is to donate your time by skills sponsorship. Your employees can carry out specific missions or be regular volunteers.

Associations need both human and financial resources to continue their missions: it is possible to Support them financially thanks to donation campaigns!

Also to read: How to mobilize your employees with associations?

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QSome associations that support the rights of LGBTQIA+ people

Whether through financial sponsorship, salary funding or skills sponsorship, your company can commit to the rights of LGBTQIA+ people by supporting associations.

Here are some examples of organizations that help LGBTQIA+ people:

• The Refuge aims to offer temporary accommodation and support to LGBTQIA+ young people aged 16 to 25 who are victims of homophobia and transphobia, in particular within the framework of their own family unit;
• Family collective. is committed to including and promoting LGBTQIA+ families in our society through events, awareness-raising actions and testimonies;
• Les Audueuses & Les Audeuses is a Lyon-based association that works for the good aging of LGBTQIA+ seniors, through activities aimed at breaking and preventing social isolation and workshops to prevent the loss of autonomy. In particular, the association is developing an inclusive housing model for isolated, autonomous or vulnerable seniors called the House of Diversity;
• MAG LGBT+ Youth Proposed interventions in school environments and trains the educational body to fight against homophobia. It also welcomes young LGBTQIA+ people on weekly hotlines in order to break isolation.
• Gen· Club Supports young women and gender minorities aged 15 to 25 in their personal and professional development.

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Participate in a Pride March with Colleagues

Pride markets were created in the wake of the Stonewall Riots in the United States. This movement is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ people to make themselves visible and to continue to express their demands, but also an opportunity for community allies to show their support!

In France, numerous pride walks are organized during the month of June. These walks make it possible to give visibility to the fight against discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, while spending a friendly, festive and colorful moment with colleagues!

Be careful though: the Pride March is not just a festive or tourist event, it is above all a space for the fight for equality, recognition and defense of the rights of LGBTQIA+ people.

Also to read: The CSR highlights guide

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Komeet, your partner for organizing CSR highlights in your company

Do you want to organize a highlight around Pride Month in your company? Komeet helps you easily mobilize all of your employees: thanks to our engagement platform, our animation kits and the support of our experts, create rituals and seamlessly integrate engagement into your corporate culture!

Explore the platform

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