Watch the recording of the LGBTQI+ Allyship in the Workplace webinar HERE!
Did you know? 60% of LGBTQI+ youth who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to receive it (source: The Trevor Project Survey, 2022).
73% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety
58% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing symptoms of depression.
Over the past few years, the LGBTQI+ community has relentlessly fought for equality and acceptance in society. The community faces challenges consistently across different aspects of life, including their workplace.
In our recent webinar, we explored some of those challenges in order to find different ways that can help make our workplace more inclusive. Through this panel discussion, our host, David Malmborg, and Nivati Providers, Kristi Rhinehart, a Substance Disorder Clinician and Gabriel Monsalve, Clinical Psychologist & Therapist, helped throw some light on the significance of understanding the challenges of the LGBTQIA community and the need to create affirming support systems, not only in a social environment but also in the workplace.
Even after decades of conversations around this topic, it is not the most well-understood. This webinar is a great opportunity if you would truly like to understand and help build a more inclusive social support network for your peers and family.
Who Belongs to the LGBTQIA Community?
Traditionally, we have been taught about male/female genders and sexual orientations and how they each are so specific in their nature. However, a part of our education should also be to understand the spectrum, which includes- gender assigned at birth, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
The Spectrum: We grow up learning about the world with a lot of binarism and unconscious bias, which leads us to put many concepts in a box. Today, it is important that those stereotypes be broken, and we expand our understanding of the spectrum that lies between Man & Woman, Male & Female.
“There is a spectrum. A lot of people are born with characteristics or features of both males and females. They used to be referred to as hermaphrodites but now we call them intersex. That’s the I in lgbtqia+.”
Gender Expression- This is the social component where an individual decides how they present themselves to the world. This could be through their body language, hair/ makeup, or even their clothes.
Gender Identity and Expression at Workplace
For people from the LGBTQIA+ community, their sexual identity and expression preferences may be different in a professional setting than in their home. It is important for the workplace to help protect their pronouns and make them feel accepted. This needs to be achieved by doing something beyond filling out questionnaires. Maybe start by asking them, “How would you like to be addressed?”
One of the reasons that people get uncomfortable talking about non-traditional pronouns is because when they think LGBTQI+, they immediately think about sexual orientation and Sex is generally an uncomfortable topic at the workplace. But when you separate gender identity and gender expression from sexual orientation, the same topic becomes a lot more approachable.
Take a look at this Genderbread Person to quickly understand what we mean here:
How Can Workplaces Be More Inclusive?
Nivati’s providers believe that:
- People should be allowed to be their authentic selves.
- “Our interactions within the community should be able to honor the individuality of each individual person.”
- “Treating everybody as their authentic self” and “allowing them to be their authentic self” should be given utmost importance.
So, what can workplaces do to achieve the above? Subconsciously, a lot of the people that make up the workforce might be influenced by their preconceived notions and the HR team might have to come up with a plan to tackle that.
Tolerating Diversity vs. Celebrating Diversity
The ‘don't ask, don’t tell’ policy is essentially keeping you away from having that conversation at the workplace. Celebrating diversity would be to actually welcome diversity in all its forms. This can be done by starting conversations at the workplace, offering training, and establishing diversity-encouraging practices even through the hiring process.
Create visibility in the workplace
By creating open spaces for discussions, people will be able to share their opinions more freely and will be able to create a sense of community even within the workplace. It is the role of the HR department to make people from diverse groups feel comfortable, safe, and accepted.
Understand your workforce
Know your workforce before you chalk up a program. Gather information on what your workforce makeup is, what is the social makeup and their LGBTQIA+ affiliation. Sure, these are harder subjects to talk about but the HR person can truly set the standard while introducing the new hire and protecting their pronouns.
Elevate the Pronouns
Make pronouns part of signatures, emails, business cards, nameplates, etc. Don’t make pronouns awkward. Make them a part of the everyday component, it helps others open up to the idea of non-traditional pronouns.
Offer Help
A part of the workforce might be willing to learn and be more welcoming and probably would not know how. For example, offer them help by letting them know how they can approach the use of non-traditional pronouns. They can begin by asking simple questions like:
- How would you like to be addressed?
- What’s it like to be a part of the lGBTQI+ community?
- How can I make you feel comfortable and welcome?
- This is new to me, please forgive me if I make a mistake. I want to learn.
Thoughtful Action
Begin by addressing the gap. For example, Bring pronouns into your marketing material, and build substantial training programs. Your inclusivity plan will also depend a lot on the industry you are working in. The plan should not only be limited to training your workforce but should address situations where microaggressions might pop up.
A Reminder…
If you identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and find yourself struggling mentally or emotionally, ask yourself these questions:
- Identify where the problem is- is it with you or someone else? Identifying this first can help create a therapy plan that targets the trigger of the problem.
- Focus on improving the quality of life. This is where actionable steps can be built.
- Ask yourself: are you experiencing life in a way that you want to? Are you experiencing outcomes that you are desiring?
“In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” - Maya Angelou
Mental health is important. The LGBTQIA+ group has always been marginalized in one way or another and their journey has not been easy. Having the ability to support them and giving them that external help can be such a beautiful expression of your allyship.
