As a company or organisation, how do you pay attention to Pride Month? Employees of Lepaya tell ADI about their approach and how they paid attention to the month internally this year. “Lepaya celebrated Pride Month this year with a number of activities, where ‘Allyship and Education’ was the common theme. First, we had a discussion with speakers from the LGBT+ community about what it is like to be part of that community. It turned out to be a special experience, as there was an honest and respectful exchange of views. It also raised issues that people outside the community did not know about. So the topic touched everyone and we took the time to go deeper into the subject, something we don’t make time for in the hectic pace of normal working days. We wanted to give our staff more opportunities to participate and learn about Pride Month. So we asked our diversity committee, “How can we make education about Pride fun and engaging?” This gave rise to the idea of creating a read-and-watch list: a list of films and books on the topic of LGBT+, shared during Pride, both internally and externally. A number of colleagues with extensive knowledge of the subject had compiled that list. Many colleagues were still working at home and the list of recommendations was received with open arms. Of course, colleagues were able to discuss the contents of the books and films with each other, at their own time. The Pride watch-and-read list is available via Lepaya’s Instagram page.
Finally, as we should, we also wanted to celebrate Pride Month in a fun way. We therefore organised a Virtual Drag Queen Bingo with Charlie Hides, star of RuPaul’s Drag Race. This was the perfect way to end Pride. Even though this activity was online, we danced and laughed an awful lot, so it was also good for team building!”