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How we celebrated LGBT+ history month at Form3
ESG· 3min April 3, 2023
In February, we marked the annual celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans and non-binary (LGBT+) history month in the UK!
We believe that everyone at Form3 has the right to be respected regardless of their sexual orientation or identity. As we embark on our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B) journey, we want to create a culture that is inclusive and allows everyone to bring their authentic selves to work. Therefore, we believe everyone can benefit from learning more about LGBT+ topics and history.
Here are a few things we did during LGBT+ history month…
We were joined by Inclusive Employers who hosted a session on LGBT+ issues, gender identities and sexual orientation through the perspective of LGBT+ history. During the session we were able to learn about the terminology, what the letters and + represent, people who have influenced the conversation and the historical experience of LGBT+ people in the UK.
One area of discussion that I found particularly interesting was the huge impact that Section 28 had on the LGBT+ community between 1988 and 2003. Section 28 was a law passed in 1988 to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities and schools. This created a sense of oppression because people couldn’t be who they were. Thankfully times have changed a lot since then and at Form3, we want to ensure that everyone feels safe, welcomed and free to be themselves.
The theme for LGBT+ history month this year was ‘Behind the Lens’ which aims to celebrate LGBT+ people’s hard work and contributions made to the production of film and cinema. We saw this as a great opportunity to also shed light on LGBT+ experiences on screen so we created a thread of related TV show/Movie recommendations in our #tv-and-movies-social Slack channel. We received a lot of recommendations, some of which include:
01
Imagine me and You (2005)
02
Call me by your name (2017)
03
It’s a Sin (2021)
04
Transparent – TV Series
05
Tomboy (2011)
06
Pride (2014)
We also shared some book recommendations covering workplace culture, finance, and society. These include ‘Creating an LGBT+ inclusive workplace by Kris Shane, GaYme Changer by Jens Schadendorf and Life isn’t Binary by Barker and Lantaffi’ All of these books can be found on our online book subscription provider Perlego for employees to download.
We know that we’re just at the beginning of our DEI&B journey and are hopeful that the initiatives we organise continue to raise awareness and educate our team to help create an inclusive environment for all.
Written by
Ruby Kumashie is a People Partner & Mental Health First Aider at Form3, based in the UK.