CrowdStrike’s Post

🏳️🌈 Happy Pride Month! 🏳️🌈 For me, Pride Month is a time for focused celebration... But the spirit of Pride - acceptance, diversity, and self-expression - should be embraced all year round. 🤗 In the right spirit of Pride - let's celebrate the incredible progress the LGBTQ+ community has made, but also acknowledge the journey that still lies ahead. At the moment we might face setbacks, even in areas where progress seemed assured. But positive change starts with INDIVIDUAL actions. 💪 🙌 And remember - Acceptance is KEY! You don't have to personally identify as LGBTQ+ to understand that everyone deserves to be themselves, free from judgment. We all have diverse backgrounds, values, and beliefs. By simply accepting these differences and fostering open-mindedness, we create a more inclusive world for everyone. I recently came across this article and I think it is a powerful reminder that acceptance in the workplace matters and goes beyond performative gestures; 💫 "How Companies Are Getting LGBTQ+ Inclusion Wrong (and How to Fix It) (https://lnkd.in/ezeeJgyd) Let's work together to build a world where acceptance is the norm, not the exception. 🤝 #PrideMonth #Acceptance #Inclusion #LGBTQ+ #LondonPride #Picsart #PicsartTalent

Social Media Managers, this one is for you: Happy June! I love seeing people and brands supporting LGBTQ+ people publicly- especially with so much at stake, especially for our trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming community members. If you're in charge of a brand's social media channel, your job doesn't end with the Pride post. PLEASE monitor the comments for hate speech and bigotry. You have a responsibility to the LGBTQ+ community to make your pride post a safe space. Online words have real-life consequences- and remember, Pride is a parade second, a protest first.

Coming out, showing up, and speaking up as an LGBTQ+ person is not always easy, least of all at work. For three of our employees, Lauren Lippman, Autumn Wylder, and Carl Ng, finding the courage and vulnerability to open up profoundly shaped their personal and professional journeys. Since coming out, they’ve become mentors and leaders, helping others with their questions on queer and gender identities, and founding new groups to strengthen the company’s larger LGBTQ+ employee resource organization, gPRIDE. Hear from Lauren, Autumn, and Carl on the impact of coming out at work, and read their stories here: https://bit.ly/3rPFJnY

Coming out, showing up, and speaking up as an LGBTQ+ person is not always easy, least of all at work. For three of our employees, Lauren Lippman, Autumn Wylder, and Carl Ng, finding the courage and vulnerability to open up profoundly shaped their personal and professional journeys. Since coming out, they’ve become mentors and leaders, helping others with their questions on queer and gender identities, and founding new groups to strengthen the company’s larger LGBTQ+ employee resource organization, gPRIDE. Hear from Lauren, Autumn, and Carl on the impact of coming out at work, and read their stories here: http://spkl.io/60444onus

Looking ahead to 2024, brand executives face a challenge: how to reconcile inclusive values they support with potential negative responses to spotlighting #LGBTQ and other diverse consumers. Given the growing support for LGBTQ matters, this isn’t just a matter of considering the current divisive climate. It’s a question of future-proofing their businesses for the next generation of employees and consumers, who greatly favor brands that include LGBTQ people and address social issues. The hundreds of companies that participated in #Pride month, and LGBTQ #inclusion overall, will likely continue to do so in 2024 if they recognize that, according to GLAAD's research: - A supermajority of Americans support LGBTQ equality - Most consumers are comfortable seeing brands include LGBTQ people - Consumers expect brands and corporate leaders to speak publicly in support of LGBTQ equality. Those leading anti-LGBTQ pushback are a small minority of Americans. LGBTQ consumers and employees are not going back in the closet, and they expect that businesses will not either. You can read my piece with the The Wall Street Journal below ⤵

🌈 Celebrating Pride is a means of creating truly inclusive and safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals. Reiner John Eranes Macaranas, an Admissions Advisor at Thrive DX, reflects on the significance of Pride as a platform for embracing one's identity openly and without reservation: "Pride celebrations should be a safe space for LGBTQ+ people to celebrate parts of ourselves we may hide. Parades and other events allow us to be ourselves with pride, rather than hide aspects of who we are behind closed doors, which some of us have to do more often than others. 🌟 This is how I celebrate Pride: learning, reading, creating, sharing LGBTQ+ content, and reminding myself of my worth every day, even after June. 🌟 How can allies best support their LGBTQ+ colleagues? Take time to examine your personal biases when making decisions about hiring, mentoring, and promoting staff members. Reflect on how your biases might influence these processes and consider ways to ensure fair and equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ individuals. Strive to create diverse and inclusive teams that embrace the talents and contributions of everyone. 🌟 My message to the community is something Lady Gaga said: Do not allow people to dim your shine because they are blinded. Tell them to put on some sunglasses because we were born this way.” #PrideMonth #DiversityInCybersecurity #InclusionMatters

Coming out, showing up, and speaking up as an LGBTQ+ person is not always easy, least of all at work. For three of our employees, Lauren Lippman, Autumn Wylder, and Carl Ng, finding the courage and vulnerability to open up profoundly shaped their personal and professional journeys. Since coming out, they’ve become mentors and leaders, helping others with their questions on queer and gender identities, and founding new groups to strengthen the company’s larger LGBTQ+ employee resource organization, gPRIDE. Hear from Lauren, Autumn, and Carl on the impact of coming out at work, and read their stories here: http://spkl.io/60464o4Bp

Coming out, showing up, and speaking up as an LGBTQ+ person is not always easy, least of all at work. For three of our employees, Lauren Lippman, Autumn Wylder, and Carl Ng, finding the courage and vulnerability to open up profoundly shaped their personal and professional journeys. Since coming out, they’ve become mentors and leaders, helping others with their questions on queer and gender identities, and founding new groups to strengthen the company’s larger LGBTQ+ employee resource organization, gPRIDE. Hear from Lauren, Autumn, and Carl on the impact of coming out at work, and read their stories here: http://spkl.io/60474odVx

When you can show up as your authentic self every day, work life is better for everyone! Check out these resources from across the web: 🏳️🌈 Get advice on presenting your authentic self during the job search with these resources from Indeed: https://ow.ly/shA650SmQMm 🏳️🌈 Discover the best companies who support LGBTQ+ workers and learn how to spot an inclusive company on Monster: https://ow.ly/CMA250SmQMq 🏳️🌈Build a more equitable workplace for LGBTQ+ employees with this advice on LinkedIn: https://ow.ly/RNLw50SmQMw #PrideMonth, #Diversity, #Equity, #Inclusion, #Careers, #WorkplaceCulture

The post I have reposted here is a good example of “allyship” in action. It is worth noting that, as lesbians, gay men and bisexual people, we fought for and won important freedoms and legal equality throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s without any talk of “allyship”. And, crucially, we achieved this, in large part, by disagreeing with each other *within* our community. For example, when Peter Tatchell was arguing for lowering the age of consent to 14 (at a time when we didn’t even have an equal age of consent), many of us disagreed with his demands and felt his demands were harmful to our cause. We had a lot of internal discussions within the community about this. (I remember…I was there.) And this disagreement was really important because politicians got to hear different perspectives from us, with the end result being that a much more appropriate and moderate campaign for equality won through. But, over the past few years (since around 2016), what “allyship” has done (among other things) is to assume that we L, G, B, T and Q (and plus) people are all politically aligned. After all, it is not possible to be a political “ally” to a politically diverse community - only to a false, politically homogenised version of that community. This meant that some of us, within our community, with certain political views, have had the added weight of straight “allies” behind us, while others of us (often the more moderate among us) have not. Those of us, within our community, without “ally” backing have often been ostracised or simply chosen to go quiet. The chilling effect of “allyship” over the past few years has therefore been to make it much harder for us to disagree with each other *within* our community. The result, in my personal view, has been that we have made some really unhelpful political demands that were not properly scrutinised within our community. And society will be struggling to resolve the fallout from this for some time to come. This is why I don’t want straight people, or leaders and managers, to be active political allies, advocating for us or publicly stating your support for some homogenised version of our community. Thank you for the kind offer (and I do think it is meant in kindness), but, instead of your allyship, I just want you to listen. Listen well, and listen to all of us - in all our diversity.