To my queer friends.

Kerstin

May 29

Pride month is just around the corner, and it becomes more crucial than ever to show solidarity with our queer fellow people. Last year, I have talked about the general importance of pride month (read it here), however, this year I would like to stress on solidarity, togetherness and how the acceptance as well as tolerance of the queer community in our everyday life is ALL our responsibility. Especially the responsibility of us cis-hetero people (further addressed in the article as "we").

Queerness meets profession

At the recent gathering event of my network Sorority here in Vienna, we talked about queerness at the work place with representatives of the Queer Business Women network. This encounter made me realise: although we are all rainbow flagged and consider ourselves to be inclusive, we forget about our queer friends most of the time. For example, never have I ever thought about whether my queer peers feel safe, welcome and tolerated at the workplace. However, it is all our responsibility (especially management's) to create an environment in which everybody feels comfortable, accepted and safe. Not only the ones who "are" the same as us. Posting a job vacancy with "female/male/diverse" and adding the phrase "we are a diverse team" to the job description is simply not enough anymore. More measures need to be taken by companies to enable safe environments for LGBTQ+, supporting them in their coming out, providing a safe space at the workplace without making a fuss about their choice of partner or gender identification.

Privileged people (and as a white cis-hetero woman I include myself here) are so used to their circumstances, that we perceive our living situation as the normal state of being. But it is not normal for so many people. It is always easy being the privileged. Yet with privilege comes responsibility: because we can and it is easy for us, we must act. We must raise our voice for those who are struggling to fit into a system that we built for ourselves. A system that is well outdated. A system that urgently needs to change – for everybody's sake.

Besides, let's scratch the word "normal" from our vocabulary. There is no normal. There is only what we are used to, what is reality to us – but this represents a very subjective view, not applicable to all humans. We cannot expect that everyone around us is exactly like us. Thank god – diversity is what makes our world so beautiful, lets us achieve greater things and helps us outgrow and thus improve ourselves. A diverse world leads to a diverse scope of love, which makes love even more wonderful. And we need love more than ever in this depressing world. No matter how it looks like, we need all of it.

What can you do?

We don't even have to go into depth about practising tolerance and speaking up for the LGBTQ+ community on a daily basis. Regarding the workplace, there are also certain things to keep in mind. For instance, when engaging with new female colleagues at work, don't assume that they have a BOYfriend. Hence, don't assume they are hetero because you are – it is inconsiderate and can make the other person feel uncomfortable to reveal their real partner's sex. Withdraw from the standard heteronormative image of everyone being straight! This goes vice versa of course – there are gay men, too.

Queer people everywhere

Recent news from around the globe really make me fear about the safety of so many groups of people: LGBTQ+, women, people of colour and many more. Rights threatened of them anywhere, threatens our rights everywhere. It is crucial to pay attention and be loud about the injustice that is happening, before it can gain too much power. Again: the privileged's responsibility.

I hope that this year, pride month will be much more than just a bright party. I hope that it makes us all think about our queer community. Their rights. Their feelings. Their safety. Their lives. Showing solidarity with our fellow people was never as important as today. So speak up about the rights of LGBTQ – whether you are part of it or not. Show solidarity with queer people anywhere, since our togetherness is the crucial aspect missing to make a difference in this world.

It is about time to leave behind the conservative structures that our society is built on, and accept all humans and thus, the world, as it is: Colourful. Diverse. Queer.

Comment