5 Things / Pride and privilege
Happy Pride! 🌈
My first Pride was in Boston, the day after my first real kiss with a girl. It was a few months after my mom's reluctant acceptance, and many, many years before I figured out how I wanted to show up in the world.
Back then, our "gay agenda" on campus was to get sexual orientation added to the college's anti-discrimination policy. All these years later, and there's still no federal law protecting LGBTQ+ folks from discrimination.
I love being a part of this LGBTQ+ community and yet I know that sometimes we stay siloed and don't show up for others. Myself included.
For a long time, most people I knew who were LGB were pretty much like me - cisgender, white, and able-bodied. I didn't know about the history of the movement, and the legacy of its Black, brown, and trans leaders. I spent years and years not knowing, and also not using my own privilege to be an ally for others, even within my own community.
I now know that being an ally is my responsibility. This Pride, I'm going to have a great time. I'm going to celebrate (we're actually bringing the kids to Disney). And I'm also going to keep showing up, speaking up, and having difficult conversations.
Here are some good vibes I found this week:
LinkedIn will begin paying its Employee Resource Group Leaders $10,000 annually. This is an amazing precedent and one I urge every company to follow. This matters because ERG leaders often provide unpaid labor to the group and aren't able to bill the time spent on the ERG. Do this, or some other form of ERG compensation!
Ulta Beauty became the newest retailer to sign the 15 Percent Pledge. That pledge is taken by businesses who are committing 15 percent (or more) of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. A 15 Percent Pledge commitment brings with it public accountability. This matters because expanding access to shelf space to Black-owned businesses is one great way to reduce to racial wealth gap.
CVS Health has a new employee benefit: they're covering the cost of doulas for pregnant employees and their partners. There's a correlation between doulas and positive maternal outcomes. This matters because there are also major health disparities between white and Black pregnant people, and the use of doulas may help reduce that disparity.
Child care providers in the U.S. such as Kinder Care and Bright Horizons are providing free drop-in appointments for parents and care givers so they can get vaccinated. This matters because Black and brown people are disproportionately front line workers who may not easily be able to get time off for a vaccination appointment.
Runners can enter in the men's, women's, or nonbinary categories in the 2021 Philadelphia Distance Run, with equal prize money. This is unprecedented in a road race and matters because many non-binary runners and athletes exclude themselves from events because they don't feel included in the gender categories. This expansion of the gender categories is simply more inclusive.
Image by NBC News