‘Time to celebrate LGBTQ+ colleagues who come out’, agents are told
This October marks 34 years since the first National Coming Out Day was celebrated to mark the one-year anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
This October marks 34 years since the first National Coming Out Day was celebrated to mark the one-year anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
MY STORY
My coming out journey started as a teenager; I came out to my family just before going to university as I didn’t want them to think this was just a student phase. My family reacted well. I was lucky, unlike a lot of people back then. In the early 90s the AIDS epidemic was rife and the age of consent laws were stopping young men from getting help when they needed it.
It took guts to come out and sometimes it took sacrifices too.”
It took guts to come out and sometimes it took sacrifices too. My friends looked on in awe when my mum marched with us in Brighton Pride in 1994.
If you’d have told me then that a few decades later, rather than marching in Pride, I would be ‘parading’ in celebration with colleagues, clients, and friends, and that every supermarket, bank and utility company, public sector organisation and fashion brand in the country would be vying for a place amongst us, I would simply not have believed you.
WORKPLACE
I was a bit naive in my first job as a marketing assistant for a museum and I came out straight away. Luckily, I worked in a small team and everyone was pretty open. They were curious but kind and I felt very at home there. After a couple of years there I moved to EY which was ahead of the curve even back then with an LGBTQ+ staff group and a few senior role models.
BARRIERS
I was hit with a somewhat large barrier when I entered the property industry in 2004. It’s an amazing industry to work in and from the get-go I loved the work, the product and the people but back then the culture was very traditional and very male dominated. There were few female role models, let alone LGBT ones and I didn’t want to be the subject of gossip. I wanted to be known for my work, not my sexuality, so for the first time in my career I went back into the closet.
HOPE
At the time I was in an opposite sex relationship, so I hoped that it would be easier to keep my sexuality a secret. In some ways it was easier than for people in same sex relationships but having been out in nearly every other part of my life for over a decade, the possibility of being “found out” was high.
SOCIAL MEDIA
When social media started to make an impact, this secret stopped me from getting online despite the fact that my job in marketing and communications really demanded it. Research has even shown that the stress of not wanting to be outed makes people less productive.
So it is not just the individual who loses out but their company and their team too.
STAND UP
The more people hear what it is like to come out and understand what they can do to support, the easier it is for us all whether it’s the first time we’re coming out or the 100th!
So, whether you’re an employer, a colleague, a family member, a friend or all of the above, I ask you this Coming Out day to Come Out in support too.