Celebrating Diversity: LGBTQ+ History Month

Happy Sunday!

Those of you who know me well will know that I am a massive advocate for diversity and inclusion. I believe that having a diverse group of people, with varied backgrounds and experiences, and including these people at the table where decisions are made, will ultimately lead to a better outcome for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, society doesn't seem to share this belief. It's is why I will continue to champion and promote diversity and inclusion, within my circle of influence as a way to begin building momentum to drive change within our society.

One of the D&I initiatives I lead is what I call "open sessions". These sessions aim to raise awareness of and educate people about D&I issues. It's essentially an open forum and a safe space for people to learn more about D&I, with the hope that shining a light on these issues will encourage long-term behaviour change.

The theme of the most recent session held earlier this week was the LGBTQ+, which was fitting as February is LGBTQ+ History Month. The people we had invited to host the session opened up about their experiences, their struggles, coming out and accepting themselves for who they were. It was such an eye-opening session, with lots of positive feedback from attendees.

During the event, I couldn't help but think to myself about our society's hostility towards people in the LGBTQ+ community. I was also questioning and why it took so long to accept same-sex marriages. It wasn't until 2014 that same-sex marriages became legal in England and Wales (2019 in Northern Ireland). It wasn't so long ago that the simple choice of who to love could result in imprisonment or death.

I don't think I can ever understand people who are fiercely against same-sex marriages, especially those on religious grounds or those who say it undermines their marriage. If same-sex marriages affect the sanctity of a marriages, it says more about the deep insecurity the couple has within their relationship than it does about the morality of same-sex marriages. We should remind these people that marriage is an artificial, man-made fiction, a story we tell ourselves and is not something that existed until a few thousand years ago. Humans created marriage and Mother Nature doesn't forbid same-sex marriages.

In the interest of keeping this positive for LGBTQ+ History Month, I think as a society, we have come a long way in building a better inclusive and diverse culture. People within the LGBTQ+ are better accepted within society than they were only a few short decades ago. Many are large public figures, who are now leading large business, organisations and even. I am hopeful that this trend will continue, where this is not even an issue we need to discuss down the line.

Have an awesome week ahead,
Samuel

This Week's Wisdom

"The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked."

– The Courage to Be Disliked, by Kishimi and Koga

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