Every June the world celebrates LGBTQ Pride Month — a way to remember, and indeed celebrate the Stonewall Riots of 1969 whose influence marked the start of legal reform in America to outlaw LGBTQ discrimination. The month is now dedicated to raising awareness of issues facing the LGBTQ community, whether through peaceful protest or parades and parties. The notion of inclusion is seen as a fundamental human right, yet, in some workplaces inclusivity is still behind where it should be.
Today, we speak to our Customer Services Manager, Keiran Hillman-Moscrop about Pride and what inclusivity in the workplace means to him but also to Fruugo.
‘Pride is a big thing in our household. It’s an important time of year to remember the steps of progress we have taken towards equality and it really puts things into perspective when you remember that in our grandparents lifetimes it was actually a criminal offence to be gay.
Pride was born as there was a need for it. There was a need to fight for equality and to make a stand, to march and protest for acceptance.
I don’t think it’s something you appreciate when you are young, but the more you learn and the more you experience, the more pride you have and the more it means to you. I must admit, when I was in my teens and early twenties, pride was a party.
As I grew up, the meaning of pride changed and meant more to me. I saw people be attacked for just being who they were. I saw people being denied the right to equal marriage. I saw the need for pride, and I am proud to say that I have marched in the parades and been involved in pride over the years.
Although we have taken some big steps for the better, we are not there yet and the need for pride still remains.
In the early days of my working career, I worked in a company where I was discriminated against and made fun of because of my sexuality and now that I have gained experience of how things should be, I feel it’s really important to have pride in who I am and to work in a company that supports and encourages inclusivity.
This is the reason why I feel so comfortable to be myself working for Fruugo.
For me, being inclusive is more than just having representation, it’s about embracing those things that make us all individual and celebrating them. It’s about a collaboration of all those differences and working together to leave the world a better place than we found it.’
Talking to other members of the Fruugo team from the LGBTQ community it is clear that Keiran’s experiences are not uncommon. There are frequent mentions of bad experiences from past employment with comments leveraged at everything from peoples appearance and character to their ‘manliness.’
At Fruugo, we value all our teams and their individuality. We have an open and inclusive culture allowing everyone to feel they can be themselves and that no matter what their position they have a voice. It’s what makes us one big, family and ensures a constant mix of thoughts and ideas are generated. Put simply, if we were all the same and didn’t listen to others we would quickly stagnate as a business.
As a company we strive to represent and support all the individuals who work with us and ensure we regularly take staff feedback so we can listen to, learn from and action any areas of concern. We feel this is one of the best ways to ensure our team feel empowered and listened to and ultimately a happy team makes for a happy business.
