Insight
Proud sponsors of Leicester Pride
8 Sept 2022
Elizabeth Hardwick-Smith
Group People and Culture Director
On Saturday 3rd September 2022, Pick Everard sponsored and took part in our first Pride event by joining Leicester Pride, at Victoria Park. Pick Everard colleagues came together to take part in the parade around the city and to manage a stand, doing our bit to promote equality and diversity and to support the elimination of discrimination in the construction industry.
Pride embraces the wonderful diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community and it provided Pick Everard with an opportunity to reach out and actively support an audience that was being true to themselves. We also took the time to talk about our career offering, opening up opportunities to people who hadn’t before considered a career in our industry.
The day saw an outstanding opportunity to embrace and celebrate the identities and culture of the LGBTQIA+ community. Strengthening inclusivity, those attending wore bright and colourful items to express themselves and their allegiance with banners, hats, whistles and clothing. The day was rich with music, fair ground rides and dancing, whilst underpinning the continued struggles and challenges that the community are working to overcome.
We must have spoken to hundreds of people, learning about them and their backgrounds. It was a huge education to learn about the expansion of the original LGBT acronym that was founded in the 1990s and how diversely it is represented today. New letters have since been added to better represent the community, each also proudly waving their own flags beyond the rainbow Pride flag. Here is a summary of those acronyms for those not yet in the know:
- L is for Lesbian. This is a female-identifying person who is attracted to another female identifying person.
- G is for Gay. This is a male-identifying person who is attracted to another male-identifying person.
- B is for Bisexual. Someone who is attracted to more than one gender.
- T is for Transgender. This is someone whose gender identity/expression does not confirm to the sex they were assigned to at birth. Having to do with gender and not sexuality, transgender people may identify as other LGBTQIA+ terms.
- Q is for Queer or Questioning. Referring to anyone who is not straight or cisgender, queer is an umbrella term in the community for those who don’t wish to use labels. This is a term that has recently been reclaimed by LGBTQIA+ people. Questioning is a term for those who are not sure about how they identify.
- I is for Intersex — referring to people who naturally have biological traits which don’t match what is typically identified as male or female.
- A is for Asexual/Aromantic or Ally. Another umbrella term, asexual is for those who do not experience attraction to others. Ally encompasses those who identify as cisgender and straight, but support the LGBTQIA+ community.
Our experiences with Pride Leicester were positive and uplifting and we’ll be looking further afield for future opportunities to support the community, as well as continuing to create the right environment for our LGBTQIA+ colleagues within Pick Everard.