February 2022 marked the celebration of ‘LGBT+ History Month’. A month dedicated as a means to raise awareness of, and combat prejudice against the LGBT community while celebrating its achievement and diversity as well as making it more visible.

The theme of this years LGBT+ History month was Politics in Art – ‘The Arc is Long’. A theme that explored the ideas of social justice and the changing attitudes towards the LGBT+ community.

The campaigners used five artists (one each to represent the L,G,B,T and ‘+’ of the community) who have used their artistic talents for ‘political’ ends, or self-expression through their work, as the faces for LGBT+ History Month 2022. The following artists were Keith Haring, Doris Brabham Hatt, Fiore de Henriquez, Jean’Michel Basquiat and Mark Aguhar.

You can head to our Instagram page to find out more about the unique and successful lives of either one of these 5 great artists in further detail by clicking on the image below.

 

 

TOP TIPS FOR A MORE INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE

Even though LGBT+ History Month is dedicated to solely 28 days, we along with many other people believe it’s something that should be celebrated and supported all year round. Therefore we came up with 5 top tips on what people can do as either an individual or company to create a more inclusive workforce.

  • START INTERNALLY – Before you do anything, concentrate internally before looking externally. Start by actively listening to your LGBT+ colleagues. What support do they need? What are their biggest challenges? How can you help?
  • POLICIES – Make sure they’re fit for purpose, inclusive of all employees and provide equal benefits to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, gender or gender reassignment.
  • LGBT+ LANGUAGE – Be conscious of using inclusive language throughout all of your internal and external comms. Educate your colleagues and employees on why inclusive language is important and what terms and references are unacceptable.
  • WATCH, LISTEN, READ – Embrace that learning mentality and educate yourself. There’s countless books, films, podcasts, documentaries and meet up groups that will give you an insight to the LGBT+ community, the history of Pride, their challenges as a community and more.
  • KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING – Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or Affinity Groups are a really great way to provide a safe space for colleagues. It helps keep the conversation going throughout the year. Ask them for feedback on what you’re doing well and where you need to improve.

 

 

TOP LGBT+ WATCH, READ, LISTEN RECOMMENDATIONS

As well as top tips we gathered a diverse range of LGBT+ ‘watch, listen, read’ recommendations for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy and help them in their development be able to learn more about the LGBT community and its history.

Here is the list below, we hope you will find them helpful as well as enjoyable!

Watch
• It’s a Sin – 4oD
• Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (1984) – Amazon Prime
• Disclosure – Netflix
• The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017) – Netflix

Read
• The Dictionary of Homophobia: A Global History of Gay & Lesbian Experience by Louis-Georges Tin
• The ABC’s of LGBT+ by Ashley Mardell
• The Queer Bible by Jack Guinness
• The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye

Listen (all available on Spotify / Google Podcasts / Apple Podcasts)
• The Log Books Podcast – Adam Zmith and Tash Walker
• LGBTQ&A – Jeffrey Masters
• One from the Vaults – Morgan M Page
• Making Gay History – Eric Marcus