June is Pride month and we are really excited to help raise awareness for people in the LGBTQ+ community and to help educate all of our colleagues on the history of Pride and how we can all become allies. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march in the UK – a day when hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and their allies arrived in London to protest a society where people were not safe to be themselves.
What is Pride?
Pride month is about acceptance, equality and celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. It also calls for us all to remember how damaging homophobia was and still can be.
Around the world June is referred to as pride month, this is because most pride events occur annually and many take place around June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, a pivotal moment in modern LGBTQ social movements.
The Stonewall riots started in the early hours of the 28th June 1969 during a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a favourite haunt of gay and lesbian New Yorkers. As customers were hauled out in handcuffs, the crowd outside erupted into fury. That night’s rioting was followed by days of further violent demonstrations in the neighbourhood and would change LGBT activism forever. The riots switched protesting up a gear and pushed for an unapologetic, inclusive, enlightened culture in which gay pride would see off shame for good.
Why is Pride important at SPS?
SPS is committed to encouraging Equality, Diversity and Inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination. Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to feel comfortable to be themselves at work without fear of shame, ridicule or humiliation.
As part of our diversity and inclusion campaign at SPS, we are launching our own LGBTQ+ network where colleagues can meet, chat and support one another. At SPS, Pride isn’t just about celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in June, its all year round.
For any enquiries about this article, please contact Emma Warr at emma.warr@somersetpassengersolutions.co.uk.