There is so much joy and power to be found in honoring Pride Month — whether as L.G.B.T.Q.+ members ourselves or as allies, at work and beyond — and it can be powerful to hear what others are doing to celebrate throughout June.
We asked our Thrive community to share with us the meaningful and creative ways they are celebrating Pride Month. Which of these ideas will you try?
Give back to an LGBTQ+ organization
“I’m celebrating Pride Month by giving back to a local Michigan non-profit that supports the mental health of LGBTQ+ teens and young adults because I know as a mental health professional they often suffer in silence. This age group of LGBTQ+ individuals can have a weakened self-image, and feel full of shame and secrets.They need trustworthy and compassionate individuals to confide in and feel supported.”
—Kristin Meekhof, author, book coach, Royal Oak, MI
List your pronouns
“About a year ago, I started to list my pronouns. I did this after reading about why we should list pronouns. The most important reason for me as an ally was to normalize listing pronouns so that others feel comfortable listing theirs. What a great way to bring about awareness and acceptance! The readings I did about this had a profound effect on me and in celebration of Pride, I am going to link my listed pronouns in my signature to the articles I found so helpful. I hope that by doing this, others will understand the purpose and do so also.”
—Dawn Ellison, MD, professional coach, East Silent Lake, MN
Raise awareness in your community
“I’m celebrating this month by raising awareness. This topic is very polarizing in the country that I live in. I run circles for leaders and managers on inclusion, where I tend to raise awareness levels on the same, by bringing this topic to the forefront and letting leaders decide how they would like to approach this topic, for themselves and the teams that they lead. I also talk about it with family and friends, when I feel they are ready to listen to me, on how to be an ally at the workplace on this topic.”
—Anitha Balaraj, executive coach, Chennai, India
Stay informed
“I celebrate Pride by taking an active role in building awareness around issues important to the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community. People often hesitate to take a stance if they feel they don’t know enough about a topic, and by engaging those people and offering more information, you can help them feel informed enough to join in supporting marginalized folks. Those direct conversations are the best way to bridge the gap between people who have different experiences and perspectives. This also takes some of the burden to educate off of those who experience far less privilege than me.”
—Emma Phipps, content project manager, NY
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