Pride Month 2023

We’re celebrating Pride! June represents a month dedicated to celebrating freedom of expression, sexual diversity and self-worth, where communities across the world come together and recognise the liberation and resilience of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) people through colourful events.

As a society, we’ve come a long way since the Stonewall Riots back in 1969, where police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, New York City. This served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and beyond.

This year marks 20 years since Section 28, the law that banned “promotion of homosexuality” here in the UK, was repealed – a historic moment and a significant step in our society becoming more inclusive, but there’s still a way to go.

Here at OAS, we’ll be taking part in Pride Month by sharing resources and raising awareness about the challenges LGBTQ+ people continue to face every day. We want to encourage everyone to play their part in creating a more open, diverse and inclusive world.

What is LGBTQ+ Pride Month?

Pride Month started in 1972 as a peaceful protest against discrimination and violence towards the LGBTQ+ community. 50 years on, it has evolved to become the loud and proud celebration it is today, with a continued determination to tackle prejudice and raise political awareness of discrimination.

It promotes individuality, dignity, equal rights and self-affirmation, helping society to understand the challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces, as well as urging everyone to support the movement.

Why is LGBTQ+ and Pride Month important?

June signifies the anniversary of the start of huge change for both the LGBTQ+ community and society at large. Whilst we’re committed to welcoming all forms of diverse talent at OAS, recent research suggests there’s more we can all do to encourage inclusion.

The Office for National Statistics estimates the LGBTQ+ population within the UK is 2.7%. However, Deloitte research published just last year found 42% of the LGBTQ+ community report to have experienced non-inclusive behaviours at work, with 33% reporting experience of non-inclusive behaviours in the office and in remote working environments.

The same LGBTQ+ Inclusion @ Work 2022 report by Deloitte suggests that ‘allyship’, the support and action taking of those who aren’t part of a marginalised group, is fundamental to helping LGBTQ+ employees feel able to be open at work and bring down the barriers to inclusion. It reports:

• 82% of LGBTQ+ believe that allyship helps them to ‘be out’ at work
• 40% believe allies speaking up when they have witnessed non-inclusive behaviours as critical.

In addition, 86% of respondents indicated that when employers have LGBTQ+ inclusion as a priority, it positively impacted their current role. This shows that when we pull together and encourage an inclusive culture, we can make a difference.

What is MTC doing to make OAS a more inclusive place to learn and work?

At OAS, we’re working to help all our people become ‘allies’, improve inclusive access to apprenticeships, and welcome talent from all backgrounds so that everyone has the same chance to fulfil their potential.

As part of our ongoing focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at OAS, we’re working on an Access and Awareness initiative alongside our employer partner, UKAEA. Step one is to understand the effectiveness of our existing processes, and overall, we’re aiming to remove the barriers to improve inclusivity, increase diversity and attract underrepresented communities, like LGBTQ+, to join the apprenticeship programme.

We’re also designing a toolkit to support our apprentices on their academic journey and enhance their experience with us with the support of our trainers, our learners and our expert consultants from the fields of mental health, neurodiversity, physical accessibility and LGBTQ+. The toolkit will provide apprentices and trainers with practical advice, guidance and information on various aspects of mental health, neurodiversity and LGBTQ+ topics.

We’re proud to have been shortlisted in the Engineering & Manufacturing Award’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion category in May 2023, which recognises employers who are going above and beyond to attract and retain a diverse workforce and create a culture where everyone can thrive. 

Keep an eye on our socials, where we’ll keep you updated with our progress to improving our inclusive culture!