What it means to be an active ally to your LGBTQ+ co-workers
The act of ‘coming out’ is often done in steps and, for many, can be an ongoing process. For myself, I came out in stages, first to a small group of select friends in 1991, then to family in 1993.
Over the following years, I came out to more and more of my friends. However, it wasn’t until many years later — in 1998 — that I came out at work.
When I did, the CFO in our Corporate & Investment Bank — someone I’d worked with for years — said to me: “What could I have done better over these years to have made it easier for you?” This is what we need now more than ever: people proactively asking these types of questions to the colleagues around them.
Unfortunately, so many are unsure where to begin or how to advance their allyship. And, while many may think of themselves as allies, few realize that allyship is not a label, it requires action.
