Coming out
Royal Mail is committed to placing equality, diversity and respect at the heart of our business. As such, we strive to employ a workforce which reflects this commitment to diversity.
Making our business a place where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender colleagues can achieve their potential remains a priority.
As part of our drive to celebrate and raise awareness of our support for LGBT+ colleagues, their friends, allies and managers, we spoke to Farnham postman Kevin Laurie about his experience of ‘being gay in a “straight” workplace’.
‘I was a young, confused, naive 19-year-old when I started at Royal Mail as a postman in 2004,’ said Kevin. ‘My brother Mark also worked as a postman so I already had an “in” and this allowed me to make friends easily. My colleagues at Farnham delivery office are really welcoming with new starters and I settled in very quickly.
‘I came out to my friends and family in 2008 but I was worried about my colleagues’ reactions so kept my sexuality quiet - my brother was the only person at work who knew.
‘I left Royal Mail at the beginning of 2009 to go travelling with my then boyfriend, now husband. I was away for a year and during this period my brother came out on my behalf and told me that although some people were shocked, no-one minded. I returned to Royal Mail just over a year later as an openly gay man. I wasn't nervous though as I trusted my brother’s assessment of my colleagues’ reaction to my sexuality.
‘I was right not to worry. Instead I was asked a lot of questions. Not questions about why I never told them before about my sexuality but about being gay and the differences between straight and gay relationships. I was also asked how I knew I was gay and whether I had a “type”.
‘I loved being asked these questions as it meant people were trying to understand my sexuality. The phobia part of homophobia gives the notion that a part of homophobia is a fear. For some, that fear involves being afraid of the unknown. So the fact that my colleagues were trying to understand my sexuality as far as I was concerned was great.
‘I’m so lucky to work with the people I do. I’m not known as “the gay one”. I’m just Kevin, or “Mini Kev” or “Kevlar”. My relationship is treated on a par with everyone else's and some of my colleagues came to my wedding when I married my husband in 2016.
‘It's like a family at Royal Mail as some of us at Farnham have grown up together. I’m no longer a young and naive 19-year-old - I’m a 32 year-old gay man. I have always been a slightly reserved person but that's just me. Gone are the days where I’m reserved because I have a massive secret to hide.
‘I totally understand that it’s different for everyone and unfortunately my experience will not mirror others and there will be people out there who suffer homophobic abuse at work. However, like me you could have a great bunch of colleagues who just see you for who you are and couldn't actually care less about your sexuality.’
Click here to read Kevin’s full story.
Get involved
The LGBT+ & Friends steering group was established in 2015 with the goal of creating an accessible network for LGBT+ colleagues and supporters to come together and share their experiences.
The group aims to help colleagues be themselves at work and establish Royal Mail as a true champion of LGBT+ colleagues and the wider LGBT+ community.
If you would like to set up a local network or get involved in the steering group, you can email them at LGBT&Friends@royalmail.com, and let them know what you would like to do.
You can also subscribe to their newsletter and join their protected Facebook group, just email them with your pay number and the email address you use to sign into Facebook and they will send you an invite.
