Let’s celebrate YOU
Today is National Coming Out Day (NCOD) - a time for those in the LGBT+ community to finally be open about who they are to their friends, family and the world!
Founded back in 1988, NCOD is celebrated on 11 October every year. Being out and proud as a gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans person is a liberation, and will be sure to completely transform your life for the better.
There’s no question that homophobia and ignorance build on silence, so it’s time to end that silence and be proud of who you are. ‘Coming out’ basically means expressing your sexuality to the world in order to end the stigma, and this is exactly what NCOD is all about. So, get out of that closest and do it proudly on this special day of the year.
People planning & design support manager, Emma Jackson (pictured second from left), who is a member of the LGBT+ & Friends senior leadership team, recently attended a Christmas registration event at Southampton Mail Centre.
‘As part of the candidate document check process we were delighted to see such a diverse and inclusive number of applicants, particularly those who identified as transgender,’ she said. ‘HR business partner, Leanne Jenkinson, who successfully led the event, and I did our utmost to make these individuals feel welcome. We also created a “safe space” by using a separate room to discuss in private anything they felt nervous about divulging in the open.
‘As an organisation, we’re trying to make everyone’s experience of Royal Mail a positive one from start to finish, and in light of those individuals we encountered as part of the registration process, it dawned on me that these types of event are clearly also occurring across the entire South, Central and North areas.
‘I think it’s important to showcase our LGBT+ & Friends promotional material, such as the posters we have up in so many units across the business highlighting our six diversity steering groups at future Christmas registration events. It’s vital we show how we respect these communities and make it easier for those who wish to discuss things privately, to come forward.’
LGBT+ & Friends
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.
