Let’s include ALL COLORS in the rainbow!

During PRIDE month (June), it’s inevitable to talk about equity, diversity and inclusion with no mention of the LGBTQAI+ community. So let’s not only acknowledge PRIDE month, but also take advantage of raising awareness of intersectionalities and neglected minorities. 

For those wondering why June is PRIDE month, we offer a state-of-the-art introductory reference from Wikipedia about the subject [1]. We also want to share the LGBT+ toolkit from the Royal Society of Chemistry to show that this is a matter of importance for the STEM community and that we support it [2].

Perhaps you are wondering why WREN is writing another LGBTQAI+-related post, which is a great way to start talking about intersectionalities within the context of gender equality. As defined by United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality [3]:

“Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.”

United Nations

The SDG5 outlined targets are fundamental in combating elementary unhuman conditions that exist and discriminate against women worldwide. To add diversity in this context, it is essential to acknowledge all different social-economical backgrounds, and gender identities and broaden the perspective of necessary targets for SDG5. To add inclusion, we also need to shed light on neglected minorities that include all kinds of disabilities women can have. This takes us to the topic of intersectionality, which considers humans from a person’s identity, including the interconnected nature of social categorisations [4].

Hence, the takeaway message from this post is that we must start thinking about how are we building environments, and workplace cultures that are advancing elemental matters such as the SDG5, but that aren’t excluding other minorities.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_pride#LGBT_Pride_Month
2. https://www.rsc.org/new-perspectives/talent/inclusion-and-diversity/resources/lgbt-toolkit/ 
3. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/ 
4. https://www.vic.gov.au/understanding-intersectionality