LGBT Pride Month – Five ideas for your organization to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall

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With lots of useful links!

50 years ago on a weekend in late June in the Greenwich Village in New York City, a revolt took place that changed the course of history for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) people all over the world. Patrons of the Stonewall Tavern, led by several transgender women and drag queens stood up to unfair police brutality and stated that they would no longer let their human rights be unfairly trampled. Since that fateful night, most LGBT pride celebrations are held in late June.

This blog contains five suggestions for engaging your corporation or organization during June Pride Month, followed by a short history of major LGBT milestones in the US, starting with Stonewall 1969!

    Five ideas to recognize and celebrate LGBT Pride Month:

1) Bring me in to speak and train. I continue to offer myself as a nationally recognized LGBT diversity speaker and trainer for your employees, management training, or employee resource groups, with a broad range of 9 LGBT diversity workshops from the business oriented to the more lighthearted (including culture and history of LGBT in the US) to the more personal. In fact, why not invite me in for a day and I can do various meetings with HR leaders, managers, employees and your employee resource groups? Use this link to download my speaking packages that include topics and bio, or Email me at [email protected] to request the info.

2) Start a productive group dialogue around transgender people. Check out my recent blog, “Explore transgender diversity through a cool one-woman show,” about how JJ Marie Gufreda uses her edgy thought provoking show, including original music, to share experiences and to create open dialogue about transgender people.

3) Financially support the Pride in the Triangle’s LGBTQ+ Workplace Equity Toolkit, which we hope to launch this summer if we can raise the rest of the funds soon. Even if you are not in the Triangle region of North Carolina, you can still support this project and send participants to our 2-day “Training of Trainers” to be held in our area.

4) Take an online crash course. Whether you just want to be a better ally to LGBTQ people, or want to create a better workplace, home, or organization for everyone, consider this online LGBTQ Diversity Training Crash Course (link) from one of my business associates, Sean Kofosky. This inexpensive yet valuable offering covers basic LGBTQ terminology / definitions,the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, ways anti-LGBTQ attitudes and behavior reach into many corners of society, and simple actions you can take to be an ALLY!

5) Make a contribution to your local LGBT Center. Google “LGBT Center” and find one in your city or town or nearby, and make a corporate contribution in honor of the Stonewall 50th anniversity. Or consider a similar contribution to your state’s LGBT Equality group.

The Stonewall Tavern, Circa 1969

    Very Short List of Selected Major Milestones

June 28 – 29, 1969: Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, New York City

June, 1970: Christopher Street Liberation Day on June 28, 1970 marked the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots with an assembly on Christopher Street; with simultaneous Gay Pride marches in Los Angeles and Chicago.

December, 1973: The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

1993: Minnesota became the first state to ban employment discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity when it passed its Human Rights Act.

October, 2002: The Human Rights Campaign introduces its Corporate Equality Index to measure corporate support of LGBT equality.

2009: Sexual orientation and gender identity added to US hate crime legislation.

June, 2015: The US Supreme Court rules for recognition of same-gender marriage in all 50 states.

June, 2016: President Obama announced the establishment of the Stonewall National Monument, a 7.7-acre site in Greenwich Village to be administered by the National Park Service.

Explore transgender diversity through a cool one-woman show!

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JJ Marie Gufreda spends time at the piano composing more songs about her experience as a transgender woman.

I am a big proponent of transporting people out of their daily lives through the performing arts to give them a fresh prospective on societal issues, and have written a few blogs on this subject (see list and links at the bottom of this blog.) I am also a diversity and inclusion consultant and trainer, and one area I often consult in is around policies and best practices to support transgender employees. (Link to my 12 question transgender organization self-assessment.)

Now let’s bring these two areas together!

Since the transgender topic is so often misunderstood and even frightens some people, one ideal way to educate people in a more lighthearted way is via the performing arts. You can credit much of the advancement in terms of gay and lesbian acceptance to the portrayal in televisions and movies, and now the performing arts can also help made strides in the transgender area.

So I would like to introduce an incredible transgender woman and business associate, JJ Marie Gufreda. JJ realizes that often, deeply personal views are not changed by logical arguments, but instead via human interaction, personalizing the discussion, and through humor. JJ delivers her 90-minute show, “Left-Hander in London – The Earthquake,” with a tongue-in-cheek style and uses sarcasm and music to share her experiences as a transgender woman.

The show is edgy and thought provoking. She talks about family, business, religion and politics from her personal perspective. JJ believes, that if this show, which includes original music and songs, can get people to laugh a little and connect as humans, we can then make progress towards positive change.

JJ Marie often engages her audience in dialogue following her show.

This show is ideal for a variety of venues, including businesses, community organizations, schools, and even churches that want to start or deepen a discussion on understanding and treating transgender people fairly. The show can be used to launch a discussion and create a safe space where all people can honestly dialogue about diversity topics and their personal views.

So, for your organization, consider transporting everyone from the typical presentation and training into this fantastic one-woman production that can truly open eyes and hearts.

For more information, check JJ’s updated website at https://www.crossdreamers.com/2019/04/left-hander-i-london.html or contact her at [email protected].

Below are some words directly from JJ, and links to some of my related blogs.

From JJ Marie: Diversity can be a difficult topic to discuss in corporations. What is the real organizational benefit to improving diversity and including minorities? Many organizations have made public statements and have visible initiatives for diversity in their employees, suppliers and customers. But not everyone in the organization may agree with a company’s efforts to improve diversity and inclusiveness. Society is certainly divided about diversity. If an employee shares his or her (negative) feelings about diversity, minorities or any related topics, they may be risking their job. Incongruence between corporate and personal views can cause problems in the organization – especially when even discussing these topics can lead to people losing their jobs.

Since the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same sex marriage, the fight for LGBTQ rights has focused on transgender people and issues, making JJ’s story relevant as it relates to all minorities. Her experiences from 30+ career in facilitation, speaking, training and consulting can be helpful in assessing real progress in diversity, helping people to positive discourse regarding diversity and assisting a company improve operations and the bottom line because of their diversity programs and policies. Just as it is strategically important for a transgender employee to be able to safely and comfortably transition at work, it is critically important to help employees improve their attitudes around people that are different from them. JJ and her consulting colleagues can use experience to help employees, management and the company improve in these areas.

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Links to related blogs about social issues being addressed through the performing arts:

“A great diversity experience – Theater Breaking Through Barriers” about enjoying an off-Broadway play in New York City which featured actors with a wide range of disabilities.

“Promoting Diversity and Inclusion Through Bluegrass Music,” is about an innovative annual concert called “Shout and Shine” of diverse Bluegrass musicians. This celebration came about in 2016 as a direct response to North Carolina’s oppressive HB2 “bathroom bill” discriminating against our LGBT citizens.

I introduce the Justice Theater Project, a social justice theater company whose mission is to produce compelling theater experiences that create community dialogue and give voice to social concerns through my blog “The Justice Theater Project – Societal Impact Through the Performing Arts.”

A two part blog featuring a mother / daughter – director / actress pair using theater to make a positive impact in England. Link to part 1 which then contains a link to part 2.