Celebrating LGBT+ History Month

By Guidant Global

​To close this year’s LGBT+ History Month which focuses on celebrating LGBT+ peoples’ contribution to cinema and film, Daibhid (left, pictured with his niece) and Faye (right, pictured with her partner) share their stories on films and icons that have shaped them into the people they are today.

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Daibhid’s story

I currently work in the brilliant Talent Marketing team in the Centre of Excellence and have been working at Guidant for almost 5 years – I haven’t aged a day! My pronouns are he/him/his and I identify as a gay man, being out and proud since 2001.

Be authentic and build a truly open culture
The best way to create this type of workplace is to be authentic and build a culture that is truly welcoming, accommodating and open. I find some organisations latch onto ‘trends’ and only promote certain things within their company when it feels fashionable to do so.

I love the quote from the iconic 1989 film Field of Dreams – “if you build it, they will come”. By embedding inclusion into all facets of your culture, you will have a welcoming workplace that will naturally be seen as attractive and appeal to the right candidates who want to carry this on. ​

LGBT+ films I am passionate about
I am a HUGE movie buff, so trying to narrow down a couple feels like Sophie’s Choice (see? I can’t even write about films without referencing a film!).

• Pride (2014)
  This is probably one of the best LGBT+ films of this century. It’s an acknowledgement of struggle but told with such joy and humour!

• Moonlight (2016)
  Not only was this movie responsible for one of the most iconic Oscars moments of all time but it’s a film that really struck a chord with me. Set in present day, it’s a film about the struggles that people of colour face in accepting their sexuality because of different cultural barriers and ideas about masculinity.

If you fancy hearing more about my thoughts on films (I have a lot), why not check out a podcast I was featured on!

​​Experience at work
The fact I’ve been asked for my thoughts and stories on multiple occasions says a lot, to be honest – I’ve been invited and encouraged to share my experiences, knowledge and advice from my first day of joining Guidant.

I never felt I had to remotely hide who I was, I knew my skills would speak for themselves, and was so glad to be asked to venture my ideas on how we could further the conversation on LGBT+ inclusivity.

Ultimately, everyone in this organisation will know a gay person in their personal lives – be they a child, sibling, close family friend etc. – we’re part of the social fabric now, so anything we can do (and have already done) to further people’s knowledge of LGBT+ issues can only be seen as progress in my eyes.

Closing comments
I think it’s really important as we continue to progress our work in this area for LGBT+ people to get to a place where they’re not feeling ‘grateful’ for opportunities or not feeling ‘thankful’ they’ve found a company where they can be themselves.

As a community, we’re at a point where we can say ‘we’re valuable, we belong here and space needs to be made for us.’ – it is no longer a request, it’s a requirement.

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Faye’s story

I have worked at SRG (a sister brand to Guidant Global) for 7.5 years. I started as a consultant and I am now Head of Sector for Chemicals. I identify as a bisexual woman and my pronouns are she/her.

Create a welcoming and inclusive workplace
I believe employers could do this by sharing more information and exposure on our ED&I strategy, UNITY and the BRGs in induction of new employees as well as diversity of thought workshops for leadership.

Some of my favourite LGBT+ films and icons

• Call Me by Your Name (2017)
  It’s an unapologetic first love and lust story which, thankfully, doesn’t position a same-sex relationship in the usual ‘forbidden’ light that many others do.

• Stephanie Beatriz
  I LOVE her – she is bisexual and married to a man and a huge advocate for calling out bisexual erasure, particularly when bisexual individuals are in non-same sex relationships. My partner is a man, so her experience really resonates with me.

I have always felt I could be my authentic self at work
I’ve been able to share my experiences with colleagues and have watched our LGBT+ community in the office increase in recent years, all of which has helped me opened up more about my sexuality and who I am.

I also have been empowered to challenge inappropriate terminology around gender identity and sexuality and have recently become involved with our internal LGBT+ ambassador group, IMProud. Recently, I have engaged with others at work to raise awareness around important LGBT+ moments in the calendar, such as World Aids Day in December.

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