As Pride Month comes to a close, we reflect on a month of celebration and activism. Pride offers an opportunity for organizations to loudly support the LGBTQ+ community, and is especially important at a time when the community faces growing adversity, as discriminatory legislation is introduced nationwide. From a performance by disabled queer artists, to a talk by an influential queer speaker, to a training on allyship and structural oppression, the Queer42 Affinity Group organized to make a meaningful impact this month. In this post, we’ll recap our activities for the month and share how we planned and executed our Pride celebration.
How do we identify what’s important?
We started planning for Pride shortly after the start of the year, and our planned events evolved as anti-LGBTQ legislation was introduced across the country. Pride continues to be a celebration, but is rooted in protest. This protest is even more prominent this year as we fight for our identities and right to exist in public spaces. Representation matters; It matters in books, television, and movies. For Pride this year, we felt it was important to highlight the great diversity of our community and to place emphasis on intersectionality. To do this, we researched and planned a number of events that further our mission to educate, share LGBTQ+ experiences, and raise money for organizations fighting against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
Events that we hosted
Damian Pelliccione, CEO and co-founder of Revry, Inc., joined us for a presentation on being Unapologetically Queer. This influential queer leader, who Goldman Sachs named one of the “Top 100 Intriguing Entrepreneurs,” covered topics like leading with authenticity, inspiring others, and using passion to fuel innovation. They told their story of disruption and allyship from their journey through Hollywood to creating the world’s largest LGBTQ+ streaming network, Revry.
DisabiliTease, a Minnesota-based organization local to our headquarters, hosted a panel session to educate our organization on the disabled queer experience, followed by a drag performance. This organization supports disabled queer performers while providing crucial information through their presentations and performances. Through these efforts, audiences gain perspective on the lived experience of individuals with these interconnected identities, and are educated on the differences between accommodation and accessibility. Their presentation gave our Code42 community insight into how each of us can support the queer disabled community.
Finally, OutFront Minnesota facilitated a training that covered key 2SLGBTQIA+ concepts and terms, an introduction to allyship and structural oppression, and practical things we can do to support 2SLGBTQIA+ people at work and in our communities. OutFront Minnesota was founded in 1987 to fight for LGBTQ+ justice and equity. Over the past 36 years, they have worked in pursuit of full equality for the LGBTQIA+ community both under the law and in practice.
Follow the Money: Fundraiser for Transgender Law Center
For the third year in a row, we hosted a Pride T-Shirt fundraiser for the Transgender Law Center (TLC), which is the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs various community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender-nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation. With each T-Shirt purchase, we gave a $10 donation to Transgender Law Center. As of June 16, 2023, this has resulted in $1,680 donated towards this crucial effort.
About us
Queer42 creates actionable change in our organization that enables LGBTQ+ folks to bring their authentic selves to work. To learn more about our efforts, please visit www.code42.com/blog/lgbtq-at-code42.