Think about the last time someone at work asked about your weekend. Or mentioned your partner in passing. Or made a throwaway comment that everyone laughed at.
For most people, these are unremarkable moments.
For your LGBTQ+ team members, they're moments of quiet calculation: How much do I share? Is this person safe? What happens if I reveal too much?
Research shows that LGBTQ+ people are far less likely to be open about their identity at work than in other areas of their lives. Not because they don't want to be, but because they've often learned, through experience, that it's safer not to be.
We've come a long way in LGBTQ+ inclusion. But we're not there yet. The experiences and outcomes many LGBTQ+ people continue to face show there's still work to do.
Some of these stats are uncomfortable, but they're worth sitting with, because the scale of the challenge is easy to underestimate.
Even if these experiences don't happen in your workplace, they're part of the reality many of your LGBTQ+ team members navigate every day.
Your workplace has the power to either add to the weight they carry or genuinely help lighten it.
Your team doesn't feel accepted and included simply because it's written into a policy document. True inclusion happens in everyday interactions.
If questionable jokes about sexuality get a laugh in the lunchroom, or someone is misgendered in a meeting and nobody says anything, inclusion can quickly unravel. These moments may seem small, but they add up, and they send a powerful message about who really belongs.
The fix? Greater awareness.
When your team understands the different gender identities and sexual orientations, they're less likely to make inappropriate jokes at work.
When they understand pronouns, they're more likely to use the right ones.
When they know what to do after a mistake, they're more likely to correct themselves without making anyone feel awkward.
A welcoming workplace statement can't do that on its own. But learning can.
Learning about the LGBTQ+ community and how to be more inclusive won't turn your team into perfect allies overnight. But it will help close the gap between good intentions and inclusive behaviour.
Most people aren't excluding others on purpose. Awkwardness, avoidance, mistakes, and inappropriate jokes are often the result of uncertainty rather than malice. People simply don't know what to say, what to do, or which behaviours might land badly.
When your team gets the chance to learn—to understand different experiences, know what respectful behaviour looks like, and recognise when they've made a mistake—the awkwardness starts to fade, confidence grows, and more inclusive habits begin to take shape.
The practical changes tend to be small:
These actions may seem minor, but they send a powerful message that people are respected, valued, and safe to be themselves at work. None of them require anyone to overhaul their worldview. They just require an opportunity to learn.
Creating a more inclusive workplace begins with curiosity, empathy, and a willingness to learn. When your team takes the time to understand the experiences of others and how to show their support, inclusion becomes part of everyday workplace culture.
That's what RedSeed's LGBTQ+ Awareness and Inclusion course is designed to do. It's a 30-minute course built for real teams, not specialists. It covers what LGBTQ+ means, explores the diverse identities within the rainbow community, and shares practical, everyday ways to create a more inclusive workplace.
This Pride Month, we're making it completely free. Because we believe this kind of learning should be open to everyone, not just workplaces with large training budgets.
Share it with your team, explore it yourself, or pass it on to someone you think might find it valuable.
Inclusion doesn't require perfection. It just requires a willingness to learn. And that's something every workplace can offer.
Deanna Kelland
You can search the RedSeed website by entering search terms below.
