A Leader’s Guide to Year-Round Pride

Every June, rainbows start appearing everywhere: on corporate social media avatars, on flagpoles outside offices, and on the lapels of executive leaders. Even amid so-called DEI backlash, throughout Pride Month many Canadian organizations signal their support for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in highly visible ways.

For many of those who have been fighting for more rights, stronger protections and higher visibility for the 1.3 million Canadians of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, such overt corporate championing of Pride is welcome.

But experts say this symbolic support is not enough on its own.

Despite visible Pride support, significant gaps remain: 2SLGBTQIA+ workers still lack full legal recognition, many feel unsafe being open at work, and disparities in pay and workplace discrimination persist. These realities highlight a disconnect between symbolic gestures and lived experiences.

Addressing these gaps isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a strategic advantage. Organizations that foster inclusive, supportive environments are better positioned to attract and retain diverse talent, drive innovation and strengthen overall performance.

So, what can be done to translate the rainbow flags on display in June into sustained initiatives that improve the on-the-job experiences and economic outcomes of 2SLGBTQIA+ workers?

Smith Business Insight contributor Deborah Aarts spoke to Smith School of Business faculty and alumni with expertise in inclusion, organizational strategy and workplace equity to gather ideas for how organizations and their leaders can better support Pride throughout the year. Here, they share their thoughts in their own words. 

Idea 1: Move beyond visibility and into accountability

Nicolle Sirisko (MBA’22)

CEO and Management Consultant, Spire Strategy Group, and Board Director, Ontario Queer Chamber of Commerce

Organizations should make sure that what they do to support and celebrate Pride is not simply performative. We see companies talk about Pride in June, rainbow-wash their social feeds, or host internal Pride events for employees, only to have any semblance of support disappear come July 1.

To 2SLGBTQIA+ employees, customers, suppliers and allies, that sends a very clear message. It creates tension where queer people are welcomed and celebrated for one month of the year, but are left wondering if that support still exists once Pride Month is over. As such, companies need to move beyond visibility and into accountability.

Pride can’t just be a moment on the marketing calendar. If a company is going to publicly align itself with the queer community, then there needs to be substance behind the support. This means looking internally at the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ employees, how support is communicated throughout the year, what policies and benefits are actually in place, and whether employees feel safe, protected and supported beyond June.

It also means looking externally. Is the company putting dollars behind their Pride support by donating to 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations, supporting grassroots initiatives, buying from queer-owned businesses? Is it using its platform to show support when it’s less commercially convenient to do so?

These are what distinguish genuine support from performative rainbow-washing.

Part of the issue is that many companies show support for Pride from a very commercially acceptable perspective. They are comfortable celebrating Pride when it is colourful, positive and marketable. But real allyship also requires consistency, especially when the political or social climate becomes more complicated. We’re seeing more and more companies pull back funding and visible support, often in reaction to backlash or the political landscape. For myself, and people in the community, it’s incredibly disheartening when support feels conditional.

Moving out of performative support doesn’t have to involve huge changes. Companies can start by using more inclusive language like asking about someone’s partner instead of assuming the gender of their spouse, or simply adding pronouns to email signatures. They can make sure employee resources, benefits, policies, anti-discrimination practices and company-wide inclusivity training are not only in place but are actively communicated throughout the year. They can also look at procurement practices and make a conscious effort to work with queer-owned or Rainbow Registered vendors and suppliers.

As a consultant and a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, this is something I think about both personally and professionally. In my work with organizations, I try to help clients understand that inclusion can’t sit off to the side. It has to be connected to the broader strategy, operating model, culture, policies, leadership behaviours, employee experience, procurement practices and community investment. Otherwise, the external message will eventually become disconnected from the internal reality.

Ultimately, companies need to understand that 2SLGBTQIA+ employees, customers, suppliers and allies can tell the difference between support that’s values-based and support that’s performative. A rainbow logo in June is not enough if there is no visible and real support, investment or accountability the rest of the year. Real support is reflected in where a company puts its policies, platform and dollars all year long.

Idea 2: Foster better understanding

Anthony Azar (MMA'21)

Principal Consultant, Inception Talent Consulting, Fractional Head of HR, Princeton10 and War Room, and Chair of the Board of Directors, QMUNITY

I’m always going to be a proponent for diversity because the business case for it is very clear. More diverse teams have more creative thinking, take more diverse ways of trying to solve challenges, and look at problems in different ways. There is a lot of research to show that they do better, on the whole, than their less-diverse peers. So, to me, it’s very simple: Do you want your business to run better? Do you want ideas that you aren’t considering right now but that you should be? Then you want your leadership team to have different perspectives.

Still, for too long, too many organizations have focused their pursuit of diversity on simply counting the people in the organization with diverse identities. Of course, representation is important. But the goal should go beyond measurement and into questioning how diverse employees, including queer people, are feeling about being there, and how the organization can continue to make them feel included.

As a queer person, when you start to consider where you might want to work next, from the get-go you’re looking for signals as to whether the place is going to be safe, whether it will be good for you to work in, and whether you’ll be able to be out at work, depending on your level of comfort with that. You have to do some sleuthing for signs, from how the offer letter is worded to what is posted on social media.

It can be tough to assess. Just because an organization says something like ‘Happy Pride’ on social media doesn’t mean they are making progress around the issue, or that they are driving change and understanding for 2SLGBTQIA+ people. It’s not always clear whether a company is supportive or whether they’re just putting up a rainbow because they want people to spend money with their businesses.

So my encouragement is for leaders to move away from just saying ‘we celebrate Pride’ and try to use it as a platform to increase understanding and awareness. You can do that in a lot of ways. Perhaps it’s providing some education. Perhaps it’s asking an employee in the community who is comfortable to share some stories: When people start to understand one another’s lived experiences, they tend to stop victimizing or villainizing one another, which starts to break down walls. Perhaps it’s consulting with people who have self-identified with the identities that you want to include more and asking them, ‘Is there anything you think would be better for us to do? Is there anything we can change that would help you feel more comfortable in the organization?’ When you ask these questions, you can start to tease out things that really are important to queer employees.

I don't expect straight or cisgender people to understand all 2SLGBTQIA+ identities and experiences. I am a queer person, and I chair the board of a queer non-profit, and it has taken me a lot of self-study and openness to better understand the range of experience of others in the rainbow—and I still don’t fully understand it all. So, leaders in organizations don’t have to be experts. But they can, and should, improve their understanding about how those in the community experience work.

Idea 3: Encourage allyship champions

Eddy Ng

Smith Professor of Equity and Inclusion, Smith School of Business

With the current political headwinds, a lot of organizations are retreating from DEI efforts. The younger generations are watching. They are paying attention to who is holding fast in supporting minorities, including sexual and gender minorities, and who is retreating. If they get two competing offers, they’re likely going to join the firm that is standing their ground to support minority groups.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are also the most out generations in history. If they are not sexual or gender minorities themselves, they are more likely to know someone who is. They expect organizations to do certain things that are 2SLGBTQIA+ friendly. It’s not a nice thing to do, or a bonus in their view: It’s an expectation. That’s a really important message for leaders to understand, especially in a tight labour market.

There are many ways organizations can demonstrate real support for Pride. Most employers have non-discrimination policies. Many also have employee resource groups, or ERGs, for 2SLGBTQIA+ colleagues. Those do help. I like to look to organizations’ benefits packages: Is there coverage for gender-affirming care, and is it spelled out clearly and specifically? Is there coverage to help same-sex couples build families? Is there coverage for mental health care that addresses the concerns of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in a meaningful way? Group benefits plans are where you can actually see an organization’s true commitment, because they represent an investment of resources, and because they are permanently available throughout the year. That’s a lot more powerful than just flying a flag or wearing a badge.

I think what really moves the needle, though, is having allyship champions. When you look at what influences the psychological safety of 2SLGBTQIA+ people at work, it’s not so much what’s written in policies, but rather what they feel in their interactions with managers and peers.

When a straight and/or cisgender senior manager is an ally who champions the interests of 2SLGBTQIA+ employees, it can be really effective because these leaders have credibility. When they call out someone for making a homophobic comment or intentionally misgendering a colleague, it can carry a lot of weight. It can send a really visible signal to everybody that people in positions of power support and protect 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. It can lighten the burden of stigmatized people having to advocate for themselves. And it can tell sexual and gender minorities that it’s safe for them to come out and that they don’t have to worry about managing their identities. It can create safety signals.

Not all leaders will have awareness or understanding of all the issues, but you can train them to recognize and interrupt homophobic or transphobic behaviours. You can also train them to do it year-round.

A final note: People like to discount or dismiss performative allyship. But to me, it is better than not doing anything, because at least it keeps the issue on the radar, and keeps the conversation going, even when it’s mostly symbolic. It’s not enough, but in an environment like the one we’re in now, a performative gesture is better than no gesture at all.