The initial response to her posts was extremely positive and as engagement grows she has never received a negative comment. “And because of the culture of inclusivity, I don’t have any fear about it.” The news round-ups, Caoimhse’s pride and joy of the initiative, feature only good news stories from all around the world about things happening in or for the queer community. “It goes to show that despite all the adversity that the LGBT community faces right now, there is still good news. It hasn’t gone away, and every small win is still a win.” Once a week, Caoimhse takes a deep dive through only the most reputable sources, like GCN Archive, to find uplifting news, with the full support of senior leaders. “They’re very engaged, very supportive. And it’s so worthwhile to do. In the grand scheme of things, taking 30 minutes to an hour out of my week to curate news for someone who’s living in a place that maybe isn’t LGBT friendly, that maybe they’re not experiencing good news, that kind of makes it all worth it.
“It opens up a conversation for people. I find that the café icebreaker questions actually lead people to talking about anything. The prompt might be, ‘What movies are you watching of late?’ And then all of a sudden, people are like, ‘I’m watching this movie, and it has this actor in it that I really like, and he’s gay.’ And it just jumps from there. So, it does facilitate conversation.” After all, normalising LGBTQIA+ topics in everyday conversation, without always focusing on advocacy, is part of what Pride aims to do, right? Outstanding work, Caoimhse! What does Pride mean to Caoimhse? “Pride means being proud all year round. It’s not like a costume you get to put on and pull off. You should be proud of who you are, proud of your journey and how far you’ve come, and excited and enthusiastic about the future.”
Every day is Pride at Johnson Controls
A week of fun events, educational talks and eye-opening exhibitions culminating in a colourful parade that brings the wider community together – that’s Cork Pride. It’s marked in our calendars every year. But being a proud LGBTQIA+ member, or an ally, is something to be celebrated each and every day. Raising the bar, Caoimhse McGrath brings year-round celebrations to her colleagues at Johnson Controls, using its internal social network. Caoimhse is an active member of JC4e (Johnson Controls for Equality), a business resource group open to all company employees around the world. When she took Communications Chair of the group’s European Committee, she began sharing three engaging posts on the company’s internal social network every week: a news round-up, an icebreaker, and a book club. These posts quickly became a weekly highlight for many! “What got me interested is that I’ve always been an ally and a supporter of the queer community and hate injustice of any kind, and if I wanted to see a more diverse workplace, that I know we have, then I had to do it.”
“Someone gave me peer-to-peer recognition and said, ‘your posts matter.’”
Saoirse Birmingham – one year out Last year, Saoirse Birmingham came out as transgender and was met with “overwhelming positivity”. “I can say unequivocally, the absolute best year of my life! Once you’re out and it’s for everybody to see, it becomes normal, and that I’ve really enjoyed. One of the best things about it was how easy it seemed for everybody around me to make that change. Once people settle into it, they find it very easy to retroactively think of you as who you really are. I haven’t thought about what it’s like to be a trans woman in a while. I’m just living life as a woman.”
Chryssa Dislis – transparent trans-parenting When her son Micah came out as transgender, Chryssa Dislis attended monthly support groups, often hearing ‘everything will be okay.’ And it was. “It’s about seven years now, and he’s a young man. He’s his own person. It’s made a huge difference. Even a couple of years ago, when I was thinking of young Micah, I was thinking of him as a girl. And now I don’t. Now I say, ‘when Micah was a baby, he was,’ and before I would always say, ‘she was.’ Now, it’s always been Micah, which goes to show that you can get used to things, and it ain’t that hard!”
Article: Pam Ryan (inklusive.ie)
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