LAG U BOARD CELEBRATES JUNE 2022 PRIDE MONTH
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HISTORY OF PRIDE MONTH
1946 The first LGBT Organisation was formed in the Netherlands – the ‘Netherlands Centre for Culture.
Pride Month is largely credited as being started by bisexual activist Brenda Howard. Known as ‘The Mother of Pride’, Brenda organized Gay Pride Week and the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade a year after the Stonewall Riots. This eventually morphed into what we now know as the New York City Pride March and was the catalyst for the formation of similar parades and marches across the world. Harvey Milk, who was a gay politician, asked a talented designer friend, Gilbert Baker, to design an all-encompassing symbol to take to San Francisco’s Pride March in 1978. The rainbow flag was born. Bill Clinton was the first U.S. President to officially recognize Pride Month in 1999 and 2000. Then, from 2009 to 2016, Barack Obama declared June LGBT Pride Month. In May 2019, Donald Trump recognized Pride Month with a tweet announcing that his administration had launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality.
June is Pride month - a month which is dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world. Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, but also how in some places there’s still work to be done. The Stonewall riots were important protests that took place in 1969 in the US, that changed gay rights for a lot of people in America and around the world. On June 28, 1969, in New York, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, which resulted in rioting onto Christopher Street outside. Among the many leaders of the riots was a black, trans, bisexual woman, Marsha P. Johnson, leading the movement to continue over six days with protests and clashes. Protestors demanded the establishment of places where LGBT+ people could go and be open about their sexual orientation without fear of arrest.
Sources: https://nationaltoday.com/pride-month/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52872693
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28 JUNE 1969 The Stonewall Riots.
28 JUNE 1970 The first official Pride Parade was organised by Brenda Howard and marched from Greenwich Village to Central Park.
25 JUNE 1978 The rainbow flag designed by Gilbert Baker was flown in San Francisco.
NOW Pride month is celebrated in the June of each year,
as that was when the Stonewall riots took place. Pride month is about acceptance, equality, celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, education in LGBTQ+ history and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community.
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BY SHERV CHEUNG BDO’S BLEND NETWORK
WHY GET INVOLVED? Be part of the change – we are excited about the year ahead and to work with colleagues across the firm to encourage cultural change that supports our LGBT+ talent and the firm’s #beyourself strategy and we hope you’d want to be part of it too. Gain new skills and connections – as part of the executive committee, you will work with different colleagues across the firm at different levels, and develop inclusive leadership and engagement skills. Make the role your own – we understand your time is valuable and can be flexible around the time you are able to volunteer and your other commitments. Bring your strengths – strengths are things we do well that energise and motivate us – whether it is event organisation, data analysis, or influencing others, we believe we need a mix of everyone’s strengths to help our network grow.
The network name, ‘Blend’ recognises that BDO and indeed the world are not homogenous environments, but that society is made up a of blend of countless intersecting identities. We have a specific focus to support colleagues on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity and work with HR and the Leadership team on informing policy around LGBT+ inclusion. We aim to provide networking opportunities for LGBT+ colleagues and allies, promote a supportive and inclusive environment for LGBT+ colleagues, and seek to support the firm in identifying, understanding and challenges facing LGBT+ colleagues throughout the entire employee life cycle. OUR VISION Blend was founded with the aim of creating a safe, open-minded, and encouraging work environment when it comes to matters of gender and sexual identity, so that everyone can thrive.
THE NETWORK’S PRIORITIES FOR 2022 While we have more detailed actions that sit under each priority, here are our key focuses as a network over the coming year: Tone from the top – we aim to engage senior leaders in the organisation to create a culture of LGBT+ inclusion in the firm and to increase representation at senior levels in the organisation. Challenge infrastructure – we aim to act on Listening Event feedback and work with colleagues across the firm to improve data quality and to improve relevant aspects
of the employee life cycle through evidence-based decision making.
Community, support and safe spaces – we aim to encourage an ‘Allies’ culture at BDO and to improve community and safe spaces for LGBT+ colleagues, including networking and social events. Develop our network – we aim to develop the Blend network further
and work with other networks to acknowledge intersectionality.
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BDO’S BLEND NETWORK BY TIM THORNTON
On 24 February, the BLEND Network and Financial Services hosted a panel discussion to celebrate LGBT+ History Month. The panel consisted of Jennifer Wall (LTG), Sherv Cheung (PSIA) and Tim Thornton (LBR) who explored the important role that visible role models and active allies play in creating a truly inclusive work environment. We were also joined by client panellist Michael Evans, CFO of LendInvest, who shared his stories of how allyship and support from his colleagues had helped him be himself at work and allowed him to progress into a leadership role. The event was attended by approximately 300 colleagues from across the firm with some fantastic interaction and questioning from our audience. The key takeaway was that allyship can be demonstrated in even the tiniest gestures and signals of support that can really make a big difference to making an LGBT+ colleague feel comfortable and recognised. That could be as small an action as putting your pronouns in your email footer. If you missed the event, you can access the recording here. It has also been great to see so many colleagues coming forward since the event asking how they can become involved in the BLEND network or how they can be better allies. If you’d like to be involved but have not yet contacted us, please do send Sherv Cheung or Tim Thornton an email. Finally, the BLEND committee would also like to thank the panellists involved with special mention going to Sasha Molodtsov, who so brilliantly chaired the event.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED If you’d like to get involved, the Blend Network are recruiting for our executive committee. Please contact Tim Thornton and/or Sherv Cheung to find out more.
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BY SHERV CHEUNG WHAT IS JO’S PRONOUN
WHY SHARE PRONOUNS? We tend to make assumptions about people’s pronouns based on their names (and when we’re in offline spaces, their appearances). Those assumptions are not always correct, and can cause very awkward moments. Consider the Skype meeting at which the host welcomes the presenter with “And now I’ll hand over to Sam; we’re really glad he could join us today”. Sam’s pronouns are she/her. Sam might be feeling frustrated, weary, angry, or alienated - depending on how often it happens to her! What she isn’t feeling is welcome. Where we can’t make those assumptions, we can become uncomfortable. What pronoun goes with Winter or Sky - or X Æ A-Xii? It can make people feel wrong-footed when they don’t know which pronoun they are expected to use, and embarrassed if they pick one and it turns out to be the wrong one. We all interact with people from a range of cultures and backgrounds. We encounter new and unfamiliar names all the time, so if you’re corresponding with someone that isn’t familiar with your name, sharing your pronouns in the first instance helps them to refer to you in the right way.
WHAT IS A PRONOUN? A pronoun is a word you use to refer to something or someone where you would otherwise use a noun in a sentence. In this context we usually mean personal pronouns (he/him, she/her, they/them), possessive pronouns (his/his, her/hers, their/theirs) or reflexive pronouns (himself, herself, themselves), though there are plenty of others. Pronouns mean we don’t have to use the same word over and over again. For example, if I say: I saw Jane this morning and Jane said that Jane had seen Michael and Jane didn’t think Michael was happy, it sounds quite stilted. Instead I’d say: I saw Jane this morning and she said that she’d seen Michael, but she didn’t think he was happy. DEFAULT VS CORRECT PRONOUNS Whilst we have expectations about the title and pronouns someone will use based on their gender, there isn’t actually a ‘right’ answer - certainly not here in the UK. For example, anyone can choose to go by any gendered courtesy title (Mx, Ms, Mrs, Mr, Miss, etc.). There’s not even a procedure to follow; you just start using the title you want and tell people. Similarly, there are no ‘correct’ pronouns. You don’t have to be non-binary to prefer they/them pronouns, or a woman to want to use she/her.
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This is a simple and inclusive way of helping everyone get things right when addressing people that they might not be very familiar with, especially in the current climate where we have more interaction over email and
WHY SHARING PRONOUNS SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED Sharing your pronouns if they don’t match what people have assumed is often not safe, may involve people making other assumptions about you, and may in any case not be something you’re ready to do. But any time you share your pronouns, whether in an email signature or in person, you make space for the person you’re talking to share theirs without making it necessary for them to do so. WHAT WE CAN DO AT BDO? If people want to and feel comfortable doing so, they are welcome to add pronouns to the bottom of their email signature. Below is an example of what that might look like. This has been reflected and updated on the email signature guidance page on Insite, which you can find here.
NAME SURNAME Title / Stream / Sector +44(0) xxx xxx xxxx (DDI) +44(0) xxx xxx xxxx (FAX) +44(0) xxx xxx xxxx (Mobile) xx xxxx (Ext) name.surname@bdo.co.uk (Working xxxxx) Pronouns: xx, xxxx For and on Behalf of BDO LLP
video than ever before. USING PRONOUNS
Colleagues that work for BDO, or indeed, those that work for our clients may have indicated their pronouns (either verbally or through their email signature). Be mindful and respectful of these when referring to them either in speech or in correspondence (especially even when they are not there as it helps you and others remember the correct pronouns). We all make mistakes – and sometimes these are easy to do. If you have inadvertently used an incorrect pronoun, calmly apologise and move on.
Address line 1 Address line 2 Country / City
UNITED KINGDOM +44(0) xxx xxx xxxx www.bdo.co.uk
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BDO PROGRESS PRIDE LOGO
The following events are being hosted by the Blend Network across the month of June: X Trainee event – Professional
in London on 23 June 2022 with a number of real estate and financial services firms. We have a limited number of spaces so please register interest with Sherv Cheung (sherv.cheung@bdo.co.uk) before 10 June X Teams Background - This year, we have several BDO Pride backgrounds which can be used in Microsoft Teams. Check out your Teams backgrounds on 1 June to find them X BLEND/Enabled Network - The Enabled Network and BLEND Network are looking for an individual to take up a cross-network link role that works across both Executive Committees. For more information, please contact Sherv Cheung (sherv.cheung@bdo.co.uk) and Adam Spires (adam.spires@bdo.co.uk) X Blend Network – To find out more about BDO’s LGBT Network, colleagues can: – Check out the Insite page: BLEND (bdo.co.uk) – Find us on Yammer: (20+) Yammer - BLEND Network – Contact: tim.thornton@bdo.co.uk or sherv.cheung@bdo.co.uk.
Qualifications (PQ) and Blend are collaborating on a Pride event where current trainees can come and meet members of the Blend (LGBT+) Network and see how to get involved. All current trainees should receive an invite directly from PQ. This will take place at 2pm on Monday 20 June. Any questions for the network ahead of the day, please email sherv.cheung@bdo.co.uk X Rainbow Anchor Days - We are encouraging all hubs/teams to have a Rainbow Anchor Day (date to be decided by hub/team), where colleagues are encouraged to dress in Pride colours. It would be fantastic if colleagues could share their outfit-of-the-day either on Yammer and/or LinkedIn with #BDOPride2022 X Blend and KnightOUT+ - BDO and the Blend Network are proudly partnering with Knight Frank and its network KnightOUT+ to host a cocktail evening
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The proposals contained in this document are made by BDO LLP and are in all respects subject to the negotiation, agreement and signing of a specific contract. This document contains information that is commercially sensitive to BDO LLP, which is being disclosed to you in confidence to facilitate your consideration of whether or not to engage BDO LLP. It is not to be disclosed to any third party without the written consent of BDO LLP, or without consulting BDO LLP if public freedom of information legislation applies and might compel disclosure. Any client names and statistics quoted in this document include clients of BDO LLP and may include clients of the international BDO network of independent member firms. BDO LLP, a UK limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales under number OC305127, is a member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, and forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms. A list of members’ names is open to inspection at our registered office, 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU. BDO LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct investment business. BDO is the brand name of the BDO network and for each of the BDO member firms. BDO Northern Ireland, a partnership formed in and under the laws of Northern Ireland, is licensed to operate
OLIVIA NISBET +44 (0)207 034 5813 olivia.nisbet@bdo.co.uk
within the international BDO network of independent member firms. Copyright © June 2022 BDO LLP. All rights reserved. Published in the UK.
www.bdo.co.uk
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