Pride Month is here again; corporate social media profiles are awash with the colours of LGBTQ+ pride, drag queens are braving office lighting for bingo events, and rainbow flags, lanyards and badges are all over the City.
Since the first Pride parade in London in 1972, three years after the start of the gay rights movement in New York following the Stonewall riots, the concept of Pride has grown from its protest origins to a colourful celebration of queerness, and, to some more cynical eyes, a marketing opportunity.
Despite the cynics, corporate allyship has never been more important and, with ESG at the forefront of everyone’s minds, more and more law firms are actively getting involved.
Pride in action
Diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives have been a focus for the legal industry for years now. In addition to the Law Society’s LGBTQ+ Network, the Bar’s FreeBar and Daniel Winterfeldt MBE KC’s InterLaw Diversity Forum, firms have been taking their own increasingly proactive steps to create inclusive workplaces.
Pride and LGBTQ+ employee networks remain one of the most common means of allyship and, when leveraged effectively, are a key source of guidance and support. At RPC, the firm’s LGBTQ+ employee network, RAIN (Respect, Appreciate, Include and Nurture), is regularly involved in firmwide initiatives such as awareness campaigns, fundraisings and events.
The firm’s head of responsible business, Rachel Pears, comments: ‘We believe that great minds do not think alike, and that attracting, retaining and harnessing the power of diversity does not come by chance or mere passage of time. It is our collective responsibility to proactively create that diversity and carefully nurture an environment which is inclusive on a consistent, intersectional and sustained basis.’
‘It is our collective responsibility to proactively create that diversity and carefully nurture an environment which is inclusive on a consistent, intersectional and sustained basis.’ Rachel Pears, RPC
Osborne Clarke’s network also contributes to the firm’s policies and culture, with feedback from the network leading to changes to the firm’s parental leave policies, fertility and reproductive sexual health benefits, and policies supporting trans colleagues’ transitions in the workplace. Additional initiatives include normalising the use of pronouns and the firm’s Inclusion Allies programme, which educates allies on the lived experience of LGBTQ+ colleagues; the firm’s efforts were recently recognised with the award for LGBTQ+: Initiative of the Year at the Legal 500’s inaugural ESG Awards.
‘We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all of our colleagues and this includes our vibrant LGBTQ+ community’, comments Kate Millar, the firm’s head of responsible business. ‘We continuously challenge ourselves to ensure our policies, employee benefits and communications are fully inclusive, but the real impetus often comes directly from our fantastic Pride network, who are really committed to ensuring our policies and culture are best practice’.
Linklaters has established pride networks across the UK, Asia, the US and Europe and has also launched a global ‘Allies with Pride’ network. ‘As a global firm, we want Linklaters to be a space of inclusion and belonging to people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions’, says Thomas McGrath, Linklaters’ US global practice head and antitrust partner, who is also one of the firm’s Executive LGBTQ+ Champions. ‘This is especially important when we know that some of the locations we work in are hostile for LGBTQ+ people once they leave our premises’.
‘We also want to build understanding of the issues through sharing stories of the lived experiences of our LGBTQ+ colleagues over the years’, adds Angela Ogilvie, who is also one of the Linklaters’ Executive LGBTQ+ Champions and the firm’s chief HR officer. A key example of this is the firm’s ‘Proud to work at Linklaters’ video series, which shows LGBTQ+ employees sharing their experiences. As Ogilvie highlights” ‘This has by far been the most impactful way to bring people along with us, and our annual pride video is always one of the most watched of the year’.
When assessing the success of these networks, firms report positive impacts across the board.
‘It has been instrumental in helping us attract and retain top talent, which can be evidenced in LGBTQ+ representation across the firm,’ comments Gemma Rowland, people development manager at Osborne Clarke and co-chair of OC Pride. ‘The LGBTQ+ community feel genuinely seen and understood thanks to the growing demonstration of active allyship we see around the offices. This sense of empowerment for the LGBTQ+ community cannot be understated.’
‘The LGBTQ+ community feel genuinely seen and understood thanks to the growing demonstration of active allyship we see around the offices. This sense of empowerment for the LGBTQ+ community cannot be understated.’ Gemma Rowland, Osborne Clarke
Perhaps a more tangible metric for the sector’s success in supporting LGBTQ+ individuals is the placement of firms on the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, which highlights the employers making notable progress on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.
Law firms feature heavily on the list, with Clifford Chance taking the number one spot among all employers for 2023 in the UK. Other high-ranking inclusions on the 2023 UK list include Linklaters at number 9, DLA Piper in 17th and Leigh Day, which sits in 25th position. For the 2023 global list, of the nine employers featured as gold winners, five slots are occupied by global law firms: Baker McKenzie, Clifford Chance, Dentons, Freshfields and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Pride as a protest
But despite the progress, it’s important that the celebrations around Pride month don’t overshadow the challenges that remain, with some conservative mindsets pushing back against the hard-won progress achieved in recent times.
‘Sadly, there are many challenges still out there for LGBTQ+ people and it’s important to acknowledge that’, comments Daniel Gerring, a partner at Travers Smith who also sits on the firm’s diversity and inclusion board. ‘That isn’t to take away from the many changes for the better for some LGBTQ+ people over the past few years, for example around marriage and building a family – but it’s important not to get complacent in celebrating those gains.’
One of the biggest areas that is often overlooked is intersectionality. Jacqui Rhule-Dagher, a commercial litigation lawyer at Hogan Lovells and founder of the Legally Lesbians initiative comments: ‘There’s obviously room for improvement and one of the biggest areas is developing an understanding around intersectionality. For example, I might experience lesbophobia differently to a white lesbian by virtue of my race, and I might experience racism differently to a Black man by virtue of my gender. When organisations fail to take an intersectional approach, but rather a characteristic-by-characteristic approach, what they’re effectively asking people to do is to leave parts of themselves behind’.
When considering further challenges, Jess Carter-Syme, associate at Osborne Clarke and co-chair of OC Pride, adds, ‘LGBTQ+ employees and colleagues are likely to be impacted by the current waves of transphobia across the globe and mainstream media, they may be experiencing homophobic ‘banter’ in the workplace and not feel empowered to speak up, or they may be struggling with fertility issues – as of May 2024, LGBTQ+ people still do not have equal access to fertility treatments on the NHS. Strong, robust policies to prevent bullying and microaggressions, education of staff, and keeping the LGBTQ+ community in mind when drafting policies will go a long way to supporting colleagues’.
This increasingly harmful narrative around the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and non-binary individuals, has led to some concerning statistics around the experiences of LGBTQ+ people. In late 2023, the Office for National Statistics released data highlighting the increases in hate crime towards the LGBTQ+ community. The results showed a 112% increase in sexual orientation-based hate crimes over the last five years, while hate crimes against trans people increased by a staggering 186% over the same time period.
The workplace is not exempt from this shifting sentiment. According to a 2018 study conducted by Stonewall, around 35% of LGBTQ+ staff have hidden their identity at work for fear of discrimination, and 18% have been the target of negative comments or conduct at work due to their LGBTQ+ identity.
‘Some people within the community are more hesitant to be out at work than they may have been just a few years ago’, comments Ogilvie. ‘By its very nature, the LGBTQ+ community is a diverse one and there are many nuances within it. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to inclusion, so it’s important to remember there is always more work to be done’.
However, the line between true allyship and performative action is often blurry.
Diluting the rainbow
The terms ‘pinkwashing’, ‘rainbow washing’ or ‘pink capitalism’ are often used to refer to companies’ use of performative marketing tactics, particularly during Pride month, to benefit from their supposed allyship and support for LGBTQ+ rights, despite not making tangible changes to business practices or actively supporting LGBTQ+ employees.
‘The reality of the situation is that there are too many businesses, including some law firms, that are talking the talk but not walking the walk on these issues,’ says Gerring. ‘In some cases, this kind of behaviour – ‘pinkwashing’ for want of a better term – is worse than doing nothing – bringing with it a risk of undermining some of the real progress which is being made. I’d encourage those who are making the asks for resources to support LGBTQ+ inclusion and those who are being asked for them to think carefully about the impact that deploying those resources will have overall’.
When establishing the best way to ensure true support, the consensus is that allyship shouldn’t just start and end with Pride month. ‘Show support 12 months of the year, not just in June’ comments Ogilvie, while Millar adds: ‘It’s important to have a real commitment to meaningful change throughout the year’.
‘It strikes me that pretty much any business can do something concrete to drive positive change, beyond (but not to the exclusion of) rainbow flags, logos and the odd unicorn’ adds Gerring. ‘In the legal sector there are great examples of firms and in-house teams making impactful changes to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion for their people – for example more equal benefits for those building alternative families – as well as undertaking excellent outreach work. One option for outreach is partnering with an organisation such as GiveOut, which provides a framework for support of LGBTQ+ development projects through its Legal Aid Fund.’
For Pears, the best way to avoid performative allyship is to pair words with action: ‘Initiatives need to be undertaken meaningfully and thoughtfully as people can see through disingenuous activity. What they hear must match what they see happening day-to-day. An organisation can have all the right policies in place, but if the culture people experience doesn’t match, then you risk losing their trust’.
Improving allyship
With that in mind, there are effective ways to imbed LGBTQ+ support into the fabric of a firm’s culture.
Taking it back to basics, speaking to LGBTQ+ employees is an effective starting point. ‘Every firm is going to be different, but above all it’s crucial to reach out to the community to find out what they actually want and need, and to test whether what is already in place is achieving what you want it to’, comments McGrath. Pears adds: ‘Speak to your people. They will give you the most valuable feedback on which aspect(s) of your LGBTQ+ programme to focus’.
It’s important to remember though that the onus for change doesn’t just lie at the feet of LGBTQ+ employees. ‘It’s incumbent on organisations to ensure that they are welcoming places for LGBTQ+ people’, states Rhule-Dagher. ‘What constitutes a welcoming space will look different at every organisation, but there will be common themes such as ensuring that policies and procedures are well drafted, regularly updated and are inclusive; that the firm has management buy-in when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives because senior leaders set the tone for the rest of the organisation and that people are afforded the same opportunities’.
Ogilvie agrees that changes at policy level are the most effective way to cement inclusion: ‘Really examine your policies and benefits to ensure that they are LGBTQ+ inclusive. This is where it matters!’.
For firms in the early stages of implementing allyship, Rowland advises: ‘If you’re new on your journey for LGBTQ+ inclusion, then my biggest piece of advice would be to start small. Focus on small changes that allow you to raise awareness and support – this is how you gain momentum’.
‘Allyship is a verb and it is meaningless unless people are actually active allies.’ Jacqui Rhule-Dagher, Hogan Lovells
Rhule-Dagher adds: ‘Allyship is a verb and it is meaningless unless people are actually active allies. Also, when we think of allyship, we often think of people from a dominant group advocating for those from marginalised groups. Yet this is only one aspect of allyship. What is not always considered is that people from marginalised groups can be allies to each other’.
Is it worth it?
In early 2024, the Solicitors Regulatory Authority released data collected from firms across the UK in summer 2023, evaluating diversity among lawyers within law firms. According to the final results, 4.4% of lawyers identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (an increase from 3% in 2015), with a greater proportion of salaried partners identifying as LGB in comparison to equity partners (3.4% and 2.7% respectively). The figures show that bigger firms have higher percentages of lawyers identifying as LGB, with the percentage of partners identifying as LGB standing at 5.1% at firms with more than 50 partners, compared with under 3% at the smallest firms.
Similarly, a higher percentage of lawyers at smaller firms (11.7%) chose not to declare their sexual identity, compared with their peers at larger firms (4.9%) suggesting that those in bigger firms feel they can be more open about their sexuality and gender identity.
Although the percentage of lawyers identifying as LGBTQ+ is still very small, the numbers are rising year on year. But more can still be done and it is therefore important that more firms push allyship.
‘It is absolutely still necessary,’ states Ogilvie. ‘In many countries, LGBTQ+ rights are regressing, and we’re seeing that in the UK and the US, especially regarding trans rights. Our trans community needs to know that we see them, and they are safe with us’.
For Carter-Syme, people still feeling the need to hide who they are at work is evidence enough of the need for more progress: ‘The fact that anyone feels they need to hide their true self in the workplace – a place where they spend the majority of their days – shows why LGBTQ+ initiatives and corporate allyship are so important. Homophobia can be insidious and coming out professionally can be very intimidating. A workplace that actively shows its support could well be the catalyst that leads to someone deciding they feel safe enough to be their true, authentic self’.
As Pears concludes: ‘Support for LGBTQ+ people in the workplace is support for your people. It is always worthwhile and necessary.’ LB