LGBT+: Something to be proud about

Next Saturday (July 6), the Pride in London celebrations culminate in the annual free parade through the capital.

Pride is an annual celebration of the LGBT+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning, intersex, non-binary, asexual, polysexual, genderqueer and gender variant people) and is celebrated in London and around the world.

Over the weeks, there will have been various events around the city organised by Pride in London, including sports and activities, talks and debates, films and theatre screenings, life drawing, talent shows and karaoke parties, to name but a few.

This year’s theme is ‘Jubilee’, paying tribute to 50 years of activism, celebration and protest that followed the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

The Pride parade, which concludes a month of events, will begin at noon on July 6, leaving from Portland Place. The 1.4-mile route takes in Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square, finishing in Whitehall.

Elephant Park developer Lendlease established a network in 2015 to give all colleagues support and advice on LGBT+ issues. The LGBT+ network is active across business areas (including leadership) to ensure there is a safe, inclusive, diverse and respectful work environment to support all LGBT+ colleagues. Furthermore, the network welcomes people who want to know more about LGBT+, because of their friends, family or colleagues.

The company is supporting and celebrating LGBT+ colleagues in a number of ways, including the Rainbow Laces campaign in which multi-coloured laces were given to construction teams to wear in their site boots, with the aim of highlighting that no-one should be treated differently because of their sexual orientation or identity.

Face-to-face training is also regularly in use across Lendlease sites to ensure everyone is better equipped to support all colleagues. Training and events are extended to supply chain partners, to ensure the whole project is aligned on diversity and inclusion behaviours and culture throughout all developments.

Since 2015, Lendlease employees have joined hundreds of others from across the construction industry to march under the banner of ‘Building Equality’ at Pride in London and, for the first time, at Manchester Pride in 2018 – which, this year, added black and brown to its multi-coloured flag, representing black and minority ethnic LGBT+ people and communities.

Furthermore, it has partnered with Student Pride, an open job fair to showcase and highlight LGBT+ friendly employers to young people from universities across the world.

To find out more about what is happening in Southwark and close to Elephant and Castle, visit the What’s On section of the Pride in London website.