What Pride Means to Me – Being a proactive ally to my LGBTQIA+ friends and family by Daniel Callaghan

I’m Daniel (he/him), I am a Senior Employer Brand Adviser located in the London office. I am also a member of all our Inclusion Networks and sit on the committee of the Enable Network.

I like to think that I have always been an inclusive person. I was raised with the belief that whoever you are, if you are nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. And at the time, to my knowledge, I didn’t have any friends who would identify as being LGBTQIA+.

In my teens I made friends with a guy called Joel, who remains a dear friend to me today. When I was 25, I received a text from him to say that he had recently come out as gay to his parents and wanted to thank me for all the times I had made a point to stand up against homophobia in our friendship group. He stated that if it hadn’t been for me, he would not have found it as easy to come out to his family and friends. At the time I didn’t think the times he was referring to were that big of a deal, I thought I was just speaking my mind and doing what felt right.

It was because of this canon event that I became a proactive ally to my LGBTQIA+ friends and family. It dawned on me that if I could make this much difference in one person’s life without even thinking about it, how many people could I potentially support if I was active in my allyship.

Since that day I have walked alongside my friends and family in Pride marches, have spoken on panel events about the importance of allyship, specifically from straight white males, I continue to call out homophobia and discrimination, whilst also continuing to educate myself on issues facing the LGBTQIA+ community.

What drives me to support my LGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters more than anything are the statistics of mental ill health for people who identify as LGBTQIA+. A recent study by Stonewall found that over:

• half of LGBTQIA+ people had experienced depression, and three in five had experienced anxiety
• one in eight LGBTQIA+ people aged 18 to 24 had attempted to end their life
• almost half of Trans people had thought about taking their life

I believe that if society accepted that LGBTQIA+ people exist and are deserving of loving and respect like every other human on earth and LGBTQIA+ people could feel free to love and accept themselves for who they are, these stats would improve.

To quote Ted Lasso, “I don’t not care, I care very much, I care about who you are”.

I will end with this. Sadly, hate crime statistics show that over the last 5 years, England and Wales continue to become less safe for Trans people, as well as those who are Gay, Lesbian or Bi. So, if you are straight, especially a straight white male, ask yourself “can I do more to support my LGBTQIA+ colleagues, friends or family?”. If the answer to that question is “yes”, please get involved wherever you can. You have no idea the difference you can make to someone.