How the GOC is supporting LGBT+ History month

To support LGBT+ History month, we’ve been raising awareness amongst our staff about the history of the LGBT+ community so that they have a greater understanding of the support needs of our registrants.   

Various events have been held throughout the month to celebrate the LGBT+ community and its history. These include LGBTea drop in sessions open to all staff to discuss LGBT+ topics and share experiences, a rainbow bake challenge, a LGBT+ History Quiz where staff can test their knowledge, and the promotion of LGBT+ impact on culture such as our playlist of artists who identify as LGBT+.

In addition, there’s been a series of articles on our Intranet written by staff members with lived experiences of being LGBT+, including topics such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of normalising talking about pronouns, and transgender history.

Alongside this, staff have undergone renewed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training, and we are reviewing the categories of data we collect to be more inclusive for all. We are also reviewing and updating our gender reassignment policy and processes, which will go out for consultation this year.

As part of our ongoing EDI work, we are planning on delivering a series of EDI webinar/round table discussion for registrants, including a PRIDE one in June to honour PRIDE month. More information will be shared in due course and we look forward to engaging with registrants to gain a better understanding of EDI impacts on the sector.

We acknowledge that these are only small steps and there will be so much more that we can do going forward to better engage and support the wide diversity of our stakeholders. We are committed to learning, developing and changing in this area and would welcome any ideas and thoughts from our registrants and other stakeholders. Please feel free to contact us on governance@optical.org.