The Importance of Lesbian Visibility Week
a guest blog by Polly Shute Co-founder of OUTSpokenSpeakers
Since 2008, Lesbian Visibility Week has encouraged and placed a spotlight on the celebration and support of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people.
This year, Lesbian Visibility Week takes place between 22nd - 28th April and we are delighted to speak to Polly Shute, a recognised speaker from the LGBTQ+ and non-binary community who has been a guest speaker at many WiHTL & DiR events.
Polly is also the co-founder of OUTspoken Speakers Network, an organisation focused on showcasing speakers who are LGBTQ+ women and people who are non-binary.
Why is it important for employers to place a spotlight on Lesbian Visibility Week?
Research shows that queer women are almost twice as unlikely to be out as queer men in the workplace. In my work, I often talk to Employee Network Group leads who say that it’s hard to find LGBTQ+ women and those who are non-binary to join and contribute to events and other activities.
In my four years on the board of Pride in London, I often attended events and found that fewer than 20% of the attendees were women, and I have long challenged panels at LGBTQ+ events that are male-dominated.
Awards organisers often tell me they always struggle to get nominations from and for queer women and those that are non-binary.
What does research tell us about the lack of visibility of queer women and its causes?
The evidence, such as the research and statistics on queer women below, highlights some stark findings:
Universal McCann: A survey highlighted that 92% of respondents said that there was some or a lot of stigma towards queer women, and many see ‘lesbian’ as a ‘loaded’ word.
myGwork: 7/10 LGBTQ+ women and non-binary professionals have experienced discrimination at work, and that figure rises for those with intersectional experiences.
Deloitte: LGBTQ+ women suffer more than others in the community when it comes to microaggressions, especially around their appearance.
Just Like Us: Lesbians are most likely out of all young adults to feel ashamed of being LGBTQ and that almost two-thirds (68%) delay coming out due to unhelpful prejudices. These include being seen as ‘masculine’, ‘over-sexualised’, ‘man-hating’, ‘anti-trans’, ‘unattractive’ and ‘embarrassing’.
I have encountered a lot of these issues myself.
I did not come out until age 41, largely because of unhelpful prejudices and a lack of visibility of any role models. I did hope that 15 years later we would see a better understanding and acceptance of queer women and those that are non-binary.
When I was setting up Out & Wild Festival, which supports wellbeing for queer people, I was searching for imagery of LGBTQ+ sport. I typed ‘gay sport’ into a well-known search engine and got images of mainly male athletes; however, when I typed ‘lesbian sport’ I received a warning saying ‘This is sexually explicit content’.
Once, at an LGBTQ+ conference, I also overheard two panellists say, ‘Gay men are upmarket and gay women are downmarket’, just after their session had finished. In the years that I have been a speaker at events, I am hardly ever asked to talk specifically about Lesbian Visibility.
Research conducted by NEXUS and OUT LEADERSHIP in 2023 (with LGBTQ+ ERG leads) clearly shows that women and gender were still a priority for EDI strategies for 2024. So the needs and experience of LGBTQ+ women and those who are non-binary should be included within this.
Do LGBTQ+ women experience a tougher ‘glass ceiling’?
LGBTQ+ women face a double glass ceiling of gender and sexual orientation bias in their workplaces. Some women I speak to say they purposefully join the gender or ethnicity networks at work rather than LGBTQ+ groups as they feel they will make a greater impact in these groups.
Many also lack the confidence to speak up or nominate themselves for awards or recognition for the work they do. Some also tell me it’s just better to live under the radar, especially if they want to progress at work.
Recently, I have sensed a growing frustration and call for greater voice and visibility. I know in my case, the research noted above from Just Like Us focused my attention.
In my work with OUTSpoken Speakers Network, we drive for greater visibility of LGBTQ+ women and those that are non-binary to give them the opportunity to tell their unique stories and create more prolific and positive role models and inspire a younger generation.
Is a year round focus needed?
Ultimately, Lesbian Visibility Week is a great vehicle to raise awareness and understanding. However, I would encourage a focus from employers on LGBTQ+ women and those who are non-binary all year round, not just once a year.
To achieve this, I would recommend to all employers to speak (and listen) to their employees and provide meaningful opportunities for voices to be heard. This in turn will help to create greater awareness and understanding across the organisation.