Lesbian & Bisexual Women: In Their Words

In honor of Lesbian Visibility Week, we recently hosted a panel with lesbian and bisexual women and non-binary people to celebrate the achievements of this community, whilst also reflecting upon the barriers they still face. Speakers from various organizations joined to offer their perspectives of identifying as LGBTQ+ in the workplace, discussing the value of authentic allyship and relaying their unique experiences.

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Host Michi Raymond, Business Development Director at myGwork, opened the panel with direct statistics from myGwork’s recent Lesbian Visibility survey. The report indicated that three quarters of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people are not completely out due to fears of discrimination. Seven out of ten women and non-binary people face discrimination at work, with the figure increasing for people of color and those from more marginalized communities. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ women and non-binary professionals believe that their sexual orientation and/or gender identity hinders their career progression and influences whether they are offered training and development opportunities to get ahead.

“I bring up these points because even though we’ve made some really great advancements in the LGBTQ+ community for women in business, there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said Michi.

myGwork also offered a chance to win a £100 Amazon voucher to those who entered the survey. The lucky winner of the prize draw was announced in the panel by Michi, and can now be revealed. The winner is... Sammy J! Congratulations to Sammy, we will be in contact soon so you can claim your prize. Thank you to all who took part in this important study!

Trudy Murray, Product Manager at Pearson, agreed with the sentiment that there is still room for progress to be made for LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people. She particularly focuses on identifying as proudly bisexual in the workplace – an often-overlooked struggle for many in the community.

“As a bisexual person, it’s so important for people who identify as bisexual to be able to be visible in the workplace,” said Trudy. “We know from data that’s published by other organizations that when you identify as a bisexual person, you are even less likely to be out in the workplace than if you identified as a lesbian or as a gay man, for example. By being able to be out and be loud and proud about it, it paves the way for others who are going to arrive after, but also maybe for those who are in the organization now and feel a little bit unsure about being out in the workplace.”

Also reflecting on coming out in the workplace was Debbie Woods, Medical Director for Sanofi. Debbie described a common experience for many LGBTQ+ people in the workplace, who feel they have to come out all over again with every new interaction due to heteronormative assumptions.

“One of the challenges I have is that every time a new coworker starts, you come out again