Top Tips on How to be an Effective LGBTQ+ Ally

"A helpful way to view allyship is like a journey where we are continuously learning how to approach new challenges and situations to best offer our support"

Mairi Strouts, Alumni Project Manager at London Business School, revealed her top tips on how to be an effective ally. With advice on how to display allyship in the workplace, as well as among friends and family, she also provides insight into circumstances like making mistakes and engaging with members of the LGBTQ+ community.

1. Listen

According to the LGBT rights charity, Stonewall, over a third of LGBTQ+ people feel the need to hide their true identity at work. Listening and making people feel heard is an important part of creating an inclusive and safe environment where people feel comfortable and confident expressing their authentic selves. Being willing to listen to people’s experiences enables allies to understand ways in which we can help and lets people know they can open up to us for support should they need to. Having a human-centered approach means that allies are able to support marginalised individuals without necessarily being able to relate directly to their experience. It is important to remember not to separate our work and personal life of being an ally – those in the Queer community often experience harassment in all areas of their lives.

2. Educate yourself

When we’re more aware of the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, we have more confidence to be an effective ally. A helpful way to view allyship is like a journey where we are continuously learning how to approach new challenges and situations to best offer our support. It is important to acknowledge that everyone’s experience as part of the LGBTQ+ community is different meaning that it's best not to assume that just because someone identifies as LGBTQ+ that they know everything about the Queer experience. It is a heavy burden for those who identify as LGBTQ+ to be constantly the educators. Education on allyship can take many forms but a few that I've found useful is becoming familiar with the language used within the LGBTQ+ community so we can comfortably contribute to discussions, as well as listening to podcasts, following LGBTQ+ accounts and organisations on social media and exposing ourselves to a wide variety of Queer literature and media.

3. Make mistakes with dignity

A large part of being an ally is learning that it is okay to make mistakes – we are only human and should not be afraid to get things wrong. The important thing is to recognise when we have made a mistake, acknowledge how it might have made someone feel and learn from it going forward. By owning our actions, it encourages others to question their own behaviours and highlights the impact our words and actions can have on those around us. The more we make mistakes, the better equipped we will be to be an effective ally to our peers.

4. Challenge