AN ERG GUIDE TO CELEBRATING PRIDE VIRTUALLY

PRIDE

OUT

THE

BOX

AN ERG GUIDE TO

CELEBRATING PRIDE VIRTUALLY

Pride Month itself was born out of struggle. From the countless, fearless LGBTQ advocates

who across decades refused to live inauthentically in the face of discrimination, stigma, and

violence, to the uprisings at Stonewall and Compton’s Cafeteria, to celebrations of life and hope

amidst the AIDS crisis, each one building a foundation for a powerful, long-lasting global movement

of authenticity and connection for the LGBTQ community.

Pride was born out of resilience and courage in the face of adversity. As the global

COVID-19 pandemic disrupts in-person Pride celebrations across the world, LGBTQ advocates

everywhere are reimagining what it means to celebrate Pride Month. While well-established

traditions such as marches, ﬂoats and parties are disrupted, the essence of Pride is not only alive and

well, but needed by so many in the midst of this global crisis.

P(EOPLE)

More than ﬂags, marketing efforts or ﬂoats, Pride is

about the people in the LGBTQ and allied community.

Remember that our shared humanity is what is both

celebrated and at stake in the global ﬁght for full

LGBTQ equality. For employers, Pride is a wonderful

opportunity to showcase images and narratives of

your people—from the lesbian mother of two, to the

non-binary Millennial to the veteran gay man to the

proud parent of a transgender teen, the month honors

people from every walk of life.

R(ESILIENCE)

Pride stands as a powerful claim of self-worth

and community celebration in contrast to historic

ostracization of LGBTQ people. Community resilience,

fortiﬁed by humor, dancing, parties and the joy of

connection has come to form the hallmarks of Pride.

This year as material fears about health, ﬁnancial

security and more are weighing on LGBTQ employees

alongside everyone else, Pride may provide a catalyst

for employees to become more grounded in their own

individual and collective resilience.

I(NFORMATION)

Pride serves as an important milestone for employers

to share information with their own workforce,

customers and clients about the meaningful ways

they engage with the LGBTQ community and are

advocates for equality. From fully inclusive non-

discrimination policies to transgender-inclusive

healthcare beneﬁts, the proﬁle of common best

practices amongst the Fortune 500 and other major

businesses has become more robust and equitable

for LGBTQ employees and their families. In addition,

more businesses have weighed in to defend LGBTQ

civil rights in the public square than at any prior

point in history. Businesses cannot take for granted

that employees and stakeholders are fully aware of

these efforts and can take Pride as an opportunity

to communicate via internal newsletters, executive

messaging and other channels.

D(IVERSITY)

Pride is the culmination of struggle to fully recognize

the diversity of the community. ERGs want to be

mindful that the images and stories elevated during

Pride month are as diverse as the community itself—

being particularly mindful of often under-represented

Bi, Queer, People of Color, Non-Binary and Trans

communities. Programming that is intersectional in

nature is the most impactful—No one moves through

the world with just one identity. Acknowledging these

realities is at the heart of intersectionality.

E(XPRESSION)

The visuals that often come to mind from Pride month

are colorful, campy and fun. From tiaras to boas to

ﬂoats and DJs, Pride is a celebration of individual

and community expression. In a year of “going

virtual” expression may look different, but it is equally

important. Employees may want to coordinate

celebratory Pride Zoom backgrounds, update their

email signatures to reﬂect their pronouns or join an

LGBTQ ERG for the ﬁrst time as an ally.

ERG leaders and executive champions may be feeling unsure about the

prospect of celebration and coordinating across virtual platforms.

The following Out & Equal guide provides a set of ideas, tools and

engagement points for Employee Resource Groups everywhere to utilize

in building and supporting virtual Pride engagements this year.

Join Out & Equal as we continue to celebrate authenticity, community and

belonging with our LGBTQ and ally family across the world this June.

PRIDE KICK-OFF

A Virtual Townhall with Out & Equal

Join CEO of Out & Equal, Erin Uritus, and the rest of the Out & Equal team as

we kick off the month of Pride together on June 1st at 12pm PT/3pm ET.

Learn more about the history of Pride and why celebrating is important, now

more than ever. Come wearing your favorite pride swag and prepare to join

in as Erin engages attendees in pride-centered dialogue and activities.

PRIDE BRUNCH BREAK

with Out & Equal

Join Out & Equal on June 15th at 11am PT/2pm ET as we host our very

ﬁrst virtual Pride Brunch Break. Represent your company in style by wearing

your Pride-themed swag and bring your favorite drink and snack. Prepare

to engage as O&E facilitates virtual opportunities for participants to share

stories of belonging and pride in the workplace.

WORKPLACE

WEDNESDAYS

with Out & Equal—On-Demand

Lunch and Learns For Partners

Out & Equal wants to visit your ERG during pride! We will

be offering several time slots throughout the month of June

where members of our team will present topics to your ERG

virtually. Here are a list of the available times and topics:

• Wednesday, June 3, 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

• Wednesday, June 10, 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

• Wednesday, June 17, 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

• Wednesday, June 24, 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

TO REQUEST A VISIT, CLICK HERE.

ERGs may select one of the

following topics for Out & Equal

to present on:

• Best Practices for Non-Binary Inclusion

• What’s Your Pronoun? Strategies for

Inclusion in the Workplace

• COVID-19 and the Impact on the

LGBTQ Community

• I Hope This Message Finds You Well:

Mental Health, the Workplace, and

COVID-19

• Ally Tips for Engagement

• LGBTQ Workplace Inclusion: A History

of Pride in the Workplace

BRING

OUT & EQUAL

TO YOU

Would you like Out & Equal to speak at your company during the

month of Pride? We’d love to! Out & Equal CEO, Erin Uritus, and

Managing Director, Deena Fidas, will be virtually visiting workplaces

throughout June and can speak on a variety of topics. Contact Out &

Equal at hello@outandequal.org to ﬁnd out more.

EXPRESS

YOUR PRIDE

There are a number of ways to express your pride throughout the workday—even in

the virtual world of work.

Update Your Email Signature:

Pride Month is a great opportunity

to ensure your pronouns are added

to your email signature. You can

also show the LGBTQ community

support by letting others know you

are an LGBTQ ally in your email

signature, as well.

See the example below for ideas on

how to integrate pronouns into your

signature:

Pride-Themed Zoom

Backgrounds: Celebrate and

make meetings festive with Out &

Equal’s new pride-themed Zoom

virtual backgrounds.

Click here to download.

Update Your Prole Picture:

Demonstrate your pride online by

update your social media proﬁle

pictures with Out & Equal’s new

pride-themed proﬁle picture frame.

Click here to download.

SUSAN LIEU

Human Resources Manager

Inclusivity Matters Inc.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

1234 Smith St., San Francisco, CA 94104

I am an ally of the LGBTQ community and member

of <insert your company’s LGBTQ ERG name.>

PRIDE

IS NEVER

CANCELED.

PRIDE

IS NEVER

CANCELED.

THE

BUSINESS

BELONGING.

CELEBRATE WITH YOUR ERG:

Activities You Can Do Together

At Home

PRIDE KICK-OFF/

WRAP-UP

Host a virtual Pride kick-off meeting with your ERG to walk through the events

calendar below and get members excited about Pride! Take a screenshot of

your Zoom screen with your ERG members and submit your photos to Out &

Equal for a chance to be featured on our social media. When the month is

over, host an ERG Pride wrap-up call with your members to reﬂect your month

of Pride focused programming!

PRIDE IN YOURSELF—

ERG TALENT SHOW!

Pride month is all about embracing who you are. What better way to do this

than by celebrating one another and your unique talents through an ERG

virtual talent show! Encourage members to sign-up and share their talents

through online micro-performances. Welcome all talents, big and small, and

allow members to be inventive and silly in choosing which talents to bring to

the group.

WATCH AND READ

TOGETHER: Engage Your

Membership in LGBTQ

Content

Host a virtual book or movie club with your LGBTQ ERG! Vote on what queer

books or movies the club should focus on and gather back at the end of the

month to discuss.

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF SUGGESTIONS FROM

OUT & EQUAL AND OUR GLOBAL PARTNERS.

HOST PRIDE TRIVIA

Host a virtual pride trivia game with your ERG and test your members

knowledge on LGBTQ history, movies, pop culture, and more! Here are a few

tips from Out & Equal for hosting a trivia game virtually:

• Utilize your company’s video platform, like Zoom, to host a fun night of

pride-themed trivia with members.

• Choose one member to facilitate the trivia game and share the questions

on their screen. Divide participants into two groups to compete for prizes

or simply bragging rights!

• Online tools like TriviaMaker make it easy to create free and interactive

dashboards to utilize for group trivia programming.

SHOW YOUR

PRIDE DAY!

Show your LGBTQ pride! Everyone should wear their favorite work

appropriate pride outﬁt or their company’s pride ERG t-shirts and swag.

Submit your photos to Out & Equal at hello@outandequal.org for a

chance to be featured on our social media!

CROSS-ERG

PROGRAMMING

LGBTQ individuals represent a multiplicity of different identities. Prioritize

and elevate the intersectional identities of our community by involving other

company ERGs in pride programming.

GET TO KNOW

YOUR GROUP!

Pride month is the perfect time to get deeper with your fellow ERG members. Try these

conversation starters during one of your meetings in June in small breakout sessions or

in a “speed-dating style”:

• What was your ﬁrst Pride experience? Do you have a favorite Pride memory?

• What does LGBTQ Pride mean to you?

• What do you ﬁnd inspirational about Pride month?

• Do you have a favorite LGBTQ character from a movie or book? Who was the ﬁrst

LGBTQ character you remember seeing?

• Do you have a LGBTQ hero or role model in your life? What is something that you have

learned from them?

• What messages do you hear about LGBTQ people in your daily life? In your family?

Friend group? Workplace?

• What advice would you give a young LGBTQ person now? What advice do you wish

someone would have given you growing up?

JOIN OUT & EQUAL’S

ERG LEADER CALL TO

PREPARE FOR PRIDE

Join us on May 21st at 12pm PT/3pm ET for our Pre-Pride Planning Call

for ERG Leaders, Partners, Company Leads. This call is for ERG leaders or

other company representatives that will be leading internal company pride

initiatives or ERG activities. The purpose of this call is to walk through the

suggested activities included in Out & Equal’s Pride-Out-Of-The-Box: An ERG

Guide to Celebrating Pride Virtually resource and answer any questions on

speciﬁc activities and logistics.

PLANNING CALL HERE.

EXTERNAL CALENDAR

OF ACTIVITIES:

The following template provides a sample itinerary for ERGs to utilize in

planning their virtual Pride engagements. Feel free to adapt the calendar on

the next page to make it work for your LGBTQ ERG! We hope you can ﬁt in

some of our exciting Pride Month activities!

Thursday, May 21, 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET: Pre-Pride Planning

Call for ERG Leaders, Partners, Company Leads

Lead Contributors: Madelyn Gelpi, Madeline Perrou

Co-Contributors: Deena Fidas, Corina Hendren, CV Viverito

JUNE 2020

WEEK ONE

WEEK TWOWEEK THREEWEEK FOURWEEK FIVE

12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

Pride Kick-Off—

A Virtual Townhall

with Out & Equal

Kick off Pride

Month Book and

Movie Club

Get to Know Your

Group—Virtual

Activity with ERG

membership

11:00pm PT/2:00pm ET

Brunch Break with

Out & Equal

Show Your

Pride Day!

Pride Month

Book and Movie

Club Discussion

Pride Month

Wrap-Up

10:00am PT/ 1:00pm ET

Movie Watch

Party

Virtual Happy

Hour with

Members

Pride in

Yourself!

Talent Show

Cross-ERG

Happy Hour

Watch

World Pride

together

12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

On-Demand Lunch &

Learn Session

partners only

scheduled in advance

12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

On-Demand Lunch &

Learn Session

partners only

scheduled in advance

12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

On-Demand Lunch &

Learn Session

partners only

scheduled in advance

12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET

On-Demand Lunch &

Learn Session

partners only

scheduled in advance

Trivia Night

Virtual

Diversity Walk