I'm Rob – I work in the sustainable travel to encourage people to make active and environmentally friendly journeys and I'm one of leads for the Pride Network.
I joined Derbyshire County Council in 2001 – things were different back then.
Section 28 was still in place which effectively banned local authorities from:
"promoting the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship"
This was not repealed until 2003.
Until 2004 there was no International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
A homosexual relationship didn't have recognition as a legal partnership until 2004.
It wasn't until 2004 the Gender Recognition Act was passed giving trans people full legal recognition in their appropriate gender.
Same-sex couples couldn't adopt children until 2005.
There was Derby Pride – the first one was in 2005.
The council employee network didn't exist until 2006.
Not until 2010 and the equality act was the equal treatment in access to employment as well as private and public services, granted to people regardless of gender reassignment and sexual orientation.
Until 2011 there was still a Department of Health lifetime ban on gay and bi men donating blood.
The first same-sex marriages didn't come in effect until 2014.
Forty-nine thousand men remained convicted of crimes of which they would be innocent today until the Policing and Crime Act 2017 pardoned all historic instances of convictions of gross indecency against men.
Despite all this, my own personal experience as an employee at Derbyshire County Council has been overwhelmingly positive. So given the passage of time and all of these changes why do we still need an employee network?
Not everyone shares the same confidence or lived experiences. So it's important to support others, coming out is still seen as brave as evidenced by some of the commentary around Jake Daniels being only the second professional football player in the UK to come out as gay since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
It's important to be your authentic self at work, so that you can give your best to your role. Constantly self censoring yourself to remain hidden from view can be mentally exhausting.
Some people say "I don't care about your sexuality/gender identity, it doesn't bother me."
But some people are bothered and intolerances can still be seen in society.
Stonewall research reports 58% of gay men say they don't comfortable walking down the street while holding their partner's hand.
The 2021 Estyn report found homophobic bullying was the most common kind in secondary schools and it happened "all the time".
In 2020/2021, 2,630 hate crimes against transgender people were recorded across the UK by the police, an increase of 16% from the previous year. This number is still severely underreported.
In February 2022, 2 men and a 17-year-old girl were found guilty of murdering Dr Gary Jenkins in a homophobic attack a Cardiff park.
So we need the employee network to help show that we do care, showcasing our inclusivity and allyship as individuals and as an organisation – to show we don't tolerate homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and to give individuals confidence to live their authentic lives.
Whether that be through attending pride events, flying the Pride Progress, working in partnership with others or looking at our working policies, procedures and practices to ensure we support the communities we serve as well as the people we employ.