Less than 30 years ago, homosexuality was still illegal in Ireland and an acceptable grounds for discrimination in the workplace, it wasn’t until 1999 that legislation was finally enacted to protect LGBTQ+ workers. Think about that for a minute. About 30 percent of people working in Ireland today entered the workforce at a time when the state not only permitted, but encouraged, discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. That discrimination still exists.
PRIDE AT WORK In 2019, over 10,000 people took part in the annual Dublin Pride Parade alongside their employers and work colleagues as part of company-led staff initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It was one of the biggest staff outings in the country. And yet, the following week, figures released from the Central Statistics Office showed that the highest rates of discrimination in Irish society were reported by people who identify as LGBTQ+. Ireland has come a long way in the past decade, the passing of Marriage Equality and Gender Recognition in 2015 showed the world, that, as a whole, we are a progressive and inclusive society. Yet the legacy of discrimination and inequality still exists.
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A 2019 Oireachtas publication highlighted the existence of both an employment gap and a salary gap, LGBTQ+ people are less likely to be employed, and more likely to earn less, than non LGBTQ+ people. This unequal footing in employment has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A report at the beginning of the pandemic by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in the United States highlighted that LGBTQ+ people had a heightened health and economic risk from the virus as they were more likely to work in industries that had a higher exposure and/or a higher economic sensitivity to the COVID-19 crisis. Pride at Work by Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride is an initiative to challenge workplace discrimination and its legacy by partnering with employers to promote allyship, inclusion and equality in the workplace while at the same time empowering and supporting LGBTQ+ people. Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride
