Lesbian Visibility Week

As much as every other profession, surveying needs a diverse pool of employees that feel motivated and welcomed in the workplace to remain relevant and up to date with the technologies required by consumers in the built and natural environment. Acknowledging the importance of embedding a culture of acceptance and committing to the creation of environments where people can bring their whole selves to work and focus on their activities, RICS constantly work to create awareness of Diversity and Inclusion and to promote a culture where there is no space for inequalities.

In the UK, 1 in every 5 LGBT have suffered micro aggressions in the workplace and the gender pay gap still need improvement. When it comes to LGBT professionals in property, numbers raise to 34% of those who felt discriminated at world.

Considering the intersectionality in these issues, RICS invited Polly Shute, Director at DIVA Media Group and involved in the Lesbian Visibility Week 2020.

How did the idea come about to have a Lesbian Visibility Week?

There has been a Lesbian Visibility Day since 2008, but it has received less traction and engagement than it should. DIVA Media Group wanted to change that and address some of the challenges that LGBTQI women face. We wanted to deliver a number of activities that would engage, support and raise the profile of women who love women, so it seemed sensible to have a week.

This is particularly important when we reflect on the figures of LGBT people in property industry, as 83% of those who are not out, would like to be out.

We are really excited about the interest we have already received from charities, companies and the media, both in the UK and abroad.

What are the key highlights of the week?

The week starts with a media launch at The House of Commons, where we will talk about the findings from the largest piece of research ever done into LGBTQI women. We will also be launching a Visible Lesbian 100 in the Guardian on that day.

On Tuesday we will have our LGBTQI Women at Work Development Day. This is aimed at new and aspiring managers and will be filled with amazing speakers delivering practical workshops and panel events.

On Friday we will have the annual DIVA Awards, the only LGBTQI awards that really focuses on women.

Throughout the week we are asking our sponsors, partners and supporters to host events throughout the UK and Europe, and we are happy that RICS is amplifying these activities so lesbian women working as surveyors can network and find support in their community, and other professionals can become allies support the promotion of change.

What do you think are some of the key challenges LGBTQI women face?

I think there are quite a few! Firstly visibility. Research by media agency UM showed that 86% of queer women felt that queer men have more visibility than in public life than queer woman. This is a key area for business and the media to address. There are also challenges around perceptions of LGBTQI women, which can often be negative and damaging. The result of this is that you are almost twice as unlikely to be out at work as a  LGBTQI woman than as a LGBTQI man.

Also, although the property sector has made some progress in the last five years, there is more work to be done. More than four-fifths (81%) of people feel that not enough was being done to promote LGBT inclusion in the property industry. In this sense, I reiterate that gay women are almost twice as unlikely to be out in the workplace as gay male colleagues.

From my own experience, I still find that events are dominated by LGBTQI men, and this includes corporate networks. This has to start changing. DIVA want to play a role in driving this change, we believe having a legacy week is key and the results of our survey will provide some helpful insights to better understand and address the challenges.

• Polly Shute, Director at Diva Media Group. DIVA magazine recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. It is the only printed LBTQ magazine in Europe and has over 250,000 users from across the world, across different platforms.
  
• DIVA Media Group has strong relationships with LBTQ charities, corporates and organisations and has a proven history of running large scale and impactful events. For the last five years, DIVA have been the sponsor of Stonewall’s Women-focused Stand Up Sessions, and has been the partner for the Pride in London Women’s Stage since 2016.
  
• If you want to find out more about Lesbian Visibility Week  please visit www.lesbianvisibilityweek.com/#/ or email polly@divamag.co.uk