PRIDE—This Month & Always

By: Lynne King Smith

Since opening our doors in January of 2018, more than 350 women have walked through our doors and into what we strive to create as a welcoming and open space. 

As a values-based business with a clear mission to create a place for working women to thrive, we give much effort and thought to ensuring that our space, our members and our staff treat everyone with respect and celebrate our differences. 

Through these doors we’ve celebrated those 350 women as unique individuals, all with their own stories to tell and experiences to share. This is what makes the very fabric of Thrive so unique. 

And while we carry our values with us every day, this month we are happy to celebrate and stand with the LGBTQ+ community as members, family, friends and coworkers. 

Even though we’ve made progress toward achieving many of the original goals of the Stonewall Riots, members of the LGBTQ+ community still face inequality and discrimination in the workplace each and every day. 

Consider these facts:

• One in four LGBTQ+ employees report experiencing workplace discrimination in the last five years.
• More than 25% of transgender people who held or applied for a job in the last year reported being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion because of their gender identity.
• More than 75% of transgender employees take steps to avoid mistreatment in the workplace.
• Nearly one in 10 LGBTQ+ employees have left a job because the environment was unwelcoming.
• More than half of all LGBTQ+ employees report that discrimination has negatively affected their work environment.

This Pride Month, we ask our members and their businesses to reflect on how each of us can make equality, inclusion, and diversity a priority all year long. Together, let’s work to understand the complex, multifaceted issues facing the LGBTQ+ community today. 

And, above all else we want to thank our members for doing what you do every day to ensure everyone at Thrive feels comfortable, supported, and heard.

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available: 

• Trevor Project
  • The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25
  • Text, Instant Messaging also available
  • More info on their website: Click Here
  • Number: (866)-488-7386
• The LGBT National Hotline is for all ages.
  We provide a safe space that is anonymous and confidential where callers can speak on many different issues and concerns including, but limited to, coming out issues, gender and/or sexuality identities, relationship concerns, bullying, workplace issues, HIV/AIDS anxiety, safer sex information, suicide, and much more. 
  • Monday thru Friday from 1PM to 9PM PST
  • Saturday from 9am to 2pm PST
  • Website: Click Here
  • Number: 888-843-4564