Looking ahead to June and Pride Month 2025: Flags, fairy cakes, and finding what really matters

Last year, I wrote a blog reminding readers that Pride Month isn’t just about rainbow flags and fairy cakes. I stand by that. But this year, as you are making your plans for June, I also want to say – fly those flags high. Because in 2025, it means more than it has in years.

We are living through a time when so-called ‘culture wars’ dominate headlines and creep into our workplaces. Some businesses are rolling back EDI commitments, closing down roles, or quietly stepping away from visible support for LGBTQ+ staff. What was once seen as progress is now, in some corners, dismissed as ‘woke overreach’.

But here’s the truth: visibility matters. At a time when some are trying to silence or sideline the LGBTQ+ community, your decision to celebrate Pride sends a message to your employees, customers, and communities that says: you belong here.

It should be remembered that Section 28, the law that prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities, was only repealed in England in 2003. That means any LGBTQ+ person over about 36 in your organisation likely went through school with no support or acknowledgment. More often than not, most of your leadership teams will now be over 36. How ‘out’ those in senior roles choose to be directly influences the role models available to younger LGBTQ+ colleagues. Representation matters. Visibility matters.

Matt Haworth and I founded Pride in Leadership in 2021, to elevate, connect and support LGBTQ+ leaders and aspiring leaders across the UK. Since then, we’ve been asked time and again to speak about the barriers LGBTQ+ people face in leadership. And while we – and the brilliant leaders we spotlight – shared our own lived experience, there was little data to back up what we were saying.

If you want to talk about gender, there’s McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace report. On race, there’s The Parker Review. For LGBTQ+ experiences in the workplace, there were important studies, but they mostly focused on bullying or discrimination. What was missing was data about LGBTQ+ career progression. That’s why we conducted a survey of 1,017 LGBTQ+ professionals across the UK – to understand the barriers to progression, the opportunities for change, and the strengths within the community.

We’ll be launching that report very soon, and there are no big spoilers in this blog! However, what we found is powerful. The data confirms that many LGBTQ+ professionals still face significant barriers to career progression, and that these are often made worse by intersecting identities. While many organisations celebrate Pride, far fewer offer the structural support needed to help LGBTQ+ people truly thrive. We also found incredible resilience, leadership, and the strength within our community, and an incredible tendency to volunteer and serve in unpaid roles. Many respondents shared how their identities have shaped them into inclusive, determined leaders, proving that authenticity in the face of adversity is a powerful act in itself.

So for those businesses that would like to go beyond the flags and the fairy cakes (and, as I said before, please do wave the flags high and eat the cakes – this year especially), there is lots that you can do. These are just a few ideas for now:

• Pride in Leadership runs events online and in person – you can join us, and bring your friends and colleagues.
• When we launch our report, please read it, spread the word, and implement as many of the recommendations as you possibly can.
• Through On The Level, I design training programmes for LGBTQ+ colleagues. So you can commission training for your LGBTQ+ colleagues – the courses have had the most amazing feedback, including:

Genuinely this has been the most impactful and validating training I’ve done. I’d never considered how much of an impact my queerness had on my work-life until this: there was more than one moment where it was like someone holding a mirror up to how I behave or thought about myself and things clicked into place as to why. It’s allowed me to recognise things in myself which have held me back, and process them. A couple of times something was mentioned about how LGBTQ+ try to make themselves small, invisible almost to protect themselves – the penny dropped. I honestly feel like it’s helped me to process some of my insecurities and recognise them and I feel so much more confident to progress now.

On The Level’s LGBTQ+ Leadership Programme is a brilliantly motivational course that has enabled me to see the barriers that I have faced as an LGBTQ+ person and to find ways to break through them, encouraging me to have more confidence in myself as a leader and person of influence.

• Pride in Leadership has launched a mentoring platform that is FREE for LGBTQ+ people to use, and find their mentors and mentees.
• We also have lots of talks on all kinds of topics from high profile LGBTQ+ leaders available to watch and learn from.
• Buy from LGBTQ+-owned businesses, and give them a lift.

If you truly want to support the LGBTQ+ community during Pride and beyond, think about the real people across all of your stakeholders. Do something that makes a lasting difference.

That’s how we will show our true values against this negative backdrop, make Pride matter, and make inclusion real.

Claire Ebrey | LinkedIn