Clio Toogood, sustainability analyst at Royal London, speaks to Health & Protection about conversations about sexual orientation and gender expression not really coming up at work, feeling a growing momentum in the sector towards diversity and inclusion and joining Royal London’s Pride Network committee.
What have been your own experiences with regard to attitudes towards LGBT communities in the sector?
I have been ‘out’ as bisexual in varying degrees throughout my work life. I’d like to say the older I got the more confident I became in my sexual identity and thus the easier it was to be myself wherever I was. However, it wasn’t that simple. I found being ‘out’ was situational for me.
When I was working in hospitality being out was easier. The people I worked with were largely in the 18 to 25 age bracket, conversations about or featuring sexuality and gender naturally came up. There were always immediate colleagues who were LGBT+ and visible to me. My experiences of biphobia however were often more vocal here, and usually sexualised bisexuality. I also saw more overt homophobia and transphobia, mostly from customers late at night but also from colleagues in the guise of ‘banter’.
When I first joined the financial sector, my experiences were quite different. I found the people I worked with were less likely to be my own age and the teams were smaller. Conversations that talked openly about sexual orientation and gender expression did not naturally come up, and when the topic did arise it was often in the form of ‘do you have a boyfriend (yet)?’
Working in smaller firms I found cultures could be dominated by a small number of people and ideas. The space to be ‘out’ felt smaller but it felt harder than before to shrink myself to fit in.
How have attitudes evolved in the sector?
I was lucky when I joined the workplace in 2008 that I was already standing on the shoulders of giants. Society has come a long way, just a cursory look at LGBT+ history will tell you life was hugely different in 1980s.
Even in the last decade the Marriage Act was passed allowing same-sex marriage. I remember this being controversial at the time – but controversy died down quickly and I think it sent a message of equality that has resonated.
The financial sector is not always the quickest sector to pivot but I have felt a growing momentum in the sector towards diversity and inclusion.
I think the whole sector has woken up to the idea they need to change to remain relevant that they need to reflect society’s changing values and appeal to all demographics. In the last few years there have been so many more conversations about sexual orientation, about gender diversity, about how this intersects with other identities and what we can do to make the workplace more inclusive.
What is the sector doing well and where does it need to up its game?
Networks. When I first heard Royal London was launching its LGBT+ Network, Pride, it lit a fire under me. I felt like it was a chance I was waiting for not just to be more ‘out’ at work but to influence change for everyone.
Joining the Pride Network committee was amazing because I suddenly had all this visibility of the great LGBT+ folks working in the same organisation I had been at for almost two years. Talking to folks at other networks and reading about what other companies are doing in the same sphere shows that it’s not something happening in isolation either. The whole sector is making space, not just for the LGBT+ community but for all the people that previously found these doors closed to them.
The biggest opportunity I think the sector has is to translate words into actions. The shift to more inclusive language is important. The conversations we are having and the spaces to have them are great but they need follow up and they need to be a foundation to build on. It’s great to create a network. But the companies that do need to properly resource them, not just with time and funds but with meaningful sponsorship and influence.
Companies should be asking their networks what do they need? What changes would they like to see? Do our leaders understand LGBT+ issues?
Royal London’s Pride Network has great support and involvement from senior leaders and we’ve been able to make a big impact across the business. While we’re still a relatively young network, we’ve been able to achieve a lot in the past couple of years alone and there’s more to come.
Do you feel encouraged and enabled to bring your whole self to work?
I do feel enabled to bring my whole self to work but it has been a journey. Some of that has been personal, but support and inspiration in and out of work have been central to the comfort I now feel in being myself.
My little sister came out to me as a lesbian after I came out as bi but I learnt so much from her when it came to being myself. When armed with support and understanding from your loved ones – being out and yourself in work is easier in my experience. Even so I found myself in countless situations, from team calls to Christmas parties, where trying to go under the radar felt like the best option. But being an untruthful version of yourself in work bleeds into everything, it impacts how you see yourself. It creates shame even when you think you don’t care.
Changes in the sector have been important. When I first joined Royal London, I was impressed how much was done to nurture a positive culture and it has only gotten better in my time here. But when I had a people leader who actively educated themselves on LGBT+ issues and other types of diversity it made all the difference. It made space for me to be my whole self at work and now I feel much more confident at being someone who can take that with them.