How HR Leaders Can Be Authentic LGBTQ+ Allies Beyond Pride Month
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June marks LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the United States. While it’s been 30 years since the General Assembly of the National Education Association passed a resolution to include LGBT History Month among its commemorative months, there is still important, ongoing work to be done to support the LGBTQ+ community.
As champions of inclusion and belonging within their organizations, HR leaders play a unique and pivotal role in advocating for LGBTQ+ employees and the broader community. This raises an important question: How can HR leaders serve as authentic allies for LGBTQ+ employees, not just during Pride Month, but all year long?
Keep reading to uncover strategies you can use to be an authentic LGBTQ+ ally.
One of the most powerful ways HR leaders can support LGBTQ+ employees is by simply listening.
“The needs of the community are vast,” Josh Saterman, Co-founder of Saterman Connect, explains. “Each of those letters stands for a different part of our community, and while we are one big community, there are micro-communities within that—between the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more communities.”
Saterman emphasizes that listening deeply to LGBTQ+ employees is a crucial first step for HR leaders, especially in today’s rapidly changing, hyper-connected environment.
“This is what I would call an entry-level action,” he explains. “Listening is the foundation of creating bridges toward understanding the needs of this community.”
LGBTQ+ employees don’t just need to be heard—they also need spaces where they feel seen, valued, and like they belong.
Nadia Eran, Fractional HR Leader and Founder of Future in Work, an HR consulting firm, recommends partnering with LGBTQ+ employees to co-create inclusive programs and environments—both physical and digital—where they can connect, decompress, and build community. This might mean funding affinity groups, offering quiet rooms, or updating your systems (like HRIS, Slack, or Zoom) to support correct names and pronouns.
“We say people should bring their whole selves to work, but we sometimes overlook the lack of spaces for people to let that happen,” says Eran.
Inclusive policies are essential, but they must be lived, not just written.
Shimina Harris, Chief Administration Officer at Safe & Sound, emphasizes that HR leaders should embed inclusivity into everyday operations, such as ensuring benefits accommodate diverse family structures and using gender-affirming language in all communications.
“HR leaders must ensure that policies are not only inclusive on paper but effective in practice,” adds Rex Wilde, Founder and Principal Consultant, Rex Wilde Consulting LLC. This includes advocating for employees when systems fall short, such as when healthcare coverage is denied due to bias.
Wilde also recommends working with LGBTQ+-affirming providers like Folx Health, Plume, or Included Health to ensure employees can access the care they need, free from discrimination.
Inclusion also means confronting the unspoken norms that shape your culture.
“The awareness begins with remembering that your employees are multifaceted and bring intersectionality to the workplace,” says Harris. She urges HR leaders to examine the informal, often unspoken rules that influence who gets access, recognition, or advancement.
Harris encourages HR leaders to ask themselves:
“And even more important than awareness is actively choosing to undo the unwritten or hidden rules within your company,” she adds.
Education and training are critical to fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging.
Eran cautions against assuming everyone has the same understanding of gender, sexuality, or inclusive language. “Invest in one of the many amazing educators in the space who can help your teams (voluntarily) get some 101 understanding of LGBTQ+ identities through the lenses of power, belonging, and workplace dynamics,” she suggests.
“The goal isn’t to get the evolving terminology ‘right’; what we want is a culture that's built on curiosity, respect, and learning,” Eran continues. “Give your employees a chance to learn about their own diversity and intersectionality while gaining shared language to better support others around them.”
Wilde echoes this, especially in today’s climate. “In a time when misinformation about transgender and nonbinary people is widespread, providing staff with education rooted in lived experience is essential. This not only builds understanding of the broader transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (TGX+) community, but it also equips employees with the confidence to engage respectfully, including learning how to properly use someone’s pronouns.”
Allyship doesn’t end on June 30—it’s a year-round commitment.
“Engage this community outside of Pride Month, because your employees are LGBTQ+ every day of the year,” reminds Harris.
She encourages HR leaders to:
Being an authentic LGBTQ+ ally is not about perfection—it’s about consistency, humility, and action. As an HR leader, you have the influence and responsibility to create workplaces where LGBTQ+ employees feel like they belong and that they are valued and empowered to thrive. You’ve got this!
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