Sue McCoy, PA to General Manager, Derby and Prism Committee Secretary
I’m proud to be an ally on the committee of Prism, the UK Employee Resource Group. But many people ask me why I, a cis, straight woman, am on the committee of an LGBT+ network.
I think I became an ally before I even realised it. I have always been a very strong believer that everyone has the right to be who they really are from a very young age. Perhaps this stems from having witnessed bullying – I’ve always hated bullying in every form and, I will always speak out about it. I have been known to break up fights taking place in the school playground, much to my children’s embarrassment!
I brought my children up alone from the ages of two and four and back in the 1980s there was a definite stigma around single-parent families and I remember being looked down on in the playground on many occasions. I’m sharing that because it breaks my heart to know that so many LGBT+ people are still bullied, harassed and discriminated against just because of who they are.
I can remember the day that I really became an ally to Prism – it was on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) in 2018, the day that many in the company were tasked with creating a ‘Human Rainbow’ from our employees. I remember being involved in a team meeting and the chair of the meeting talking about IDAHOBIT and the Human Rainbow and I had no idea what that was, but I wanted to get involved and saw I could help. I set up a working group to help plan and deliver all the elements for IDAHOBIT for our department, organising meetings and allocating tasks. I was responsible for promoting the Human Rainbow and arranging the drone for the photos and the whole thing was a great success. On that same day, I had organised a cake sale with the proceeds going to Derby Pride. I asked people to bake or buy rainbow-coloured cakes and my department, Rotatives, ended up raising the most money – a proud moment!
We also had a trans employee come to our department to give a talk about her journey and the room was packed. Her speech was amazing, so inspirational, and we are still friends to this day.
The next day, I came into work and I was buzzing about the success of the previous day and I felt so strongly that we should be doing these things much more than once a year. I contacted Prism to say that if they needed any help with anything LGBT+-related to let me know. The next day I found myself as the Secretary to the Prism Committee! I still hold this position today and I love it.
And I think that’s an important message. You don’t have to be LGBT+ to support LGBT+ people, just like you don’t need to be black to challenge racism, or a woman to challenge gender stereotypes. If you really support diversity and inclusion, if you really believe in equal treatment for all, and if you really want to stamp out bullying and discrimination – get involved. I did, and I’ve not regretted it for a second.