April Update
An update from the Civil Service LGBT+ Network.
We held our first digital social…
Last Thursday we held our first ever digital social. Thank you to all our fantastic members who joined. We had lots of fun and we hope you did too! We also joined together at 20:00 to #ClapForOurCarers.
To find out more, you can read the blog post here.
Lesbian Visibility Week
Next week is Lesbian Visibility Week (20th- 26th April). We would love to profile a few of our members who identify as lesbian. To get involved, please email us.
If your department is hosting any digital events to mark the week, please let us know and we will share it on our website and social media platforms.
What is Lesbian Visibility week?
Run by the DIVA Media Group, Europe’s biggest LGBTQI media group, Lesbian Visibility Week is to show our solidarity with every woman within the LGBTQI community, as well as celebrate lesbians.
It is essential that Lesbian Visibility Week is a voice for unity and lifts up ALL women, especially those who come from marginalised communities. Recent research (Pride Matters survey, conducted by Pride In London 2018) has shown that gay women are almost twice as unlikely to be out in the workplace as gay male colleagues.
Calling all Network chairs!
What is your department doing to support members of the LGBT+ community at this present time, and – looking further ahead, what are your thoughts on the Stonewall WEI for this year?
We’ve had some interest from network chairs on the above issues and will be looking to facilitate a discussion in the near future. Please get in touch with your thoughts and if this if something you would be interested in joining.
Health and Wellbeing
Need someone to talk to? Contact Switchboard, the LGBT+ helpline.
If you need a safe, confidential, listening ear you can contact Switchboard between 10am and 10pm daily on 0300 330 0630, or you can email chris@switchboard.lgbt, or IM via switchboard.lgbt.
They have been here for the LGBTQ+ communities since 1974, and their phone lines are still open during this period.
The Switchboard Promise: • To talk things through. They don’t finish a call until you them. • Everything is confidential. • All volunteers self-define as LGBT+.
To find out more, please visit their website, like their Facebook and follow their Twitter.
Keep in touch on social media.
If you haven’t already, please follow our social media channels to keep engaged: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We also have a Facebook group that you can request to join.
Is your departmental network hosting an online event that is open to all civil servants? Please let us know and we will share it on our website and across our social media.
For all the latest digital events, please check out our events page