DHL's RainbowNet wins LGBTQIA Rainbow Honours Award

DHL's RainbowNet UK&I employee resource group won Outstanding LGBTQIA Network of the Year award at the Rainbow Honours Awards.

The group supports DHL's belief that nobody should have to hide their true self at work.

Celebrating the best of LGBTQ+ talent

The Rainbow Honours is a UK Award event that celebrates the best of British and international LGBTQ+ talent, as well as the allies and organisations that support them.

DHL spoke to Michelle Moorhead and Hayley Mason-Davies, network leads of RainbowNet UK&I about what the ERG does within DHL.

"We’ve got three main areas of activity. We celebrate, we educate and we support. In terms of celebration, last year was a massive year for us as it was the first time DHL UK&I attended Pride events across England and Ireland," explained Hayley.

"We wanted to break down barriers and dispel any idea that the transport and distribution sector isn’t a place for LGBTQ+ people to work. Attending Pride allowed us to show publicly that DHL is a place where people can work as their true selves and be supported by the business for who they are. Our colleagues wore bright yellow ‘DHL Delivered with Pride’ tops and celebrated with the thousands of people lining the routes," she added.

"At Milton Keynes Pride we had a family activity area, showing support to LGBTQ+ families and we engaged with the public, answering questions about our personal journeys. Beyond that, last year DHL UK&I also held its first ever ‘Virtual Pride Party’ to kick off Pride month on Twitch in which we were joined by colleagues from around our international DHL family. That’s the first time DHL has been brought together globally to celebrate Pride. We offered our sites the opportunity to order huge DHL Pride flags which have been proudly flown outside many of them, including our head office in Milton Keynes. Many of those flags are still being flown, to show we support the community all year round – not just on certain days of the year."

Education across the LGBTQ+ calendar

Michelle highlighted how education is an important part of what RainbowNet UK&I does. "We have a full LGBTQ+ calendar for the year, sharing educational collateral on many aspects of our community. On International Transgender Day of Visibility, we took part in a global meeting shared across the business and I represented the UK team, together with colleagues from the USA, Brazil and elsewhere. The aim was to educate colleagues who may not have met a Trans person before."

"We marked National Coming Out Day with a video which we shared across the UK&I, being frank and honest about our personal experiences and explaining why it’s so important to live as your true self," she said.

"When new colleagues and apprentices attended their induction, we also hosted a D&I session and spoke to them about RainbowNet, our plans and our own personal journeys. Feedback was that the session was one of the highlights of the induction, and we’ve been invited back to host a session this year."

Proudly promoting LGBTQIA equality

The Bank of London Rainbow Honours showcase individuals and organisations who work all year to influence change and proudly promote LGBTQIA equality.

The Bank of London Rainbow Honours tips its hats and rewards what it refers to as Rainbow Heroes, Sheros and Queeroes - those wonderful individuals and organisations whose work does so much to further LGBTQIA equality and inclusion.

According to The Bank of London Rainbow Honours: "It’s certainly true that we have made amazing strides for LGBTQIA Equality and yet LGBTQIA people still face prejudice in the workplace, in education and across social media. Inequality comes with a price. LGBTQIA youth are far more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to self-harm or attempt suicide, while drug and alcohol abuse is much higher than in the general population. That’s why we believe those who put their heads above the parapet and dedicate themselves to fairness for all deserve our accolades. They are, after all, the UK’s Rainbow LGBTQIA Heroes."