The Power of LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Uncertain Times New Toolkit Empowers LGBTQ+ Employees and Allies to Spark Change in their Workplaces

Summer 2025 • Shawnie Hawkins She/Her

In today’s climate — where LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under threat across the U.S. — the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Working with Pride: Understanding Best Practices in LGBTQ Inclusion toolkit could not be more essential. It’s more than a guide — it’s a beacon of empowerment, giving LGBTQ+ individuals and allies the tools to create change in their workplaces and communities.

We are living in a time of great uncertainty. Legislative rollbacks, censorship and rising hostility toward the LGBTQ+ community have created fear and confusion about what protections truly exist. But this toolkit reminds us of something powerful: Knowledge is protection, and your story is a tool for transformation.

Why This Toolkit Was Created

This resource was designed to bridge the gap between policy and lived experience. Too often, organizations say the right things but fall short when it comes to everyday inclusion — especially for LGBTQ+ communities. This toolkit was built for this moment: to help individuals and companies align intention with impact. It turns principles into practice.

Storytelling as a Catalyst for Change

One of the most powerful aspects of the toolkit is its emphasis on storytelling. It uplifts real voices from LGBTQ+ professionals across industries — people who have navigated misgendering, bias and erasure, but also courageously advocated for fairness, equality, empathy and understanding.

Why does storytelling matter? Because your truth is irrefutable. Telling your story — whether to a colleague, a manager or a policymaker — can break down walls, shift hearts and move others to action. It humanizes policy. It turns statistics into people. It’s through stories that others begin to see themselves as part of the solution.

The Working with Pride toolkit offers guidance for sharing personal experiences in ways that feel safer, more authentic and powerful. Whether you're coming out at work, applying for a job, addressing a policy gap or explaining the impact of not being included, this resource helps you find your voice — and teaches others how to listen. It is a practical starting point for feeling informed, supported and confident at work.

Knowing Your Rights, Building Your Power

The toolkit empowers LGBTQ+ individuals and allies with knowledge about best practices that apply to every employee inside a workplace. It outlines what affirming workplaces should look like — and what to do if yours falls short.

Inclusion Is not Optional — it’s Revolutionary

When LGBTQ+ people are fully seen, respected and supported at work, everyone thrives. Inclusion isn’t a checkbox — it’s the foundation of innovation, trust and resilience. And in this current moment in our country, it’s also an act of defiance. To create space for LGBTQ+ joy, creativity and leadership is to say: “You belong here. Your identity is not up for debate.”

The Working with Pride toolkit is more than a resource. It’s a call to action — and a reminder that your story can shift the culture. In times like these, that’s not just powerful. It’s necessary.