Celebrate Pride Month 2023 and the LGBTQ+ community with 28+ Pride work ideas!
Pride Month in June is a time to uplift and support the LGBTQ+ community, affirm our identities, reflect on the inequities of the past and present, and take meaningful action to create change. In 2023, everyone deserves to bring their authentic self to work, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender expression.
What is Pride Month?
Pride Month is a time for the LGBT community and allies to come together in celebration, solidarity, activism, reflection, and support of all LGBTQIA+ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual).
While a Pride Parade or Pride March are often part of Pride celebrations, there’s more to this holiday than parades! Pride can be a meaningful time to learn about the historical and present struggles and exclusion of LGBTQ people.
With these ideas, your remote team can learn, grow, and have fun together while celebrating Pride Month 2023 – virtually!
How to Celebrate Pride with These 28 Pride Month Ideas for Work
A few of our favorite Pride Month work ideas:
Read on for more information on these virtual team building ideas, and more ideas!
- Book an engaging virtual team building event to celebrate Pride
- Play Pride trivia with your team
- Create a Pride playlist
- Learn about the history of Pride
- Explore LGBTQ historic sites and monuments
- Ideas to support LGBTQ people and communities
TLDR: in this list, you’ll find:
- Virtual team building activities for Pride Month
- Ideas to make sure your company is practicing equity and inclusivity year-round
- Pride 2023 ideas for remote teams and working from home
- Fun ideas to celebrate Pride with your team, including Pride Month games and trivia
- Ways to ensure your company is a safe space for everyone
- Frequently asked questions about Pride Month
- A glossary of Pride month words and terminology
1. Pride Month Virtual Team Building Experience: Pride is Protest – One of Our Favorite Pride Work Ideas!
Don’t miss out – limited dates available during June! Watch a brief preview below.
In this fun and inspiring virtual team building experience, you’ll learn about the history of Pride Month from the early 1900s to the present day. Your team will get a look at iconic locations in Greenwich Village in New York City, as well as the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco.
All you need for this hour-long, live-streaming session is a computer and internet connection. Then, leave it to us to get your team connecting, celebrating, and learning together in this unique and memorable activity.
Learn more and book your Pride Month virtual team building experience.
2. Donate to a Meaningful Cause
Support the LGBTQ community by making a donation to a worthy cause. You can look for nonprofits to support in your company’s area, or choose a larger charity that works around the country or around the globe.
Look for a nonprofit organization that serves LGBTQ youth, or that works toward equity for LGBTQ people. Supporting these causes can help your company fulfill diversity and inclusion objectives while also putting your corporate values into action.
Consider matching employee donations, or make a corporate gift. In some cases, your company may receive recognition in the nonprofit’s annual report, website, or other materials. Be sure to ask ahead of time about benefits and tax deductibility.
For more ideas, browse MoneyGeek’s list of 10 LGBTQ Charities to Support During Pride Month.
3. Attend a Virtual Pride Parade
Remote and hybrid teams may not be able to attend a Pride Parade together in person. That said, you can still watch a Pride Parade together from home.
In 2023, many Pride parades will be broadcast online. Check with your local Pride organization to see whether you can live-stream the event with your team. Or, check out a video of a past Pride parade broadcast. For example, you can watch more than two hours’ worth of the New York City Pride March 2022 online.
Watch the 2022 NYC Pride March here.
4. Be Mindful of People Who Aren’t “Out” or Don’t Want the Spotlight
As its name implies, Pride Month is all about – well, pride! That said, many LGBTQ people do not feel comfortable or safe sharing their sexuality with others. Some people may not be “out” or may be questioning their sexuality.
For these reasons, avoid putting the spotlight on specific employees to share about their experiences unless they volunteer to do so. For example, you might see some companies hosting a “Pride Month Panel” with LGBTQ employees as speakers. While this can be successful when done right with enthusiastic employees, it can also put people on the spot or make them feel uncomfortable.
When employees do wish to participate in Pride Month activities, make sure that they are compensated for their time and energy, and that your special initiatives happen on company time. If necessary, offer a “flex day” to account for after-hours events or activities.
5. Volunteer with a Nonprofit that Supports LGBT Causes – One of Our Favorite Pride Work Ideas!
Don’t have the budget to cut a check? Plan a corporate volunteer day instead!
For example, the ILGA world (The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) seeks virtual volunteers for tasks like proofreading, translation, graphic design, and more.
There are plenty of other worthy causes to support with your time, no matter your skills or area of expertise. You can also search for hotline volunteer opportunities, to help LGBTQ youth and people in crisis or during difficult times.
Learn more and sign up to volunteer with ILGA World here.
6. Use a Fun Pride Zoom Background
Encourage your team members to celebrate Pride Month with a fun video call background! You can opt for a Pride-themed background during your weekly team call, or throughout the month of June.
If your company has an in-house designer, they may be able to create some Pride video call backgrounds using your company’s logo and other brand elements. Alternatively, choose one of the free resources below.
Find free downloadable Pride video call backgrounds from the Human Rights Campaign.
7. Learn About the History of Pride – One of Our Favorite Pride Work Ideas!
Learn about Pride together with your team. For this activity, we recommend choosing a video between 10-20 minutes long on the topic of Pride history and watching it on a video call together.
Then, guide a discussion with your team about what you learned. For example, you could ask: “Did you learn something new from this video? If so, what?” “Did anything in this video surprise you?” “How did you feel as you watched this?”
This 6-minute-long video from Buzzfeed is a great introduction to Pride Month: Why do We Have Gay Pride Month in the United States?
8. Create a Pride Playlist with Your Team
Invite your team to contribute to a Pride playlist! Everyone can share a favorite song by an LGBTQ artist. Or, pick a song that embodies the idea of “pride” to you.
A few can’t-miss artists who are proudly LGBTQ+:
- Frank Ocean
- Halsey
- Jason Mraz
- The Indigo Girls
- Brandi Carlile
Need more ideas? Explore this list of 30 Singers You May Not Know are LGBT.
9. Plan a Pride Month Reading Club – One of Our Favorite Pride Work Ideas!
We love the idea of a temporary book club. Experience all the joys of a book club, without a long-term commitment.
For instance, host a Pride Month book club that meets virtually during the month of June. Then, everyone is relieved of the commitment until the next opportunity comes up to host a month-long reading session.
One of our favorite Pride Month reads is “The Well of Loneliness,” the first mainstream novel about lesbianism. This book has been censored and banned in many places since its publication. Published in 1928, this safe-for-work novel by British author Radclyffe Hall examines the feelings of isolation and loneliness that LGBTQ people can feel in a heteronormative society.
Another great read: “Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America.” This book by Rachel Hope Cleves details the history of two women who married during the early 1800s. By examining diaries, letters, poetry, and other original documents, the author traces the lives of these two women and their 44-year-long marriage.
Peruse Good Housekeeping’s list of 40 Fantastic LGBT Books to Read This Pride Month.
10. Watch LGBT Movies with Your Team
Planning a virtual social with your team? Make it a movie night!
With an online streaming service, you can play a movie on a video call with your team. Use the chat box or your microphones to share commentary, questions, jokes, and insights in real time.
Check out Mashable’s list of 34 essential LGBTQ films to stream this Pride Month. Movies of all genres are included – be sure to check ratings to select a film that’s appropriate for your workplace.
11. Plan a Day of Solidarity with the Trans Community – One of Our Favorite Pride Work Ideas!
Supporting trans people and your trans employees has always been important – but it feels especially critical and timely in 2023. Across the United States and around the world, it takes an incredible amount of courage simply to exist as a trans person.
Show your allyship with the trans community by planning a corporate day of solidarity.
What could a day of solidarity with the trans community look like?
- Match employee donations to organizations serving transgender youth.
- Encourage employees to wear light blue, white, and/or pink in solidarity – the colors of the Trans Pride Flag.
- Hire an expert to host a transgender-inclusive training, if this isn’t something you’re already offering to new hires and employees.
A day of solidarity is a great catalyst to examine your internal processes year-round, too. For example, re-examine dress code policies that may reinforce gender stereotypes, as well as HR forms that only offer male and female gender identity checkboxes.
Get started with this article from the Human Rights Campaign: Understanding the Transgender Community.
12. Host a Pride Month Lunch & Learn
Get your team together for a Pride Month virtual lunch and learn. Encourage everyone to log on with their lunch for meaningful conversation around Pride Month topics.
During this call, you might hire a speaker or facilitator to educate your team on the history of Pride, followed by a group dialogue and questions. Or, you might use this time to plan some of the other activities in this list collaboratively with your team.
You could also use your Pride Month Lunch & Learn to examine your company’s policies and how they relate to issues of equity and equality. For instance, do your employees have ideas about how your company can show its support for the LGBTQ community?
Browse the LGBT Speakers Agency to find Pride Month speakers. You’ll find authors, teachers, humanitarians, athletes – and even Antoni, food and wine expert from Netflix’s Queer Eye!
13. Encourage Employees to Share their Pronouns
These days, there’s a lot of talk about pronouns in society and in the news. Everyone has pronouns, and sharing them can help create an inclusive environment while making communication easier for everyone. Fortunately, modern technology makes it easier than ever to learn and respect everyone’s pronouns.
Here are a few places you can list your pronouns:
- Email signature
- LinkedIn profile (LinkedIn now offers a field for this information!)
- Slack and other messaging apps
- Zoom and videoconferencing platforms
- Business card
- Social media profiles
- Just about anywhere you list your name
Including your pronouns in your communications can help create a culture of inclusion for nonbinary and trans coworkers. Additionally, it can prevent confusion for people who have gender-ambiguous names, such as Jordan or Alex. It also supports psychological safety for everyone.
Useful Article: Here’s a great article from Medium on how to input pronouns on many different technology tools.
14. Throw Your Own Pride Party
Foster team bonding and collaboration across your entire organization by throwing your own virtual Pride party!
For this activity, distribute duties to facilitate the party across departments and teams. Teams can attend to event needs like food and drink, entertainment, giveaways, and more!
Encourage creativity in the process with fun items such as party invitations. Or, creating educational information about Pride. By working together, everyone can help to make the virtual party a success!
Additionally, support LGBTQ vendors and businesses throughout your party. Consider ordering food and drinks from an LGBTQ-owned caterer to be delivered to employees on the day of the party. Or, purchase party favors from an LGBTQ-owned business.
15. Watch an Inspirational Speech & Discuss Together
The namesake inspiration for the 2008 film “Milk,” Harvey Milk (1930-78) was a gay rights activist as well as the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.
“The Hope Speech” is Milk’s most famous speech, which he first delivered in 1978 at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade, on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. This inspiring address emphasizes the importance of hope combined with action.
Milk shared, “Unless you have dialogue, unless you open the walls of dialogue, you can never reach to change people’s opinion…Once you have dialogue starting, you know you can break down prejudice.”
Listen to this inspiring speech with your team and discuss it together. You might prompt your team with questions like: How do you think the fight toward LGBTQ rights has or hasn’t changed since Milk’s time? What in this speech resonated most with you?
Hear Sir Ian McKellen deliver Harvey Milk’s “The Hope Speech” in this video. You can also read the speech transcript.
16. Work with LGBTQ Businesses
Another way to celebrate Pride Month is to incorporate working with LGBTQ-owned businesses. As a team, evaluate what companies you regularly do business with throughout your work. Then, determine how you may expand your list to incorporate businesses with LGBTQ representation.
On a large scale, consider doing business with LGBTQ-led companies throughout your entire portfolio. Or, look to hire LGBTQ-owned businesses for upcoming projects or on-going needs.
On a smaller scale, you can make quick switches to support LGBTQ businesses. For instance, purchase swag for employees from an LGBTQ brand. Or, source your office supplies from LGBTQ-owned vendors.
Working with LGBTQ businesses is a great way to invest in LGBTQ communities. By making a financial commitment to supporting your local LGBTQ businesses on an ongoing basis, your team can create lasting impact.
17. Expand Your Diversity Training
Looking to celebrate Pride Month for the first time? Start with training!
Training is a great way to open up conversations amongst your team. Therefore, promote a LGBTQ diversity training for team members to join. Plus, this is a great way to highlight your company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Training can explore topics such as gender identity, sexual orientation, usage of pronouns, coming out at work, and supporting co-workers who are transitioning.
In addition, be sure to not single out LGBTQ employees during the training process or ask employees to speak for the entire queer community.
18. Explore LGBTQ Landmarks & Historic Sites
Give your team a day off to explore an LGBTQ monument or site close to them. Then, get everyone together on a video call to share photos and discuss your visit.
You can find LGBTQ monuments and sites across the world. That means that no matter where your virtual team members live, they can most likely find someplace close to them to explore.
For employees who don’t live near any LGBTQ historic sites (or who have mobility challenges or other barriers that prevent them from visiting), encourage them to take a virtual tour of a significant site. The NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project is a great place to get started.
If you’re in the U.S., explore the National Park Service’s list of LGBTQ Heritage Featured Places.
19. Avoid Stereotypes
These days, there’s a lot of public discussion about the LGBTQ community. As with any community, stereotypes and tropes can become part of this discourse.
Avoid stereotyping the LGBTQ community throughout your Pride Month activities. Communicate with your employees that this behavior will not be tolerated. Plus, incorporate how to not fall to assumptions about LGBTQ people amongst your activities.
As you learn more about the LGBTQ community, you can work to dismantle stereotypes and bias employees may hold.
20. Play Pride Month Trivia With Your Team
Gather your team on a video call to learn and connect together with Pride Month trivia! This activity is on the honor system – no Googling the answers!
A few Pride Month trivia questions to get you started:
- When did Pride begin? June 1970
- When was homosexuality become federally legal in the U.S.? 2003
- How many countries have legalized same-sex marriage? 33
Pro tip: use a service like Kahoot to streamline your trivia game. Be sure to gift the winner(s) a small treat, like a gift card for a coffee or even a few hours off.
Find more Pride trivia questions here: 50 LGBTQ Trivia Questions and Answers to Honor LGBTQIA+ Communities During Pride Month and Beyond.
21. Send Postcards & Notes to LGBTQ Communities
Encourage your team members to celebrate Pride Month by sending postcards or handwritten letters to the LGBTQ community! This is a heartfelt way to show support and encouragement to local LGBTQ people in your area.
As a not so common form of communication today, a handwritten note can be very impactful. Dedicate time as a team to write notes to LGBTQ people of their choice.
Letters can be written to clients at local nonprofit organizations that support LGBTQ people or impactful people in employees’ lives. Plus, spark employee creativity by crafting handmade postcards on a virtual call together!
No matter your style, this activity will spread support, love, and encouragement to the LGBTQ community during Pride Month all while promoting team bonding!
22. Launch an Employee Resource Group
Does your company have an employee resource group for LGBTQ staff? If not, form one for interested employees during the month.
Employee resource groups give staff with similar experiences or perspectives a space to be empowered, share, and find support. Plus, resources groups create an inclusive and safe environment for employees in your workplace.
Ensure that the employee resource group aligns with your company values and incorporates company policies and the interests of your LGBTQ employees. The group should be led and represented by interested LGBTQ staff members.
23. Publish Pride Month Blog Articles
Does your company post blog articles on your website? If so, incorporate Pride Month themes into your June blog posts!
Publishing Pride-themed articles is a great way to show your support for the LGBTQ community. Furthermore, you can incorporate ways for your readers to support the community as well.
Explore blog topics like these as you brainstorm potential articles to write:
- How your company is promoting Pride Month at work
- How your company has expanded your diversity policies to further support LGBTQ employees
- LGBTQ leaders in your company and industry
- LGBTQ organizations you support and ways your readers can join in supporting causes
By incorporating this activity into your Pride Month plans, you can not only continue promoting visibility for your company but also share your support for the LGBTQ community.
24. Avoid Performative Actions
It is vital to be authentic when celebrating Pride Month and showing support for the LGBTQ community. Unfortunately, some companies can be seen simply celebrating for the sake of the marketing opportuntity.
Avoid being a performative company by genuinely encouraging LGBTQ support throughout your company culture and policies year-round.
To truly be a supportive workplace of the LGBTQ community, you must ensure your actions are providing meaningful impact internally and externally.
25. Share Pride Quotes on Social Media
This Pride Month, share quotes from LGBTQ activists, historians, celebrities, and more!
A powerful quote can educate, move, and inspire people. Quotes are also highly “shareable,” especially if the audience resonates with your message.
Utilize your company social media platforms to lift up voices in the LGBTQ community and share your support for LGBTQ issues.
Use your company’s brand colors and fonts to stylize the quotes so they reflect your organization’s personality. Additionally, this will help your posts look cohesive on your Instagram grid and other platforms.
To get started posting Pride Month quotes, check out our guide: 70+ Pride Month Quotes for 2023.
26. Host a Pride Month Happy Hour
Does your team love a happy hour? If so, host a Pride-themed virtual cocktail party!
For this activity, provide employees with a list of ingredients that will be needed to make a featured drink. Consider hiring an LGBTQ mixologist to lead your employees through learning to make the drink. In addition, you can share LGBTQ owned companies that employees can support when purchasing needed ingredients.
Make this happy hour memorable with a colorful twist of rainbow cocktails and mocktails! For additional fun and learning, you can combine your Pride Month Happy Hour with an interactive program, like Unexpected Virtual Tours’ Pride Month team building session.
27. Evaluate Your Company Discrimination & Diversity Policies
While you have a company-wide focus on LGBTQ issues, take the opportunity to evaluate your organization’s diversity and inclusion policies related to LGBTQ employees. If your company does not have a discrimination and diversity policy, collaborate to create one!
Diversity and inclusion policies are vital for companies to implement today. By protecting employees in your workforce, you develop a work culture where team members feel safe to express themselves.
Allow employees to contribute to the creation or updating of your policy. Encourage all voices and open mindedness as you collaborate.
This activity will not only bring the company policy to the front of mind for your employees but also allows coworkers to be involved in creating the company culture they want to have!
28. Don’t Force Participation
It is important to not force employee participation in diversity, equity, and inclusion themed celebrations. While creating space for employees to participate, be sure to not make activities mandatory.
Some employees may not want to participate due to not being out or may live in an unsafe location for LGBTQ people. As a result, forceful participation can be counterintuitive. It may cause unsafe situations or apprehension amongst your workforce.
As you share Pride Month activities with your workplace, allow all interested employees to participate but do not draw attention to any people that do not wish to participate.
While you want to showcase your company policies and culture, you can still allow for optional involvement from employees.
Frequently Asked Questions about Pride Month
When is Pride Month?
Pride Month is celebrated during the month of June. In 2023, Pride Month will be June 1-30, 2023.
Where is Pride Month celebrated?
Pride Month is primarily celebrated in the United States. However, you can find Pride Month festivities around the globe – even in areas where it is not an officially recognized occasion.
Why is it important to celebrate Pride Month at work?
Celebrating Pride Month in your workplace is a great way to recognize and support all employees regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
By openly supporting the LGBTQ community, staff members are reminded that they can be themselves and that your company provides equal opportunities for all employees.
Here are a few benefits of celebrating Pride Month at work:
- Inclusion is promoted among employees
- Address stereotypes and biases against LGBTQ employees and community
- Allow the workplace to be a safe space for LGBTQ workers
- Employees become more invested in their work and the company
- Show current and future employees your company values
How did Pride begin?
Pride originated as a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising (sometimes called the Stonewall Riots). In the early hours of June 28, 1969, police conducted a raid on a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City.
Unfortunately, during this time, being gay was a criminal offense. In fact, it was illegal to serve alcohol to a gay person until 1966. Raids on gay bars were standard procedure, but this raid would go down in history as the birth of the Pride movement.
Led by courageous transwomen, people at the Stonewall Inn protested the raid, leading to a six-day-long resistance. By just the second evening, thousands of protestors had gathered. Confrontation, violence, and escalation ensued for nearly a week. In the aftermath of Stonewall, many people became more engaged in activism and advocating for the equal treatment for LGBT people.
The first Pride march was held one year later, on June 28, 1970.
Learn more about the Stonewall Uprising from the Library of Congress.
Is Pride Month the same as LGBT History Month?
Pride Month and LGBT History Month are two separate and distinct events.
LGBT History Month specifically celebrates the achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as well as the history of gay rights and related movements. Pride Month is dedicated to celebrating community visibility and the ongoing movement toward equality.
The U.S., Canada, and Australia celebrate LGBT History Month in October to coincide with National Coming Out Day on October 11. The date is also a nod to the 1979 and 1987 October marches on Washington for LGBT rights.
A high school history teacher named Rodney Wilson created LGBT History Month in 1994. A year later, the General Assembly of the National Education Association passed a resolution that included designating October as LGBT History Month.
Will it be uncomfortable or inappropriate to discuss sexual orientations at work?
There’s a big difference between “talking about sex at work” and “talking about sexual orientation at work.” While the former certainly is uncomfortable and inappropriate, the latter is simply part of creating an inclusive workplace.
For many of us, our sexual orientation is integral to who we are. After all, there’s typically nothing scandalous about a heterosexual employee discussing their spouse or family, or an upcoming wedding. It’s important to ensure all employees feel comfortable bringing their whole, authentic selves to work. Inclusive activities like Pride Month virtual events can help ensure everyone feels welcome, included, and supported.
Pride Month Glossary
Language is ever-evolving – and that’s a good thing! Below, we’re sharing a brief glossary of a few commonly-used words related to Pride Month.
- LGBTQIA: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Questioning, Intersex, Asexual & Agender
- Queer: Once used an an insult, “queer” has been reclaimed as a descriptive adjective that many people use proudly. The dictionary definition of queer as “strange; odd” is becoming much less common and can be demeaning to people who identify their sexual orientation as “queer.”
- Cisgender: Sometimes referred to as “cis,” a cisgender person is someone who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth.
- Transgender / Trans: A transgender or trans person is someone whose gender identity does not align with the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans people may or may not take steps to transition. Learn more about transgender people with this FAQ post from the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Want to learn the meaning of additional Pride Month words and phrases? Check out a more complete glossary of Pride Month terminology, from Reading Pride Celebration.
We wish you and your team a safe, happy, and celebratory Pride filled with learning and fun. Looking for more virtual DEI team building ideas? If so, explore our Diversity and Equity Virtual Team Building free resources!
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