Celebrate Pride Month
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One way Partners promotes Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is through the observance and celebration of the Pride Community of LGBTQIA+ people. LGBTQIA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and many other terms such as non-binary, asexual/aromantic, pansexual, intersex, and all gender identities and sexual orientations that letters and words may not fully describe.
Understanding elements of Cast Member’s lives can help us understand how people become who they are; understanding and preserving our past is vital to our future. By weaving together of circumstances and nuances in the past we can develop a deeper and broader comprehension of our current world and forecast a clearer future.
Here are some ways to celebrate Pride Month:
Read
Eat
One thing families, including chosen families, do is eat together; share and hand down recipes, work together to provide for each other, sit at table in community to nourish body and soul, and offer thanks and acceptance. Food brings people together.
Food has been tied to LGBTQIA+ activism for decades; potlucks and brunches provide private and public occasions to live, and eat, authentically. Soup dinners, the location passed by invitation and word of mouth, became a respite at the end of a day of peaceful protest for human rights. The adoption of a largely vegetarian diet due to tight financial circumstances and the need to feed a house full of chosen family became a symbol of solidarity. Rainbow-colored food can proclaim Pride in who LGBTQIA+ people are.
Diet also plays a crucial role in health, especially for trans people in transition. The Pride community suffers about twice as much food insufficiency and insecurity as the rest of the population. LGBTQIA+ people also suffer disproportionately from eating disorders.
Chefs and authors like Lou Rand Hogan, Alice B. Toklas, James Beard, and Craig Claiborne, all identified as LGBTQIA+ and all had a profound impact on American and world cuisine and culinary culture.
During Pride month, you can connect by dining out at a LGBTQIA+-owned restaurant, participating in a teleconferenced queer cooking class, learning more about LGBTQIA+ chefs and authors, or indulge in a rainbow pastry or a drink in a rainbow tumbler by following the Disney Eats: Foodie Guide to Pride Month 2023.
Watch
Representation matters. The World Economic Forum reports “While the LGBTQIA+ community is quickly growing in scale, we are also seeing the impact of media representation on cultural acceptance. The majority of Americans are not only comfortable seeing LGBTQIA+ people in media and ads, but actually look more favorably upon brands who are LGBTQ-inclusive, according to GLAAD and P&G’s LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Advertising & Media report.”
Check out these titles on Disney+:
- Out
- Andor
- Star Wars Resistance
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
- Andi Mack
- Loki
- West Side Story
- Love, Victor
And of course, the curated collection for Pride also on Disney+.
Listen
In 2021, the Los Angeles Public Library posted Queer Up Your Stereo! Underground Music by LGBTQIA Artists on their blog, offering a selection of musicians to challenge your tastes with. If you know what you are looking for in music, you can always visit the library websites for your local area and search for your favorite LGBTQIA+ music and musicians; the links to the library Pride pages above can help.
Podcasts for every taste abound and can be found with the search engine of your choice.
WNYC Studios, part of New York Public Radio, offers Nancy; “Stories and conversations about the queer experience today. Prepare to laugh and cry and laugh again.” According to their website.
LGBTQ&A, produced by The Advocate and GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), has "weekly interviews with the most interesting LGBTQ+ people in the world."
A key way to practice DEIB is to listen, soliciting feedback and perspectives different from your own. Tuning in to the voices of LGBTQIA+ people is a vital step towards meeting the goals of Belonging.
Resources
Partners Federal Credit Union is offering two products to our Members in celebration and support of our Pride Community Members.
Members who are looking to grow their families can qualify for a Family Building Loan by selecting 'Family Building' when applying for a personal loan online. Whether you’re beginning your family building journey, or need assistance with childcare costs, an unsecured Partners Family Planning Loan could be a smart financing alternative to high-interest rate credit cards, with a fixed rate lower than most credit cards and manageable monthly payments. This loan offers:
- Loans from $500 – $50,000
- No collateral required
- Fixed rate and monthly payments
- No annual fees or pre-payment penalty
In early June this year, Partners will introduce our Pride-inspired Partners Visa® Debit Card from our new Proud Ally Collection, which represents our passion for equality and commitment to build a better future together. This debit card design was created in partnership with our PRIDE BERG (Business Employee Resource Group). For more information, keep a look out on partnersfcu.org/belong where we will be announcing more details soon.
Definitions
Ally – According to Forbes, a person from a privileged group works in conjunction with a marginalized group to help remove systems that challenge their basic rights, equal access and ability to thrive in society. The National Institutes of Health also underscores that allyship is “the practice of emphasizing inclusion and human rights by members of an ‘in’ group, to advance the interests of an oppressed or marginalized ‘out’ group.”
LGBTQ+ Key Terms and Concepts (youth.gov)
Learn how to Celebrate Asian Pacific American Month from Partners
Throughout this month, we invite you to share your Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebrations with us on Instagram. Tag @PartnersFCU* so that we can share your story with our Members. If you need a little more inspiration, take a look at last year’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month video, where we celebrate Partners cast members and their stories.
LGBTQ+ History
October is LGBTQ+ History Month, and there’s a lot to know. In line with the Partners strategic foundation of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and our core value of Respect and Care for Others, we embrace behaviors that build feelings of trust, safety, and wellbeing.
Partners Celebrates JAHM
This month, we celebrate the heritage of Jewish Americans in the United States. Let's honor the values, contributions and culture of Jewish Americans whose impacts carry us forward every day.