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While the landmark judgment by Supreme Court that abolishes the draconian law encircling homosexuality (Sec. 377) has been appreciated widely, it has created a newfangled awareness about LGBTQ community.
Big corporate and startups have come in full support of the judgment and have assured to create a better workplace for the deprived and oppressed community.
In a tweet, the Tata Group pledged to create an all-inclusive workplace that doesn’t discriminate on the basis of sex, caste, gender, religion or sexual orientation.
We welcome the landmark judgement by the Supreme Court on #Section377. We have always provided equal opportunities for employment at Tata, irrespective of race, caste, gender, religion or sexual orientation. #PrideIndia
— Tata Group (@TataCompanies) September 7, 2018
There have always been roadblocks in the path of the LGBTQ+ community, especially in a workplace. In fact, some were coerced to quit a job after coming out of the closet, others are still targeted and bullied if they are vocal about their orientation.
Transgenders are the worst victim of this grand scheme of events because for them it is not a fight of orientation, rather a fight for gender recognition. Because of the stigma associated with them, most are deprived of jobs of any kind, forcing them to beg for survival. H
owever, of late, many startups have taken this issue seriously and have resolved to end this divide.
For instance, The Bangaluru-based home aggregator startup NestAway has made many changes in its policies to accommodate more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer to their workforce.
The app-based firm even re-designed its restrooms to make its offices more inclusive. “We redesigned toilets in our offices to be gender agnostic,” says Amarendra Sahu, Co-founder of NestAway.
Jumping into it quickly, the food delivery wing of Uber – Uber Eats – too have included transgenders in the delivery team and has pledged to provide a convivial environment for them. A 29-year-old transgender Preethisha asserts that her workplace at UberEats has always been supportive and warm.
Preethisha’s placement had been orchestrated by the Chennai-based PeriFerry, an organization that works incessantly to uplift the status of oppressed communities.
Founder of the organizations Neelam Jain says “With multinational corporations and bigger firms, there are layers and layers of approval to get.
The startups we worked with are willing to move fast and look into all the requirements of the person.
They are also open to training their team to ensure that the new hire integrates easily and has a comfortable working atmosphere”
In a similar fashion, the home cleaning firm Bro4U hired 40 plus transgender for its marketing and promotional activities.
The Chennai-based DropTaxi’s publicity is handled by a full-fledged transgender team. All of these steps are firm statements broadcasting the need for inclusion, the need for creating a diverse workforce, and the need for societal transformation.
#LGBT inclusive societies are good for business and economic growth. See more here: https://t.co/nmQl8XpFFE #OpenForBiz @OFB_LGBT
— McKinsey & Company (@McKinsey) June 28, 2017
While the startups are geared up to diversify their workforce by accommodating the LGBTQ+ community, big corporations are also taking steps towards the same.
The big names in the industry such as IBM, Microsoft, et al have revised their policies in order to include the community. Also, such organizations are hosting awareness programs that explain the need for inclusion.
In fact, McKinsey & Company has opined in a tweet that with more and more LGBT recruits, the business and economic growth would be immense.
These are just baby steps towards the realization of a greater goal – ridding the society of discrimination. And hopefully, it will be realized soon.