Moving with Pride

Want to give a shout out to Brian Friedman and the team over at Benivo that hosted a recent show on LinkedIn (View from the Top) on "Moving with Pride - Spotlight on LGBTQ+ Mobility". If you were unable to attend, we highly recommend watching the recording. Sharing quality resources, stories, and expertise goes a long way towards moving DEI initiatives forward. Awareness and approach are critical to duty of care within global mobility and there were good doses of both within the program. Hint: if you do go back and watch, be sure to watch the comments down the side as attendees offered some additional resources that are very worthy and will help provide insights needed for effectively managing your global mobility policy.

Expatriates who identify as LGBTQ+ are likely to have a whole set of concerns as they look around the world and ponder a specific assignment. I recently saw that A UN expert says the human rights of LGBTQ+ people are being deliberately undermined by some state governments in the United States and has urged the Biden administration to strengthen measures to protect them. The expert recognized that significant measures have been adopted by the Biden administration to address these challenges, but they were under a concerted attack. It should be noted that the Senate just took a crucial step toward passing landmark legislation to provide federal protections for same-sex marriages with the Respect for Marriage Act that is on track to become law soon. In this case, 12 Republicans joined 50 Democrats to advance the bill which is as close to bipartisanship we have seen in the Senate.

In the Benivo session, there was a great stream of conversation that discussed some of the legal and cultural challenges that present for mobile employees while they are on assignment or relocating to a new country. How honest do you have to be on immigration paperwork? How will the new/host country address same sex marriage and children? What happens if someone gets sick from the perspective of medical assistance and from insurance coverage? What kind of advice and resources are provided or made available to your LGBTQ+ mobile employees? 

After watching the recording, head over to a few of our previous posts to consider some additional information:

What does the MEI mean for DEI?

Top 10 LGBTQIA+ friendly destinations for 2022 

A new LGBTQ workforce has arrived — is your mobility program keeping up?

Are you doing enough to support LGBTQI employees?

In our world right now, the LGBTQ+ community of individuals are exposed to unique risks, sometimes deadly, that can be hard to notice. Outside of the session, here are some additional stats from Travel Guard to consider and wrap your head around:

• 82% of LGBTQ+ travelers say they have had less-than-welcoming - or uncomfortable - experiences when traveling, with 65% reporting they have to consider their safety and wellbeing.
• LGBTQ+ travelers from India (100%), Denmark (97%) and Mexico (93%) have negative public experiences more frequently.
• 55% of LGBTQ+ travelers say they have experienced discrimination while traveling, citing stereotyping (28%) and being stared at, laughed at or verbally abused by other travelers (18%) or locals (17%) as top offenders.

They follow this up with some key recommendations and advice. Check out their LGBTQ Travel Safety Tips Infographic along with their additional helpful resources and external resources recommendations! Also, looking for a good resource to educate yourself or others...try: The ABCs of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+. As companies grapple with DE&I initiatives, wellbeing challenges and overall duty of care, consider how you can turn the dial to provide greater support and care of those being supported by global mobility.