Hearst UK's Makda Kiros on LGBTQ+ allyship

Hearst UK's Partnerships Lead, Makda Kiros talks about her experience as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. Makda leaves you with some advice to become a better ally - read through.

Can you please introduce yourself and describe your role within your organization?

I am Makda Kiros and my role is Partnerships Lead here at Hearst UK.

What is your experience of being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community?

Being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community has been an experience of listening and learning. Specifically a journey of listening to understand rather than just gathering insight.

How, when and why did you decide to be an LGBTQ+ ally?

Because I have a diverse friendship group, including people from the LGBTQ community, being an ally feels like it's just an extension of who I am. The difference is, in recent years, I have been more outwardly supporting the community personally and being more involved in events supporting the community. I wouldn’t always call myself an ally as often I associate that with war and fighting. I would call myself a supporter of everyone. If I have friends from a community, my role is to support them in feeling seen and heard.

Do you march at Pride?

I was part of Hearst’s very first pride group and went to Pride representing the pride group; it was an amazing experience as not only were we supporting our LGBT colleagues, but it also represented our company’s commitment to openly supporting the LGBT community on a bigger platform. We took 50 people from across the business, it was wild and such a great experience!

Have you ever been a witness of an LGBTQ-phobic situation? How have you reacted?

Yes, I have witnessed it with a friend of mine, and in that moment, for that friend's safety and mine, we removed ourselves from the situation as it wasn’t safe to engage with the men who were being homophobic.

In that moment, for me, it was a lesson to listen to my friend and their needs. We actually ended up in a gay bar following that, as that was what they needed at the time, a safe space for him around his community. I personally found the situation scary as it was men being homophobic towards my friend, who was also a man.

It was scary to see how they used their masculinity to dominate a situation, and I felt powerless against them as a woman. I needed to remove my feelings from it in the moment however, as it wasn’t about me and my fear; it was about my friend. I took a moment to understand how it affected them and me.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an ally?

I think, firstly, like all things, Google is your best friend. Learning and reading resources about the community can give you insight so you don’t just ask the first gay person you see loads of questions, and it shows you have an interest in their reality. I’d also say connecting with people opens your mind to layered identities like the nuances that exist between a white gay person’s experiences vs a black gay person’s experiences. That level of understanding comes from exposing yourself to people from those communities. Attending events that are educational and not just attending pride, which can largely be centred around parties for allies. It’s beyond the fun stuff. It's listening and learning from the community.

Disclaimer: The experiences and opinions shared by Makda Kiros in this article are her own and do not reflect those of her employer or her professional environment.