Pride: Celebrating a Journey of Self-Acceptance

Pride comes in all different forms. Whether its pride in yourself and your identity, or for how others live authentically, it’s always inspiring to hear stories of what makes the LGBTQ+ community feel proud. Kieran Smith, Regional Implementation Manager for the Opera Project at Whitbread, spoke to myGwork about what celebrating Pride means to him, and what he hopes can be achieved for LGBTQ+ rights within the next year.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about yourself and your career

My name is Kieran, I’m 30 years old and I am Pansexual. I currently work for Whitbread as a Regional Implementation Manager for the Opera Project. I started with Whitbread 6 years ago as a Back of House Team member after being made redundant from a Kitchen Manager role. I started my work life as a pot wash at the age of 16 and have worked my way through kitchen management, hotel management and now into project work.

What does Pride mean to you?

For me, Pride is all about being able to express who you are without judgement and taking yourself on a journey of self-acceptance, loving yourself and others for we are. It’s a peaceful protest to show the world that acceptance is the key to a bright future and demonstrating that we can all embrace each other's differences.

Why do you think Pride is important?

I feel that Pride is important as we still have a worrying number of countries and communities that do not recognise LGBTQ+ people as human beings who should have access to the same rights as everyone else. The deterioration of progress that we are seeing in many governments across the world right now proves that Pride is still needed to highlight the injustice and persecution of those of us who do not fit into pre-defined stereotypes. Highlighting the persecution of our community during Pride, and throughout the year, for me is key to ensure future generations can live in a world where we aren’t afraid for our lives to ‘come out’ or show the world who we truly are and how we truly feel.

What is your favourite Pride memory?

My favourite Pride memory has to be last year, attending Manchester Pride with Whitbread’s GLOW community. It was my first Pride and my first time walking in a parade like that! As an organisation they do so much for Diversity and Inclusion as a whole and to walk in that parade, with Whitbread banners flying high, was really powerful. It showed those of us there how committed Whitbread is to celebrating our community and ensuring there are no barriers for anyone who works for Whitbread. We all made close friendships that day and I’m really looking forward to meeting up with everyone again this year!

What do you hope is accomplished by this time next year?

I really hope that by this time next year, even more governments and communities come to accept the LGBTQ+ community, treating all LGBTQ+ people as human beings deserving of the same rights as everyone else. What an amazing world it would be if none of us felt the need to ‘come out’. If we could live our lives, love who we love and express ourselves how we want, without the need for protest or persecution, it would be a better world for all of us! A big dream, no doubt, but one I hope we can all aspire to!

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