OTD Chile expounds at the launching of a British guide produced by Stonewall UK for inclusion at work for LGBTIQ+ people

(London, September 11, 2019).- OTD Chile took part in the launching of a new version of the international guide about inclusion at work for LGBTIQ+ people, produced by the British organization Stonewall, which includes our country for the first time, joining to the 27 reports that have been published since 2016.

In the meeting, legal and social difficulties that employers face around the world when hiring people with non-hegemonic sexuality and gender were examined. Matías Valenzuela Cortez, the legal advisor of OTD, emphasize the importance of the eradication of discriminatory practices in the processes of employee recruitment, and inspect the dress codes that may be a threat for non-binary, genderqueer or androgynous people. Matías also called on enterprises to avoid the pinkwashing and to be categorical when penalizing the discrimination in their workplaces.

The active executive director of Stonewall, Paul Twocock, participated in the event and explained: “many organizations operate in many parts of the world where LGBT people face deep discriminations, but we think that the employers can play an important role to help to level the path for the progress of LGBT equality. Our informative sessions about workplaces around the world, provide information to employees about the challenges that LGBT people face in different countries, so they can understand in a better way the thigs they should do in order to guarantee the safety of their employees. There are some examples of best practices of some of the most important global inclusive employers around the world about how they can support their LGBT employees”. He added: “the employees and the enterprises play an important role to impulse the equality both inside and outside of the workplace. By working together, we can help to speed up the day when all LGBT people can feel safe and accepted.”

Stonewall is a pro bono client of the British law firm Freshfields, and this law firm collaborated with the composition of the report. From Chile, OTD held a meeting with Charlotte Lush, who is in charge of gathering the perspectives of civil society, and so the foundation Fundación Iguales was incorporated in that work. On that subject, she said that “the reports highlight the wide variety of contexts around the world for the LGBT people and the legal, political, and social barriers they frequently face. To help in a more effective way to their employees wherever they work, the enterprises must have an integral understanding of the special situation and challenges that LGBT people face in their country.”

In the meeting, there were also present the lawyer of Freshfields, Piusha Bose, and via video call, the co-founder of the Indian organization Pride Circle, Ram Sinha, the lawyer of the Chilean study Carey, Patricia Silberman, and the OTD legal advisor.

Click here to access to all the reports: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/global-workplace-briefings

Click here to access to the report of Chile: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/global_workplace_briefing_chile_final.pdf