Out Leadership Releases European LGBTQ Ally Research

Out Leadership, the oldest and largest coalition of global companies working to improve LGBTQ equality in the world, has released AllyUp: Europe. The organization's first-of-its-kind research study was completed over the past 18 months in collaboration with Out Leadership member firm FCB.

This report launch is part of Out Leadership's 2020 Europe Summit Closing Session.
In June, the organization published AllyUp, the first of a series of reports on allyship, based on initial findings from its Global LGBT+ Workplace Study, which surveyed over 5,000 workers in 13 countries around the world.

The AllyUp Report Series maps how organizations can build alliance and inclusion at every level of engagement: among coworkers, across the enterprise, and throughout the larger community.

Historically, allyship has referred to how non-marginalized communities stood up for and supported the needs and voices of those at the margins. The learnings this research illuminated is true across all of the conversations around racism, nationalism, xenophobia and more: Allyship is authentic when centered on education, action and amplifying the needs and voices of the community it seeks to support. Today, allyship is more important and relevant than ever.

Though many European countries are leaders in providing government protections for LGBTQ individuals, our research has found that "policy does not equal culture."

"Government protections are a key part of the puzzle, but when LGBTQ+ individuals continue to experience workplace discrimination, inclusion is far from a reality," said Out Leadership Founder and CEO Todd Sears. "Knowing you will be met with acceptance and allyship is the number one reason someone will feel safe to come out in the workplace."

"Allyship must be a verb," Sears continued. "Our research shows us that the gap exists between intention and action, and at Out Leadership, we hope that by measuring the gap, we can collectively work to address it."

AllyUp uncovers the impact of allyship on LGBTQ individuals' experience in the workplace and unpacks the inconsistency between identification and action. Drawing on more than 5,000 survey participants' responses, AllyUp reveals a profound gap between stated allyship and resulting action. The report is the second in the series with a focus on the reality of LGBQ allyship in Europe. The data represents 11 countries, 4 of which are European: Germany, UK, Italy and France.

5 Findings From AllyUp: Europe

While on average, 90% of European employees support workplace and governmental protections for LGBTQ individuals, but only 56% of non- LGBTQ respondents identify as allies.

Only 45% of self-identified allies actively protect their LGBTQ colleagues from harassment in the workplace.

LGBTQ Europeans feel they spend 17.6% of their time at work covering their LGBTQ identity to some extent.

49% of those who identify as allies do not consider taking action to be part of an ally's job.

47% of LGBTQ workers have experienced micro-aggressions at work.