The Many Faces of Pride - Celebrating LGBT Pride Month 2016

June marks Pride Month where millions of people come together across the world to celebrate the LGBT community – to applaud the progress that has been made and to bring awareness to the struggles that still exist to reach equality for this community. 

In celebration of Pride Month, we will feature a series of blog articles demonstrating Symantec's commitment as a company - and the efforts of our employees as individuals - to foster a truly inclusive culture, community and industry.

"In line with America's commitment to the notion that all people should be treated fairly and with respect, champions of this cause at home and abroad are upholding the simple truth that LGBT rights are human rights….

…During Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, as Americans wave their flags of pride high and march boldly forward in parades and demonstrations, let us celebrate how far we have come and reaffirm our steadfast belief in the equal dignity of all Americans."

  United States President Barack Obama (Presidential Proclamation, LGBT Pride Month, 2016)

Our kick-off to this series begins with a highlight of recent articles on Symantec's recently launched Medium publication #iamtech, which explores the experience of minorities and women in tech through engaging personal stories from members of and advocates for the LGBT community within and outside of Symantec:

- C Moulee, Knowledge Engineer and LGBT rights advocate in our Chennai office shares his courageous story of fighting for LGBT equality in India where legislation still significantly discriminates against this population, the acceptance he instantly felt at Symantec, and how he spearheaded Symantec's first SymPride chapter in the APJ region. Read C Moulee's article "Making One Cubicle Safe at a Time".

- Additionally, Cass Averill Symantec employee and transgender activist discusses the variety of challenges for the transgender community in his article "Transgender Means so Much More Than Changing Your Body".

Cass has served as an internal and external champion for the transgender and broader LGBT community, helping Symantec develop LGBT friendly policies and guidelines, as well as being the first employee to transition on the job while at Symantec.

We hope you will join us in celebrating this month and learning more about how the passion, determination and collaborative spirit of our employees has made Symantec a leader in LGBT equality.

Ruha Devansean is Symantec's Manager, Global Diversity & Inclusion