What Happens After the Pride Flags Come Down?

Pride Month is ending, and for many organizations, that means the rainbow logos will quietly disappear, the social media posts will taper off, and things will go “back to normal.”

But for LGBTQIA+ employees, “normal” often means navigating workplaces and a world that still doesn’t see them clearly, protect them consistently, or celebrate them fully. This month we even saw court decisions and discourse that did active harm to the LGBTQIA+ community. Pride was never meant to be a branding opportunity– it was, and still is, a protest.

A movement born from resistance, resilience, and a deep refusal to be erased.

So what happens when the celebration ends? What remains after the flags come down?

Inclusion Without Infrastructure Is Just Optics

Too often, we confuse visibility with inclusion, and inclusion with equity. But while representation matters, what LGBTQIA+ workers need most isn’t better marketing– it’s better systems, better policies, and better leadership.

In trauma-informed workplaces, safety isn’t seasonal. Belonging isn’t conditional. And resilience isn’t something people have to earn by surviving exclusion.

The data backs this up:

• 46% of LGBTQIA+ employees say they are closeted at work.¹
• 82% of trans workers share that they've faced discrimination or harassment in their lives²
• Nearly 50% of LGBTQIA+ employees say they’ve experienced discrimination or harassment on the job.³

And this just scratches the surface, when we dive deeper into the importance of trauma informed practices in supporting LGBTQIA+ employees, we see the outsized impacts of trauma on this community. (You can read more here in a piece I wrote last year.)

We can’t build resilient workplaces while expecting queer employees to carry the burden of broken systems.

From Symbolic to Systemic: A Post-Pride Audit

If we want Pride to mean something beyond June, we need to move from symbolic gestures to systemic action. Here’s where to start:

• Audit Your Benefits–  Are your health plans inclusive of gender-affirming care, family planning for all family structures, and mental health providers with LGBTQIA+ competence?
• Update Your Policies– Do your nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies explicitly protect gender identity and sexual orientation, and are they enforced consistently? Do your handbook and broader policies reflect inclusion and representation as a priority? 
• Build Manager Competency– Have your people leaders been trained to navigate conversations about identity with care, cultural humility, and legal awareness?
• Track Representation (and Retention) - Are LGBTQIA+ employees advancing into leadership roles? Are they staying — and if not, do you know why?
• Plan Beyond June - What programs, ERG support, recognition, or training are scheduled for the other 11 months of the year?

Psychological Safety Isn’t Seasonal

Pride Month may be over, but the work of inclusion is never on pause. Resilient workplaces — the kind that retain top talent, foster innovation, and build long-term trust — don’t rely on optics. They invest in culture. In repair. In care.

And that starts by asking: What happens after the flags come down?

If the answer is "not much,"  that’s your invitation to begin again.

¹HRC | HRC REPORT: Startling Data Reveals Half of LGBTQ Employees in…

²Workplace Experiences of Transgender Employees - Williams Institute

³Almost half of LGBTQ+ people have faced discrimination at work - LGBTQ Nation

In Case You Missed It

We had an all-star panel this past week join us to chat about Mental Health and AI. You can check out the replay on YouTube. (And stay tuned, we might have a part two of this conversation coming!)

The Wounded Workforce® rolled out another great free resource, a free interactive checklist to find out how trauma-informed your workplace really is. Check it out here- How Trauma Informed Is Your Workplace? | The Wounded Workforce

We also recently rolled out our Trauma Inform Your Hiring Process Resources & Checklist as a free resource as well!

And, if you want access to free resources and exclusive offers first, make sure to subscribe on our website- Subscribe. We never share or sell your information (that wouldn't be very trauma-informed)!

The incomparable Julie Turney, (HRforHR) just rolled out a new program The HR Bridge Group Coaching Program for HR professionals.

HR Bridge is a 6-week group coaching program for HR professionals who want to deepen their business acumen, strengthen strategic confidence, and embrace the tools of modern HR, from AI to analytics, while still caring for themselves. Make sure and check it ou!