Our journey so far in becoming an LGBT+ inclusive employer
As the UK’s intelligence and cyber agency we’re proud to help protect and serve a diverse nation and are committed to do all we can as an employer to be representative of those communities we serve. As part of LGBT+ History Month, we have reflected on our journey so far in becoming an LGBT+ inclusive employer.
GCHQ in 2021 is a very different organisation to the one we were a few decades ago. Today we have thriving LGBT+, women’s, ethnic minority and neurodiverse support networks amongst others. We are working continuously to eliminate systemic barriers: one such example is our trans policy, which aims to shape our trans-inclusive organisation to treat all individuals’ gender identity and expression with dignity and respect.
But we haven’t always been this way. It has been five years since GCHQ made a public apology for our historical prejudice against gay people, which up until the 1990s caused appalling hurt to many who worked here. As the then Director GCHQ, Robert Hannigan said when he spoke at the Stonewall Workplace Conference in April 2016, “we did not learn our lesson from Turing”.
Alan Turing is our most famous member of staff, well-known for two reasons: as a mathematical giant who helped to break the Enigma code; and for being gay. At GCHQ he is revered as a genius and an example to others. During his trial many of his former colleagues stood by him and our then Head of Cryptanalysis was given official approval to act as a character witness for Turing, telling the court he was a national asset.
But it took nearly 40 years after his death for the Government to remove the bar on LGBT+ people working for the intelligence agencies, and the effects of the bar lingered and people suffered. We know that in GCHQ as elsewhere, many LGBT+ people still do not come out at work for fear of facing discrimination.
The path to authentically becoming an LGBT+ inclusive employer is complex. We must remember our past, reflect on our mistakes, and continue to engage with and learn from the LGBT+ community with the hope that one day we can truly reflect the nation that we serve.
