Resources 7 min read

Inclusion with borders. 7 ways to tackle inequality.

Author

Martin Kmiecik (he/him)

Published

2020

Global companies care about the few while the rest is left on their own.

Earlier this month our CEO, Martin Kmiecik, spent a weekend in Poland filming a story with BBC about the LGBT-Free zones in Poland. Since the government passed legislation back in December 2019, a third of Poland has declared itself to be an official “LGBT-free” zone as local municipalities sign a pledge adopting resolutions against “LGBT propaganda”.

Although Martin have lived in the UK for over a decade, he says he could not and will not be silenced when he goes back to Poland to visit his family even though where they live is now also an LGBT-Free zone!

Going back home is like going back to the closet and never feels right - Martin added. And he can now be prosecuted or discriminated against just because of my sexuality. Now, more than ever Martin feels like he must do something about it and support the activists who are working for LGBTQ+ rights in his home country.

Martin Kmiecik holding a rainbow-coloured flag of Poland

Protest

On March 1st, together with the BBC crew, Martin have joined activists from Poland on a protest against Archbishop Marek Jerdraszewski who warned of “rainbow plague” amid LGBT tensions in Poland.

The day started very peacefully with around 40 activists participating in a legal protest close to the church where he hosted Sunday service. From the moment they arrived at the location, the atmosphere was very tense, an extensive number of police officers were securing the building; no person who looked like an LGBTQ activist was allowed to join the service inside the church, even if they are believers in God. To add more, there was a group of around 30-40 men who suspiciously gathered near the protesters - it was tense.

Suddenly, towards the end of the protest, police got the whole group of protesters into lockdown and asked everyone to show their IDs. No one was allowed to leave until everyone's details were recorded by the police - 3 of the officers surrounded Martin (see picture at the top) and right there pulled up all his details from the system - it was scary. What was even scarier and extremely depressing is that when he approached people to answer a couple of questions for the story he is covering with BBC, Martin and the LGBTQ community have been called "paedophiles, sick people, and criminals"- it is a never-ending story. A few people suggested LGBTQ individuals should just "leave the country" if they want to practise the "LGBT ideology".

What else can you do today?

1

Training

Introduce compulsory diversity and inclusion training for all employees, everywhere. LGBTQ rights are under threat in many countries but we must not forget about other strands of diversity which we should talk about: women rights, BAME, disabilities (physical and mental), mental health and wellbeing, faith, immigration - these should all be included in the leadership development, HR programmes and all employees on managerial position training! We don't think there is a need for me to outline the benefits of having diverse and inclusive teams!?