Learning to be Better Allies at Goho’s Proud Pride Dinner 2024

Why do we have celebrations like Pride Month, Black History Month and International Women’s Day?

Some people may hold the perspective that allyship should be practiced everyday and shouldn’t be relegated to a single day or month of the year. However, having certain awareness days and month-long observances remind us that so much change must still happen to create a better world for us all. Pride Month helps us take time to have important conversations with each other and work on making a difference in the spaces we occupy.

Until everyone is equal, no one is equal.

This was the sentiment shared by our founder Stacey as she opened Goho’s Proud Pride Dinner 2024.

Pride Month was created to uplift and celebrate our LGBTQ+ friends and family, so in the community spirit of the month, we invited some of Goho’s closest friends and collaborators to a beautiful private dining suite in The Broadwick Soho on June 19.

We had a great view of the London skyline, plenty of drinks and a delicious three-course meal. However, the true highlight of the night was the talk by Polly Shute, founder of Out & Wild, the UK’s biggest festival for LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people.

Polly shared her story, recounting her struggles with her identity in the corporate world due to the lack of allies in the early years of her career. An insensitive throwaway comment about the LGBTQ+ community might just fly over the heads of most people, but could be very emotionally hurtful for her. On the opposite side of the scale, it can mean a lot when someone does something simple to express their support for the community. Polly says that even something really small like wearing a badge during Pride Month or just acknowledging that others may be in a same-sex relationship could have a really profound effect on people in the LGBTQ+ community.

According to Polly, there are two things that make up allyship: “leaning in” and “leaning out”.

“Leaning in'' means putting in the work to understand those in the LGBTQ+ community. There’s a lot of ways to do this, but simply having a conversation with someone in the community can help you understand their needs through their lived experience. It’s not “treat others how you would like to be treated” but rather “treat others how you want to be treated.” We need to have empathy for others to be able to know how to treat them appropriately.

“Leaning out” can be the hardest part of allyship. It means to stand up for those in the LGBTQ+ community. If you hear something, say something. People from minority sexual identities, ethnic backgrounds, and disabilities often feel that this world is not made for them. Speaking up can make a crucial difference to them feeling valued and appreciated.

Polly also made sure that we understood that allyship is not limited to supporting the LGBTQ+ community only, but other minority communities too. By understanding the lived experience of the diverse people around us, we can be sure to be better leaders and colleagues at work.

At the end of her talk, Polly invited the room to discuss actionable steps that they could do as business leaders and owners to make a lasting change in our work.

We talked until the sun went down. When it was time to go, everyone was gifted with an absolutely stuffed goody bag! For food and beverage items, we had beautiful Pride-themed cupcakes from Lola’s Cupcakes, tasty non-alcoholic spirits from Caleno, fun ready-to-drink cocktails by Wonderland cocktails, beers from Crafty Brewing with a custom-made Pride design, delicious premium mixers from Double Dutch and a range of flavoured instant coffees from Beanies. For wellness, we had an organic liquid soap from Benecos, a huge pack of multivitamins from Just Flex, cream soap from Organii and a soothing sleeping oil from Lavera. Everyone also received a Je Joue sex toy!

An amazing part of the dinner was that we were able to raise funds for the social enterprise OUTspoken, the UK's first speaker platform exclusively set up for LGBTQ+ women and those who are non-binary. This incredible business is run by co-founders Polly Shute and Raga D'silva.

For anyone who’d love to learn more about allyship, Polly also recommended this great book from one of OUTspoken Speaker, Suzy Levy.

Here at Goho, we hope we made at least a small difference in our corner of the world! We’d love to hear if you did anything to celebrate Pride Month this year.