Belgian Pride, the country’s largest event for the LGBT+ community, is to screen companies and organisation wishing to sponsor the event according to how they practice diversity within the company.
This year’s event is due to take place on 23 May. Before then, any corporate entity that wishes to be connected to the event will have to undergo a screening process.
The “diversity scan” will be carried out by the Flemish non-profit Kliq, and by Arc-en-ciel Wallonie on the French-speaking side.
“With this test, we wish to avoid pink-washing,” commented Pride co-organiser Laurent Mallet, referring to the process of a company allying itself to LGBT causes simply in order to top into the lucrative “pink” market.
“We no longer wish to work with brands, but with employers in Belgium who work towards inclusion, both in their human resources policy and in their internal and external communications.”
The scan takes three forms according to the size of the enterprise. Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees are allowed to self-scan by filling out a questionnaire.
Companies with between 20 and 250 employees will be charged €1,250 to have the scan carried out by one of the two non-profits.
And larger companies with more than 250 employees will undergo the full scan, including an examination of their international communications.
Questions to be answered in the scan include matter such as recruitment policy and non-discrimination, external communications and issues such as inclusive pronouns and (in French) the use of default masculine nouns and pronouns, and contacts with external suppliers on the matter of diversity.
The scan will also be applied to political parties who wish to be allied with the Pride event.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
