CSRA publishes Role Models guide
CSRA has publish the first ever Civil Service role model guide for LGBT staff.
On 1 October 2014, CSRA published the first ever Civil Service role models guide for LGBT staff - Role models: inspring LGBT people in the Civil Service - at an event hosted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
This guide features staff who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other minority sexual orientations, such as asexual. It features role models of all grades from AO to Permanent Secretary. It also has role models from many different parts of the UK, as well as those working overseas.
CSRA produced this guide because every lesbian, gay, bisexual or person with a minority sexual orientation has to make a decision about whether to be open about their sexual orientation in the workplace. This isn’t a one off event either. Each time they move to a new job, recruit new staff, or engage with stakeholders, they to decide whether to be open or not. This can be a difficult process for some. By having visible LGBT role models set out in this guide we can send a clear signal that in the Civil Service you can be yourself. You can be authentic. You don’t have to worry about the impact of disclosing your sexual orientation on your career.
Welcoming the launch of the CSRA role models guide, Sue Owen, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said:
“This role models guide sends a clear, visible, signal to all civil servants that it’s okay to be yourself in the Civil Service. It is important that everyone understands that you can be LGBT and be successful in your career; that you can be LGBT and be open, if you wish, about your life outside work; and that you can be LGBT and be a leader.”
The Chair of CSRA, Ollie Entwistle, added:
“I am very proud to be launching this guide today. The Civil Service really has come a long way on sexual orientation equality. I hope that this guide helps inspire a future generation of LGBT people to work for the Civil Service and that it encourages those in the Civil Service to treat everyone with dignity and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation.
“I would also like to thank all those who appeared in the guide, and those who helped produce it, for without their dedication this guide would not have been possible.”