London Pride - marching together

Well as the sunshine is blazing and the rainbow flags are being dusted off, it must mean we are entering the season of Pride celebrations across the country. Saturday 7 July will see members of the British Veterinary Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Association (BVLGBT+) march at London Pride. It will be the third year the association has attended such a landmark event and this year promises to be the best so far. 

Year-on-year our membership grows, and so too our presence at Pride events up and down the country. The association, which was set up in 2016, has made huge progress in developing a strong voice for LGBT members of the profession. This includes a fantastic student network which provides support and guidance from members first days of university right through to their professional careers. The association is making significant headway amongst the profession, and importantly employers, to raise awareness of equality and diversity within the workplace.

Diversity champions

We are hopeful that shortly we will see several veterinary practices taking their first steps towards becoming ‘Diversity Champions’ in association with Stonewall‘. This will be a momentous achievement and will set the benchmark for other practices to follow. We are all too painfully aware of the current issues facing the profession and the need for universal inclusion, support and compassion.

One of our most important ambitions is to ensure that both students and professionals are able to work in a safe and accepting environment, the associations work so far and its future plans will no doubt achieve this.

This year saw our first members’ weekend. We not only held our AGM but also organised some great workshops for members. These workshops promoted discussion amongst the group as well as teaching us techniques to help take care of both our mental and physical wellbeing.

Strength to strength

I joined the association and its committee in 2016, initially as Small Animal rep, then Welfare rep and am now currently the Vice-President. I am delighted to be part of such an amazing association and am very excited for our future. I have been fortunate throughout my career to work as an openly gay vet without encountering discrimination, but am all too aware of others that haven’t been so lucky. It is vital our work endures and we continue to raise awareness across all areas of the profession. 

As always, we are incredibly grateful for the support given to us from the BVA and look forward once again to their hospitality prior to the march in July.

I look forward to joining other members of the association on Saturday 7 July. We will march together for ourselves but most importantly for those members of the veterinary LGBT community that cannot.