LGBT+ Inclusion

LGBT+ Inclusion at Deloitte

At Deloitte, we want our LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bi, transgender and more) people to feel confident in being who they are and empowered to thrive at Deloitte and within the communities we serve. Everyone should be able to be themselves at work, without fear of discrimination or prejudice.

Deloitte offers its LGBT+ colleagues a variety of platforms from which to promote their visibility and help them be heard. This includes StandOUT, a LGBT+ and allies network which operates globally, as well as more than 30 local employee resource groups across Europe, Africa, the Americas and the Asia Pacific regions.

We also embrace and promote the power of allyship to support our LGBT+ people, amplify their messages and protect their rights and well-being. And because allyship is such a critical element of LGBT+ diversity, we have created a host of resources, including digital learning and guides, to support our LGBT+ and allies networks, as well as people across the organization. These cover topics such as microaggressions, LGBT+ and transgender inclusion, and how to have respectful and inclusive conversations on LGBT+ concerns, to name a few.

Externally, we have championed the transformative power of allyship more broadly, focusing on LGBT+ allyship as a key theme in our 2020 Pride campaign. Our 2021 Pride celebration was also centered around the themes of LGBT+ visibility and allyship.

To coincide with the 2021 International Day of Transgender Visibility on 31 March, Deloitte Global developed and rolled out transgender inclusion guidance, providing a wealth of resources and guidance to enable Deloitte firms to provide their transgender colleagues the workplace support and environment they need—both as they transition and beyond. This guidance was followed in June 2021 with additional resources to enable all Deloitte firms to review their internal policies from a LGBT+ inclusion lens and augment the transgender and LGBT+ inclusion learning and support resources available to Deloitte people worldwide.

Deloitte is a proud signatory of the UN Standards of Conduct for Business in Tackling Discrimination against LGBTI people (the UN Standards) and continues to take actions to further LGBT+ inclusion aligned with the five core areas of these standards. In line with the UN standard to act in the public sphere, Deloitte is proud to be a member of the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality. Deloitte has also joined the Brunswick Group’s coalition Open for Business, which is a network of major businesses campaigning for LGBT+ inclusion globally, and has been recognised as a Global Equality Champion.

Our commitment to the UN Standards applies to our organisation as a whole, regardless of geography, and is aligned to our global approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which stands against all forms of discrimination, worldwide. This means that, within the walls of Deloitte, we apply LGBT+ inclusive policies and practices for our own people in all jurisdictions—in an approach known as the embassy model*. We have updated our Global Code, Global Anti-discrimination and Anti-harassment Policy, Supplier Code and Commitment to Responsible Business Practices to reflect this stance (specifically referencing sexual orientation and gender identity). And to further advance LGBT+ inclusion, Deloitte introduced a global LGBT+ inclusion baseline in 2022, which sets out minimum expectations on inclusion for each country in which Deloitte operates.