A Message from the Defence Team 2SLGBTQI+ Champions for Public Service Pride Week

August 19, 2024 – Defence Stories

Happy Public Service Pride Week! It is our honour, on behalf of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, to recognize and celebrate that the true strength of the Defence Team is the diversity of people, of ideas, and approaches. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all members of the Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender-diverse identities (2SLGBTQI+) communities. Authenticity matters. Safe spaces matter. Innovation is only possible when a diverse set of ideas and experiences are thoughtfully considered and integrated into everything that we do as a Defence Team.

Public Service Pride Week falls annually on the third week of August, during Pride Season. This week is a specific reminder to reflect on the progress the Public Service, including the Defence Team, has made while encouraging deliberate thought and effort to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for all. This year’s theme “Unity in Diversity” allows us to reaffirm our commitment to fostering intersectionality, inclusion, and unity, and the deliberate progress to true inclusivity in the designing of our programs and of our workspaces.

Unity in Diversity is a call to seamless inclusion. We all play a part in enabling the voices of our colleagues, friends, and families. Those are the networks that comprise Canada and the people that we support directly. That network of support includes genuine allyship.  What is authentic allyship and how can Defence Team members be a good ally to members of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities and to other marginalized groups? Allyship is an active and consistent process of understanding and re-evaluating your thoughts and biases about equity-deserving groups. It is about building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability and showing up for each other. Allyship is lifting others’ voices and supporting them.

In addition to strengthening commitments to individual allyship, the Defence Team will have the opportunity to learn and show their support by coming together at the National level to recognize, learn from, celebrate, and honour the diverse experiences and identities of people within the public service, Defence Team, and Private Sector. We will be hosting a hybrid (in-person and virtual) Defence Team Public Service Pride Week National Event on Friday, August 23, 2024. We encourage all Defence Team members to join us.

We would also like to take this opportunity to introduce the Defence Team 2SLGBTQI+ Champions Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Senior Advisor, Ian St. Laurent. Welcome CWO St. Laurent! Thank you for your allyship.

To all members of the Defence Team, Public Service, and 2SLGBTQI+ communities; Happy Pride!