Supporting Pride in 2023
Championing equity, diversity and inclusion and creating an environment where everyone can be their true selves is a key business and people priority for us at Mourant.
We are proud to have continued our support of Pride parades in London, the Cayman Islands and Jersey, which have taken place throughout 2023.
Pride parades take place every year across the world to celebrate the LGBT+ community, recognise progress that has been made, and raise awareness of ongoing challenges experienced by LGBT+ people.
Pride in London
Team Mourant was proud to support Pride in London for the first time on Saturday 1 July this year. The official Pride Parade started from Hyde Park Corner, through Piccadilly Circus, down Haymarket and along Pall Mall to Trafalgar Square, culminating at Whitehall Place.
Around 600 groups from LGBT+ community groups, businesses and supporting organisations formed over 32,000 participants, with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan leading the parade.
Our London colleagues attending the event enjoyed brunch in the office before heading to Trafalgar Square to join thousands of supporters enjoying the Pride concert and procession.
Cayman Islands Pride
This year's Cayman Islands Pride took place on Saturday 5 August. We were proud to support the event for the third consecutive year, and to do so this year as a corporate sponsor.
Mourant participated in the inaugural Cayman Pride parade, organised by the Cayman LGBTQ Foundation, in 2021 and again in 2022. Now in its third year, the parade continues to make significant steps in support of LGBT+ rights and inclusion on the islands.
Channel Islands (CI) Pride in Jersey
Every year, CI Pride alternates between Guernsey and Jersey hosting the event. This year's Pride, in partnership with Liberate Jersey, took place in Jersey on Saturday 16 September.
We were proud to have once again been Platinum Sponsor of the 2023 parade; the fifth year in which the firm has supported the event.
On the day, our Jersey team enjoyed a pre-parade get together, where everyone added some colour and sparkle to get into the spirit of Pride, before joining the festivities at the Royal Square.
In the lead up to CI Pride, colleagues were also invited to a presentation hosted at our Jersey office featuring special guest speaker Vic Tanner Davy MBE, CEO of Liberate Jersey.
During the presentation Vic explained how Liberate was founded and the purpose of the charity: to help support LGBT+ people, giving them a collective voice for change, and the journey of Pride. He also commented on work they have undertaken with government and the progress they have helped make for the LGBT+ community, while also highlighting the inequality that continues to exist in today's society.
A similar lunch and learn presentation took place in the Mourant Guernsey office on the Thursday before CI Pride, hosted by Ellie Jones, CEO of Liberate Guernsey. Ellie shared some of the challenges still experienced by LGBT+ people around the world and the importance of Pride in demonstrating allyship and support for the LGBT+ community.
Vic Tanner Davy commented:
"We are hugely grateful to Mourant for its sponsorship of the Channel Islands Pride parade. The parade is, arguably, the most important part of Pride because it contains three serious elements in a weekend of celebration – history, emotion and visibility.
"The history comes from all the Pride marchers that marched before demanding equality, and for all those who never knew the progress to equality achieved so far. The emotion is personal to each attendee who may be there to support a friend or family member, to protest the injustices they themselves face, in remembrance of someone, or to show allyship. The visibility of the parade reminds the Channel Islands community of its diversity, that LGBT+ people exist here, and that things are still not equal for everyone.
"Understanding that Pride is about more than just a 'party in the park' is one of the things that, as allies, you can do, so it is great that Mourant also hosted talks in Pride week to share that learning."
To complement this year's parade activities, our Jersey office hosted a 'CI Pride Day of Colour', where our people were invited to wear Pride colours in support of the event, as well as to help raise money for Liberate Jersey. In Guernsey, we also hosted a Pride-themed Rainbow Bake sale in aid of Liberate Guernsey.
Rachel Guthrie, Counsel, Global LGBT+ and Friends Network Sponsor at Mourant, added:
"We strongly believe in the power of diversity to drive progress and innovation. Our sponsorships and involvement in this year's Pride parades in London, the Cayman Islands and Channel Islands underscores our commitment to inclusivity and fostering an inclusive workplace; values that are vital for us at Mourant."
The Mourant LGBT+ and Friends Network
Although Pride parades provide a moment in time to celebrate the LGBT+ community, recognise progress that has been made in the LGBT+ rights movement, and raise awareness of ongoing challenges experienced by LGBT+ people, it is important for LGBT+ inclusion to be part of our every day.
The Mourant global LGBT+ and Friends Network plays an important role in supporting and contributing towards the success of the firm's global Inclusion Strategy.
The network is open to all colleagues from all our offices to join and fosters a safe environment for our people to share experiences, knowledge and ideas to support LGBT+ inclusion and learn how to be active, visible LGBT+ allies.
