Allyship in Action: Advancing LGBTQ+ Equity in the Workplace means moving beyond good intentions and creating systems, behaviours and cultures where LGBTQ+ people can join, stay and progress. In a session from the Allyship in the Workplace Conference 2026, now available On Demand, Alex Matheson, Director of Inclusion at LGBT Foundation, shared practical steps organisations can take to make LGBTQ+ inclusion real, measurable and sustainable.
Drawing on LGBT Foundation’s work with employers across sectors, Matheson’s message was clear: allyship is not simply a label. It is something people experience through action. From better data collection to inclusive recruitment, policy review and everyday challenge, the session offered a grounded roadmap for organisations at any stage of their inclusion journey.
Why LGBTQ+ Workplace Equity Starts with Data
One of the strongest themes in the session was the importance of demographic monitoring. Matheson explained that a lack of information about the workforce is often the first barrier to inclusion. If an organisation does not know who is represented across its teams, it becomes much harder to understand who is joining, who is progressing and who may be leaving.
For many LGBTQ+ employees, simply seeing sexual orientation and gender identity included on staff forms or employee record systems can be an early signal that an employer recognises these identities as important. But data must be collected thoughtfully, safely and with a clear purpose.
Asking the Right Questions
Matheson highlighted the value of monitoring both sexual orientation and gender identity. For gender identity, LGBT Foundation recommends a two-part approach: asking how someone describes their gender, and separately asking whether their gender identity is the same as that recorded at birth. This helps organisations better understand the experiences of trans and non-binary staff, while avoiding assumptions.
However, data collection is only useful if organisations act on what they learn. Employers should use it to identify patterns in recruitment, retention, progression, disciplinary outcomes and exit data. If LGBTQ+ staff are leaving as quickly as they are joining, that is a sign to look more closely at workplace culture and employee experience.
Understanding Barriers Before and During Employment
Matheson encouraged organisations to look beyond the workplace itself and consider the wider barriers LGBTQ+ people may face before they even apply for a role. Education, housing, disability and employment inequalities can all affect access to work.
One example discussed was educational requirements in job descriptions. Some employers routinely ask for a minimum number of GCSEs, even where those qualifications are not essential for the role. Matheson described how one organisation reviewed this requirement for entry-level posts and replaced it with a more relevant assessment of literacy and role-related skills. The result was a broader applicant pool across multiple protected characteristics, not only LGBTQ+ communities.
The lesson is practical: inclusion improves when employers ask whether their criteria are genuinely necessary or simply inherited from old processes.
Allyship in Action: Advancing LGBTQ+ Equity in the Workplace Through Everyday Challenge
Another key point from the session was that discrimination is not always experienced as one dramatic incident. Often, it appears through repeated comments, assumptions, policy gaps or everyday behaviours that make people feel unseen or unsafe.
Matheson noted that allies have an important role in recognising and responding to these moments. That does not mean speaking over LGBTQ+ colleagues or assuming they want someone else to take control of the situation. It means paying attention, challenging inappropriate language respectfully, and recognising that silence from an LGBTQ+ colleague does not necessarily mean they are comfortable. They may not feel safe enough to respond.
Practical Allyship Behaviours
Employers and colleagues can take practical steps, including:
- Challenging exclusionary comments or assumptions when they happen.
- Checking whether policies use inclusive language for partners, parents and families.
- Signposting reporting routes when someone experiences discrimination.
- Raising concerns about systems or behaviours that may cause harm.
- Ensuring LGBTQ+ colleagues are supported without being expected to educate everyone else.
These actions may seem small, but they help shape whether people feel respected and protected at work.
Building Inclusion Across the Employee Lifecycle
Matheson framed LGBTQ+ inclusion across the full employee lifecycle: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, retention, progression and exit. This approach helps employers avoid treating inclusion as a one-off campaign or awareness day.
Attraction and Recruitment
Visible support matters before someone applies. Organisations should evidence their commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion, not just state it. This could include engaging with community groups, advertising roles in spaces where underrepresented communities already are, and making recruitment processes accessible and relevant.
Matheson shared an example of an organisation that wanted its workforce to better reflect its local population. By targeting recruitment activity through community groups and speaking directly with communities, it improved representation in a large-scale recruitment round. The important shift was that the employer did not simply wait for applicants to find them; it went out and built trust.
Onboarding, Progression and Retention
Inclusive onboarding should set clear expectations around respect for all colleagues. But inclusion cannot stop there. Employers should also examine who gets access to development opportunities, promotions and progression routes.
Staff networks can play a valuable role in this work. Matheson described them as useful not only for individuals, but also for organisations. Networks can provide insight into whether policies, communications and processes are working in practice. When properly resourced and supported by senior sponsors, they can contribute meaningfully to decision-making.
From Inclusion Activities to Structural Change
The session made an important distinction between early inclusion activities and deeper structural change. Both have value, but they are not the same.
Inclusion activities might include visible awareness campaigns, sharing LGBTQ+ resources or marking key dates. These can show that an organisation is beginning its journey. Structural change goes further: reviewing recruitment practices, assessing pay and progression outcomes, improving reporting routes, testing policies through lived experience, and holding people accountable for behaviour.
A powerful example from the session involved family leave policies that referred only to men and fathers. For a queer woman whose partner was pregnant, this language failed to reflect her identity as the other mother. Reviewing policies through the lens of different LGBTQ+ experiences can reveal whether inclusion exists in practice, not just in principle.
Common Misconceptions About Allyship
Matheson also challenged several misconceptions that can hold organisations back. One is the idea that allyship means “treating everyone the same.” While fairness matters, equity requires recognising that different groups face different barriers. Treating everyone identically can leave those barriers untouched.
Another misconception is that a lack of complaints means there is no problem. Under-reporting is common when people do not feel safe, do not trust the process, or believe nothing will change. Employers should not wait for formal complaints before examining culture.
Finally, supportive language is important, but it is not enough. True allyship means acting when exclusion occurs and improving the systems that allow it to continue.
Turning Allyship into Action
Allyship in Action: Advancing LGBTQ+ Equity in the Workplace is about making inclusion visible, practical and accountable. Alex Matheson’s session offered a clear reminder that allyship is a verb, not a noun. It is demonstrated through the questions employers ask, the barriers they remove, the policies they improve and the behaviours they challenge.
For organisations ready to take the next step, start by reviewing your data, recruitment criteria, reporting routes and policies. Ask where LGBTQ+ people may be excluded, unheard or unsupported, then act on what you find. To explore the full session and more practical guidance from the event, watch the Allyship in the Workplace Conference 2026 On Demand.