Using Our Voices to Lift Up Others During Pride Month—and Every Day

I shared this message via email with our J&J med tech team. I wanted to share it with the LinkedIn community because now, more than ever, we need to use our voices to speak up for diversity and inclusion and speak out against harassment and discrimination whenever we see it. 

Dear Colleagues,

June is a time of celebration for the LGBTQ+ community, both here at Johnson & Johnson and around the world. In the more than 50 years that have passed since the Stonewall Riots, progress for the rights of LGBTQ+ people has accelerated, helping secure ever greater measures of equality, inclusion, and respect.

Yet we know that this June is no “normal” Pride Month. The joyful sounds of Pride are missing from the streets of New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, and Tel Aviv as we fight against COVID-19. And both in the U.S. and around the world, we are confronting head-on issues of systemic racism, inequality, and oppression that have for too long gone unabated.

I am proud to be the executive sponsor for Open&Out, our employee resource group that helps foster an inclusive work environment where LGBTQ+ employees feel safe, heard and embraced. As an Ally, I know it matters when we use our voices to lift up others. And so, as we reflect on Pride, falling at this unique moment in time, I am thinking of the voices of others who remind us of the progress we’ve made, and the work we must continue to do.

I think of Marsha P. Johnson, the activist and drag queen who was so prominent in the Stonewall uprising, and the other LGBTQ+ people of color who have long been at the forefront of the fight for gay and trans rights in the U.S. I think of Cliff Morrison, the San Francisco nurse who quite literally put his body on the line to help care for gay men dying of AIDS in the 1980s. I think of Garrard Conley, who we had the honor of hosting at last year’s Open&Out Global Summit, and the ways he has turned his horrific experience in “conversion therapy” to advocate for policies that respect the dignity and rights of all LGBTQ+ people, to live as their authentic selves.

And I think of the nearly 4,000 employees of Johnson & Johnson who stand together as community members and allies, each with their own story and lived experience, pushing our company to be better, more thoughtful, and ultimately stronger as we evolve towards even greater inclusivity.

Pride was borne out of the Stonewall Riots. A lot has changed since then, yet people around the world continue to face violence and inequality because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. And even though there is so much more to be done, I remain inspired – and proud. I believe that through the stories and experiences being shared in the streets and in Our Credo conversations, we continue to learn where we can use our “big for good” to shape a more just and equal world for all. And I believe that the resilience and resolve of our Johnson & Johnson family illuminates our path forward as we march – virtually but in solidarity – with our LGBTQ+ colleagues, friends, and family around the world.

I hope this month and what it stands for inspires you, too. To be proud. To accept and embrace our differences. And, to demand full equality and justice for all people.

Happy Pride. Stay Safe. 

Ashley