This week, The Partnership for Global LGBTIQ+ Equality (PGLE) launched the 2nd annual ‘Pride on the Promenade,’ a united show of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) people through a rainbow light-up of multiple venues and signs across the Promenade in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Annual Meeting.
The initiative, organized by Accenture, GLAAD, HRC, and PGLE, celebrates the progress of LGBTIQ+ human rights and serves as a call to action for necessary advances in global LGBTIQ+ acceptance and equality. PGLE is a project of BSR, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Economic Forum.
Venues hosted by Accenture, Amazon, Axios, Betterup, Bloomberg, Circle, Cisco, Citi, CNBC, Deloitte, EY, Female Quotient, GBBC, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hub Culture Davos Leadership Campus, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP, and Stripe participated in ‘Pride on the Promenade’ tonight by displaying rainbows and LGBTIQ+ messages on screens and signage in exterior and interior hosted spaces located on and around the Promenade in Davos.
“Through this powerful and impactful initiative, we stand alongside our partners in proudly celebrating the remarkable strides that have been made in advancing LGBTIQ+ human rights.” said Elisabeth Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer at Circle.
“This moment serves as both a reflection on the tremendous progress achieved and a resounding call to action for the work that lies ahead in fostering global acceptance and paving the way towards genuine equality. At Circle, we firmly believe that championing LGBTIQ+ inclusion and empowering employees to show up as their authentic selves is not only a moral imperative but also a catalyst for positive outcomes in businesses and economies,” Carpenter added.
This year, leaders from China Rainbow Collective, Initiative for Equality and Nondiscrimination in Kenya and Chapter 4 in Uganda joined other global LGBTIQ+ leaders to raise awareness for criminalization laws and other global LGBTIQ+ issues.
The rainbow light-up was marked by a reception hosted at the Circle HQ by Elisabeth Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer, Circle.
Speakers at the reception included Yanhui Peng, Founder of the China Rainbow Collective, Darra Gordon, Deputy President & COO of GLAAD, and Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
During the reception, LGBTIQ+ advocates called attention to current issues facing the global LGBTIQ+ community including the continued criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in nearly 70 countries, rising rates of global anti-LGBTIQ+ violence and discrimination, and the urgent need for global business to join LGBTIQ+ organizations in advancing visibility and equality for transgender and intersex communities.
“Pride on the Promenade is a moving visual representation of the strength of the continued LGBTQ+ community support from businesses and an inspiring call to action at Davos for additional business leaders to join us,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “In this fractured world, where LGBTQ+ rights continue to be challenged, this powerful visual—and the accompanying commitments we have heard from leaders at Davos—are more important than ever.”
“Creating safe, equitable, and inclusive societies is not just the right thing to do; as the evidence shows, it’s what’s best for business and economies across the globe,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “At a time when violence, discriminatory laws, and anti-LGBTIQ+ rhetoric are all increasing, global business leaders have an opportunity and a responsibility to advance safety and inclusion for their LGBTIQ+ employees and consumers.”
Additional LGBTIQ+ programming in Davos this year includes:
- Corporate Allyship in a Fractured World: an affiliate session hosted by Accenture, Deutsche Bank, Edelman, GLAAD, HRC, and PGLE on Thursday 18 January.
- LGBTIQ+ Inclusion at Work: an official panel hosted by the World Economic Forum. The panel can be livestreamed on weforum.org Thursday 19 January, 11:30-12:15.