In the US, June means Pride Month—and those of us in Queeromattic, Automattic’s LGBTQ+ resource group, want to share an update about our recent efforts at the company.
First, however, we also want to say that we’re still here and we’re still queer. That might seem obvious, but as more and more states introduce legislation that constrains our lives and liberties, it also feels important to say.
We’ve again renewed our longstanding partnership with Out in Tech. This will be our eighth year of collaboration, and we’ll continue to build upon the 35 hackathons we’ve co-sponsored and 250+ WordPress.com sites we’ve built for various nonprofits all over the world. Please join us at future events, and consider supporting Out in Tech; they work tirelessly to help 70,000+ LGBTQ+ members advance their careers, grow their networks, and leverage tech for social change.
We’re also joining the new Open Horizons Scholarship, along with a few of our fellow resource groups. Each group is contributing $6,000 to the endowment, which is currently at $30,000 and counting. Queeromatticians will help select recipients and provide in-person support at WordCamps for LGBTQ+ scholarship recipients. We’re especially excited to work alongside other Automattic Resource Groups to build on last year’s LGBTQ+ empowerment grant and welcome more underrepresented contributors to the WordPress community.
Finally, we’re repeating the Share Your Pride photo drive, complete with some cash prizes for selected winners. Representation matters, and we want the WordPress Photo Directory to have strong rainbow-themed options for anyone blogging about Pride this month—or sharing about their LGBTQ+ness anytime.
Queeromattic was the company’s very first resource group, and we remain steadfast in our mission: advocating for our fellow LGBTQ+ employees, sharing support through social calls and private Slack channels, and proudly sharing who we are in our work. We know that concrete measures matter more than empty statements, and we’re excited to keep focusing on the work at hand. Happy Pride—and Happy WordPress-ing!
Automattic 