PRISM - Pride at Slaughter and May

The PRISM network aims to support members of our LGBTQ+ community in being their authentic selves. We collaborate with our other internal networks to host events and sessions such as our talk with Educating Matters, co-hosted with our Family Network, which discussed talking about gender and sexuality with our families.

We meet regularly to discuss ongoing initiatives and invite everyone across the firm to our evening events at various locations in the City. We also foster links with the firm’s clients and prospective clients and their LGBTQ+ networks. We work closely with colleagues at our Best Friends firms, and are also involved in graduate recruitment and student mentoring initiatives such as DiversCity.

PRISM has helped the firm ascend the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and our people have appeared in the OUTstanding LGBTQ+ Executives, Future Leaders and Ally Leaders lists. We are committed to making further progress as a diverse and inclusive workplace.

For further information or any queries please contact us.

Life at the Intersection

PRISM and Vodafone’s LGBTQ+ Friends Network jointly hosted a virtual panel discussion, chaired by Emma Smith from Vodafone, about what it is like to live at the intersection of being an LGBTQ+ person and a person of faith.

The event, the first in PRISM’s Life at the Intersection series, was supported by Slaughter and May’s Muslim Network and Jewish network, J-Net. The panel was made up of Nour Shaker Fayad, Dalia Fleming (from KeshetUK), and a representative from Hidayah, with remarks from Nilufer von Bismarck and Ewan Brown. Over 285 people from across Slaughter and May and Vodafone tuned in to listen to the panellists share their stories and experiences of living at the intersection of different, often marginalised, identities.

The importance of events such as this, and the work of organisations such as KeshetUK and Hidayah, was captured by our panellist from Hidayah, who said:

I really struggled growing up because I didn’t see anyone similar to myself, so having someone who has had a similar lived experience is validating. Having that safe space where I can talk openly about my sexuality and my faith is important to me. That’s what Hidayah does; we are an adopted family. I’m not out to my own family, but I know that I have another family that will not judge me and who love me unconditionally. Panellist from Hidayah

Pride

To celebrate Pride Month 2022, PRISM, our LGBTQ+ Network put together the following video to share what Pride means to our LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies and their thoughts and reflections on 50 years of Pride in London. Pride commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969, which acted as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Pride also serves as an opportunity to emphasise that the fight against discrimination is our collective, ongoing responsibility in the push for equality in the UK and throughout the world.