Happy Pride, from the Rainbow Carrots Community

Corinne McCreery here, Rainbow Carrots Employee Resource Group Lead. I’m based in Toronto as part of the Catalog Technical Account Management team and started my career with Instacart in San Francisco. I’ve been with the company for three and a half years now, and it’s been a period of great personal growth and development for me.

I came out as a trans woman 11 years ago, when I lived in South Dakota. The part of South Dakota I grew up in was beautiful. Rolling hills, expansive forests, a big enough town to find things to do, but still small enough not to be overwhelming. The politics of my home state? Much less beautiful with how the state treated and still treats it’s LGBTQIA+ community.

When I came out in 2011, I was almost immediately fired from my job at a local grocery store. I was very clearly told that it was not due to my performance, but due to my identity. I sued, and with the help of Lambda Legal, I helped to set a precedent that would in part be used by the Supreme Court to ensure that gender identity is a protected status in the workplace. I shared my story and my fight for trans equal rights a few years ago. 

But really, what I want to talk about isn’t that. What I want to talk about is Instacart and the acceptance I’ve felt here. I joined Instacart after spending several more years in retail. After the grocery store, I went on to work for a large retailer, and while I felt like I could feel free to be me there, it was in the same way anyone can be themselves at a retail giant. At Instacart, on day one, I was told about Rainbow Carrots.

I happily attended Rainbow Carrot meetings, I befriended the Rainbow Carrot leads and members. I felt like I finally had found a place where my job not only accepted but encouraged my identity. Over my three years here, I’ve seen Rainbow Carrots do the work to be inclusive and empowering, not just during Pride Month but throughout the year. I’ve been able to tell my story to the company through both a Lemon Tell Ya (the first one of those company conversations!) and through the recent A Penne for Your Thoughts with Dru Levasseur, the attorney that represented me. I led a discussion with Elena Rose Vera, then director of Trans Lifeline in honor of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. I’ve seen Instacart be proud for Spirit Day, been part of some great Pride parties, and just be a warm and open workplace.

This year we also shared stories from members of the Rainbow Carrots community. Hear from Anna, Dan, Rebecca and Jorge about their journey and work with our ERG.

As Pride Month comes to a close, I want us to remember the work is not done. LGBTQIA+ rights are under attack across the country, especially those of transgender youth, and it doesn’t look like it will be getting better any time soon. So, while we celebrate, we also need to keep fighting, and never forget that Pride was started as a protest, a defiance of those who would have us be invisible and nonexistent, and that those people still want that. Take the time to celebrate and be happy, but never forget.

I leave you with this, this year we had an amazing Pride month that included our first in office parties since 2019. Myself and the  Rainbow Carrots leadership team is dedicated to making 2023’s Pride even better!

Rainbow Carrots is Instacart’s LGBTQ2IA+ Employee Resource Group. Rainbow Carrots is dedicated to celebrating diversity in our communities, driving improvements in the work environment, and providing opportunities and support for our community.

Instacart

Author

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.