Honoring Transgender Awareness Week with Rainbow Carrots

Last week, we were proud to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week (November 13–19) and honor Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20). Throughout the week, our Rainbow Carrots (Instacart’s LGBTQ+ ERG) hosted virtual programming to raise visibility about transgender people, discuss issues members of the communities face, and honor the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

As part of the programming, Rainbow Carrots invited Sam Brinton (pronouns: they/them) from The Trevor Project for a special virtual fireside chat with our Chief Human Resources Officer, Christina Hall (pronouns: she/her). Sam serves as the VP of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project — a leading organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people under 25.

In the talk, Sam spoke to our Rainbow Carrots members and allies about the power of pronouns and how we can continue to create a more inclusive workplace for employees and candidates. Here are a couple of key takeaways they shared with us:

• • Self-Educate. Educate yourself on the transgender community and history in order to walk into conversations knowledgeable.
  • Normalize Pronouns in the Workplace. A good first step is updating your pronouns in your email signature or introduce yourself in meetings with both your name and pronouns.
  • Assume Good & Positive Intent. When approaching tough conversations, always assume good and positive intent in both directions. Remember that we are all learning together.

To further support the community, throughout Transgender Awareness Week the Rainbow Carrots encouraged members and allies to come together and rock the colors of the transgender flag (pastel pink, light blue, and white) while joining Zoom calls and video chats. The Rainbow Carrots also created a featured series on the community’s Slack channel called “LGBTQIA+ You Oughta Know” to highlight trans people in the community and their contributions. Lastly, the Rainbow Carrots invited employees to participate in an open discussion about Netflix’s documentary Disclosure on Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, Instacart and Rainbow Carrots are also proud to make donations to support the following non-profit organizations that lift up and feed queer and trans people of color in our community: The OKRA Project, The Trevor Project, and Larkin Street Youth.

Thank you to our Rainbow Carrots for hosting an impactful week of events for all members and allies to participate.

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