‘We need to create an inspirational group of people who can show you that things are possible, who can show you the power of being you’, said Alison, as she sat on the stage. Alison is a director at Barclays and is listed as one of the UK's Top 50 LGBTQ+ executives (Macleod, 2015). It is a Wednesday evening on the 31st and highest floor of Barclays’ HQ. Around 100 LGBTQ+ professionals have gathered to hear seven ‘very visible lesbian and bisexual role models’ discuss ways to ‘support and advise organizations to create an environment where women can be authentic in work, be comfortable being out, and be much more confident in self-promotion’. The event, like the majority of the ones I would attend in coming years, took place in the conference suites of one of the large glass and steel structures in Canary Wharf. Hosted by Barclays’ LGBTQ+ staff network Spectrum and organized by LBTQWomen, the event offered canapés and refreshments, networking opportunities and impassionate speeches about the importance of being you. ‘You need a group of people everywhere to show you that this is real and every day’, Alison continued, standing up. ‘Everyone needs to get involved … only then will we start to change mindsets and create the right kind of culture’.

Alison's remarks touch on some of the central themes of corporate LGBTQ+ networking events: the power of authenticity, the power of individuals as agents of change, and the importance of changing workplace cultures. These are also central themes of the diversity (management) literature and of current efforts to rank employers according to their ‘inclusivity’. These events attract queer people at different stages of their career: from graduate students looking for their first job, to activists turned EDI pundits who recently joined from the (not-so-distant) world of LGBTQ+ NGOs, to seasoned senior executives and even anthropologists, like me, who are fascinated by corporate investments in queerness.

Events like this are important sites of cultural transmission and construction of LGBTQ-friendliness, where its promise of inclusion is produced, sold and consumed. At these events senior leaders showcase their experiences of being LGBTQ+ at work with the aim of encouraging (especially more junior and/or closeted) LGBTQ+ employees to come out, become more visible and more involved in promoting inclusion at work.