Because our culture shapes what we believe, but it shouldn’t limit who we love.

June is Pride Month—a time to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and honor the long fight for equality and visibility. For me, as a cultural anthropologist, Pride Month is about more than celebration. It’s a reminder of how much our understanding of gender, identity, and love is shaped by the cultures we grow up in—and how urgently we need to challenge some of those assumptions.

Culture Tells Us What’s “Right”—But Culture Isn’t Universal

One of the first lessons I learned in anthropology is how much human variation exists in terms of our economic systems, who we consider to be family, our religious beliefs, our reaction to our physical environment, etc. —and that what we believe is “normal” or “right” is deeply shaped by our culture.

Western societies, particularly in the U.S., have historically emphasized a strict male/female binary and conflated biological sex with gender. However, this isn’t a global norm. Across time and geography, cultures have recognized multiple genders, diverse sexual orientations, and different ideas about family and identity.

In other words: variation is the norm, not the exception. The more we study the human experience, the clearer it becomes that love, identity, and self-expression are far more diverse than many dominant narratives suggest.

Pride Is a Cultural Wake-Up Call

Pride Month challenges us to move beyond ethnocentrism—the belief that our culture’s way is the only way. It asks us to expand our definitions of identity and recognize that gender and sexuality are not binary, fixed, or universally defined.

LGBTQIA+ People Are Under Attack—And We Can’t Stay Silent

This Pride Month comes at a time when LGBTQIA+ people are facing mounting legislative and social attacks. As of May 2025, more than 475 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced across the U.S., according to the ACLU. Many target the rights of transgender and nonbinary people.

In my home state of Texas, things are especially grim. Fort Bend ISD, my local school district, recently passed one of the harshest anti-trans student policies in the state. Despite vocal opposition from the community, the board doubled down, echoing federal efforts to define gender as strictly male or female, taking away counselors' ability to even acknowledge issues related to gender/sexual identity, and removing students' rights to be called by their preferred names and pronouns, among other things.

Let’s be clear: this is biologically inaccurate and socially dangerous. These policies don’t just erase identities. They cause real harm.

What Happens in Society Shows Up at Work

Here’s the connection I want every business leader to understand: the marginalization that happens in schools, legislation, and public discourse doesn’t stop at the office door. It shows up in your workplace—through fear, exclusion, and disengagement.

That’s why Pride Month isn’t just a social issue. It’s a workplace issue.

Companies that care about inclusion, employee well-being, and innovation need to take a public, informed stand. Pride Month is the time to say:

• We see our LGBTQIA+ employees.

• We support gender diversity.

• We understand the science and respect lived experience.

• We are committed to building a culture where everyone can thrive.

This Month—and Every Month—Stand Up, Speak Out

Pride isn’t performative when it’s grounded in respect and reality. This month, I invite all of us—especially those with platforms, power, and influence—to ask:

• Are we fostering cultures of belonging?

• Are we defending truth and diversity?

• Are we living our values out loud?

This month, let’s do more than post a rainbow. Let’s build workplaces and communities that reflect the full, beautiful diversity of the human experience.