The hundred tiny signals that make a workplace feel safe

Pride Month means different things to different people. For some, it is a time of celebration, visibility and community. For others, it is quieter - a moment to reflect on what it really means to feel safe, seen and accepted in everyday life.

For me, the most meaningful conversations about Pride are not always the loudest ones. They are the honest ones. The ones that ask what inclusion actually feels like in the places where we work, build relationships and spend so much of our time.

That feeling matters. A workplace can say it is inclusive, but people know the difference between words and culture. You feel it in the small things - the conversations, the assumptions, the humour, the way people make space for each other.

Those are the moments I notice. And, to me, they are where real inclusion begins.

What real inclusion feels like

Inclusion means being seen as a whole person. My sexuality is part of who I am, but it doesn't define all of me - my character, my values, my work ethic, the way I show up for my team - those things matter so much more.

I don't want to be the LGBT colleague - I just want to be a colleague, known for who I am in the round, not reduced to a single label. That, to me, is what genuine inclusion looks like.

Representation matters

Because you can't be what you can't see. When LGBTQ+ people see others like them thriving in veterinary teams - not just surviving - it signals that there's a place for them here too. Representation helps shift the culture more broadly as it normalises diversity in a way that makes the whole profession stronger, inclusive and more empathetic.

I notice these things!

You can usually tell within the first few minutes whether a workplace, business or community feels welcoming and inclusive. It's rarely anything you can point to directly; it's a feeling built from a hundred tiny, unspoken signals. Whether people make eye contact when you walk in. Whether conversations feel easy or guarded. Whether someone remembers something you mentioned last week. Whether the humour includes everyone or quietly excludes a few. I notice these things!

For me, the most welcoming places aren't necessarily the ones with the best policies or the most visible commitments. They're the ones where the culture has seeped into the everyday and where people are just genuinely decent to each other without making a performance of it. That's what I look for, and honestly, it's what I try to bring too.

What I can say is that every single practice I've visited or worked in the past few months has given me that feeling from day one. That's not something I take for granted because I know how rare it is to get it right, and how immediately you feel it when a place does. It tells me something important about the kind of people and culture that VetThing attracts, and it's a big part of why I'm proud to be part of it.

Where inclusion is won or lost

Something that rarely gets talked about is that coming out isn't a single moment - it's something many of us have to do over and over again, with every new colleague we build a working relationship with. Heterosexuality is still the assumed default, so straight people never really have to navigate that. They can mention a partner, a wedding, a weekend away, without any internal calculation beforehand. For a lot of LGBTQ+ people, that calculation never fully goes away - you're just constantly deciding how much of yourself is safe to share, and with whom.

Those tiny, unglamorous moments are where inclusion is actually won or lost, and they're much harder to put in a policy. The profession doesn't need more initiatives as much as it needs more people paying quiet, consistent attention.

Pride in the everyday

For me personally, Pride Month as a celebration isn't something I actively participate in. Not everyone in the community connects with the more visible celebrations, and that's okay. What matters to me is that the people around me feel safe and supported all the time, not just in June. Also, knowing I can be open and authentic every day (in my workplace, with my colleagues, in my own life) is where my energy goes.

A message from CEO, Dr Ben Hanning

When Trev shared his thoughts, my first instinct was to get out of the way and simply listen. But he made a point that has stayed with me, and it's one I'll happily stand behind.

That's the part leadership can't hand off to a policy. What we can do is build a group where being decent to each other is simply how things are done (our value of Be Human), not something we perform once a year. I'd rather VetThing be the place someone feels at ease on an ordinary Tuesday in November than the place with the loudest post in June.

I won't pretend to have Trev's lived experience. What I can say is that the culture he describes, being known in the round and not reduced to a label, is exactly what we're trying to protect as we grow. If our teams keep paying quiet, consistent attention to one another, the rest takes care of itself.

Thank you, Trev, for trusting us with something personal.