Proud ING colleagues celebrate diversity

The parade, part of Amsterdam Gay Pride, saw colleagues from the Netherlands, Brazil, India, Italy and Argentina board ING’s boat and turn out another outstanding performance.

With the men dressed as Pharaohs and the women as Cleopatras, colleagues received rapturous applause from many of the 350,000 spectators that lined the canals. ING was one of the first companies to participate in the Canal Parade in 2006.

But this year it wasn’t just participation in the parade that drew attention to the Bank’s commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. On Friday, headquarter buildings in Amsterdam flew the rainbow flag, a symbol of acceptance and inclusion.

In Amsterdam, three “PINKautomaten” were decorated by an artist and all ATM machines in Amsterdam had a special screen with a rainbow flag declaring that “Orange is Being Yourself”.

Bank leaders also came together with leaders of other companies to watch the parade together at an event organised by Workplace Pride. Speaker Boris Dittrich, from Human Rights Watch, highlighted the need to continue to forward inclusion and equality in the Netherlands and beyond. He said 76 countries still criminalise homosexuality and in many countries LGBT people lack basic human rights.

Martha McDevitt-Pugh, Chair of Gala, ING’s network for LGBT employees and straight allies said with Gay Pride we celebrate how far we’ve come and look to the future.

“ING has been a leader in LGBT workplace equality in the Netherlands since 2004 and was the first company to sign the Declaration of Amsterdam, a commitment to take leadership in creating an inclusive corporate culture where LGBT employees are valued, can be their authentic selves and realise their full potential.

“While there is work ahead to fulfil this commitment, we are leading the way forward,” said Martha.