Every team deserves to feel seen, valued, and supported—and June offers a meaningful opportunity to make that support visible.
Celebrating Pride Month at work helps companies foster an inclusive environment for everyone, especially members of the LGBTQ community. These efforts go beyond rainbow logos and temporary gestures to reflect a deeper commitment to inclusivity, allyship, and lasting change when done right.
In this guide, we’ve got 10 thoughtful ideas to celebrate Pride and promote year-round diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The history of Pride Month
Pride Month, a time to honor and reflect on the LGBTQ community’s resilience, began with a protest. In the early morning of June 28, 1969, patrons of New York City’s Stonewall Inn—many of whom were transgender, queer, and gay—resisted a police raid in what’s now known as the Stonewall Uprising or Stonewall riots. This act of defiance sparked a broader movement for LGBTQ liberation, laying the foundation for the modern fight against discrimination and for equality.
The first Pride march occurred in New York City on June 28, 1970, one year after Stonewall. Today, Pride Month spans the entire month of June worldwide and includes Pride events like parades, educational panels, drag queen and drag king performances, and cultural festivals in cities around the globe.
The importance of celebrating Pride Month at work
Recognizing Pride Month in the workplace is a powerful way to promote inclusion and demonstrate corporate values.
Promotes diversity and inclusion
Celebrating Pride Month at work is a strategic and cultural decision that signals your company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. When organizations recognize identities within the LGBTQ community and understand their team’s needs, they create space for people to bring their whole selves to work.
Visible support for transgender, queer, bisexual, lesbian, and gay team members builds trust and belonging, helping employees feel more connected to their teams and engaged in their roles. A culture that celebrates differences can improve retention and strengthen overall company culture.
Demonstrates social responsibility
Celebrating Pride Month demonstrates a company’s values on a global stage. From sharing internal resources on the history of Pride to participating in local Pride events or supporting LGBTQ-focused charities, businesses can use this month to lead with purpose.
Employees and customers alike want to see organizations that take action—not just in June but year-round. By showing up for Pride celebrations in authentic and thoughtful ways, businesses reinforce their roles in advancing human rights and allyship across the communities they serve.
10 ways to celebrate Pride Month in 2025
Whether your team is in-office, fully remote, or spread across time zones, there are plenty of thoughtful, encouraging ways to celebrate Pride Month at work. Here are 10 ideas to try:
1. Educate and learn together
Kick off Pride Month by making space to learn as a team. Understanding the history of Pride—from the Stonewall Uprising to the global movement—boosts allyship. Host a team-wide learning session where you watch a short documentary, read an article, or invite an LGBTQ speaker to share their lived experience, and include time for reflection and facilitated discussion. This helps people connect the learning to their day-to-day roles and deepens empathy.
2. Donate to a meaningful cause
One of the most direct ways to celebrate Pride Month is to support organizations advancing LGBTQ rights and well-being. Encourage your team to research and choose a charity that aligns with your company’s values, such as those advocating for transgender youth or gender identity. If you’re a global team, look for international organizations that support this community across borders.
3. Host a virtual Pride parade
You don’t need to be in a major city to enjoy the energy of a Pride parade. In 2025, many Pride events will offer virtual options, allowing distributed teams to tune in together from anywhere in the world.
Choose a live stream of a well-known Pride celebration, or invite team members to share photos, memories, and personal stories reflecting their Pride Month experiences. Whether you highlight moments of joy or resilience, this is an excellent way to build connections and support your LGBTQ workforce.
4. Use a fun Pride Zoom background
A simple but fun way to engage remote teams is to offer custom Pride Month video call backgrounds. Design your own using your brand elements, or choose from free resources featuring the rainbow flag or messages of inclusivity. While this may seem small, visual cues create a welcoming digital space and spark conversations about diversity, gender identity, and what it means to support LGBTQ colleagues.
5. Create a Pride playlist with your team
Music is central to Pride celebrations, from ’70s disco anthems to boundary-pushing queer artists like Chappell Roan. Create a collaborative playlist that allows team members to add songs that resonate with their identities and honor LGBTQ trailblazers. Highlight lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer artists and make space for people to share why they chose specific songs.
6. Expand your diversity training
Diversity in the workplace is about more than just job descriptions. Consider offering diversity training that covers topics like sexual orientation, gender identity, inclusive language, and how to navigate workplace bias. Offer optional breakout sessions to meet people where they are.
During this training, encourage respectful use of pronouns and clarify how your company supports LGBTQ staff through policies, benefits, and everyday practices. Thoughtful and well-executed diversity training goes a long way toward inclusivity.
7. Publish Pride Month content
Use your company’s voice to spotlight LGBTQ visibility through internal or external content. Whether you write a blog post about your team’s Pride Month activities or publish a short video about the history of Pride, authentic storytelling is powerful.
Don’t pressure LGBTQ team members to share—let them volunteer instead. The goal is to create space, not tokenize. Content that educates and reflects your values can build trust with employees and audiences.
8. Share Pride quotes on your work messaging channels
Share empowering quotes from LGBTQ leaders and activists in digital spaces like Slack and Teams for daily inspiration. Choose messages that highlight courage, inclusion, and hope, and pair them with short bios so your team can learn more about these influential figures. This is an easy, non-intrusive way to keep Pride Month present in your company culture while celebrating the voices that shaped the movement.
9. Don’t force employees to celebrate Pride
Leadership may be excited to roll out Pride Month initiatives—but remember, the decision to celebrate Pride should be optional. Some employees may not feel comfortable sharing their identity or may still be navigating their sexual orientation privately. Others may live in regions where being out is unsafe.
Encourage employees to participate voluntarily and create a psychologically safe space for those who choose to engage (or not). Consider offering volunteer time off for team members volunteering in their local Pride celebrations.
10. Organize Pride trivia
Wrap up the month with a fun and educational team activity: Pride trivia. Use a quiz platform like Kahoot or Slido to host a virtual live game featuring questions about LGBTQ history, cultural milestones, iconic figures, and the origins of the Pride flag. Include some lighthearted questions, like identifying famous drag queens or guessing lyrics to LGBTQ anthems.
Pride trivia is an excellent way to encourage friendly competition and end the month on a high note. For even more fun, offer a small prize, like something from an LGBTQ-owned business.
Build diverse, inclusive teams with Oyster
Creating an inclusive workplace starts with intention and extends through every policy, practice, and celebration. When you foster a culture that makes team members feel valued regardless of sexual orientation, background, or gender identity, you empower people to show up authentically and do their best work.
Oyster helps you turn this vision into action. As a global employment platform, Oyster makes it easy to hire, pay, and support team members in over 180 countries without setting up local entities. From equitable compensation to comprehensive benefits, we’re here to help you build people-first teams around the world.
Make global hiring more inclusive with Oyster’s all-in-one employer of record solution.
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, engage, pay, manage, develop, and take care of a thriving distributed workforce. Oyster lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.
Oyster enables hiring anywhere in the world—with reliable, compliant payroll, and great local benefits and perks.
