KPN the ultimate, timeless connector: even in the sphere of love

In a mini-documentary that can be seen on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, present and past converge in an open discussion about acceptance, love and solidarity. A campaign that dovetails superbly with what KPN is all about: connecting. After all, for many years we have been making it possible for people to be in contact with all their loved ones, wherever and whenever they want. You can see the meeting of two LGBTs of different generations: dancer, choreographer, director and actor Barrie Stevens and musician Jeangu Macrooy, 50 years his junior. What was it like “then” to be gay? How did we make connections? Apps like Tinder and Grindr did not exist in those days, of course.

Be who you are
With this campaign KPN wants to stress how important it is to be yourself. The Stonewall riots took place 50 years ago this year: the first real demonstration by the gay community and a turning point in the fight for gay rights. As a connector in the Netherlands, KPN considers it important for the past not to be forgotten. Earlier, we made a contribution to this aim with the Evert45 campaign in the context of freedom; now we are doing so with this social campaign in which we highlight the theme of diversity.

“We feel it’s important for everyone to be themselves, whoever you are and whatever your sexuality. It makes no difference whether this is at work or at home, offline or online”, says Hilde Garssen, Chief People Officer. “So I’m proud of the campaign and everything we are doing in the context of Pride. And of our colleagues who will be taking part in the Canal Parade on 3 August. They embody a KPN in which everyone can be themselves. Whoever you are.”

Remember the past, create the future
KPN Pride is now working hard on the preparations for the Canal Parade on Saturday 3 August. The theme is “Remember the past, create the future”. Our participation shows that we at KPN consider diversity important – not just through our partnership with Amsterdam Pride, but also by working with other, smaller organizations that promote these views: Pride Rotterdam, StudentPride and WorkPlacePride, to name but a few. This month we are also giving Pride extra attention by adorning the KPN stores in Amsterdam, KPN.com and the “Werken bij KPN” website (jobs.kpn.com) with a rainbow. In addition, OUTtv will be “channel of the month” in July and August.