KPN wants LGBTQIA+ people to feel safe online

Pride Verified - KPN

Ensuring that everyone is made to feel welcome, celebrating differences, finding out how people identify themselves… these often simple wishes can contribute towards a more pleasant online environment for the LGBTQIA+ community. All suggestions are properly collated and given expression in the KPN’s Pride Verified manifesto.

"We not only want the LGBTQIA+ community to feel safe and comfortable on our streets, but also online", explains Hilde Garssen, Chief People Officer and Management Board member of KPN. "The tips we get seem obvious, but unfortunately bad behavior is not so easy to change. Just take a look at the responses on any random topic on social media about gender of sexual preference. You can’t help but feel affected.” Pride Verified kicks off this Saturday during Groningen’s ‘Pink Saturday’, and then continues via social media.

TikTok Talkshow during Milkshake festival
Pride Verified will also be a presence on 29 and 30 July in Amsterdam during Milkshake – Amsterdam’s queer dance festival - when KPN will host a special edition of the TikTok Talkshow on the festival grounds. Last year saw the first social talk show with Robbert Rodenburg. The aim of the talk show is to give young people a platform to talk about topics that are important to them. It provides the LGBTQIA+ community with their own place to talk about what is required to create a safe and civilized online environment. The talk show can be visited by those attending the festival but can also be seen by a wider community via the social media channels of KPN and TikTok Talkshow.

Official Technology Partner KPN Pride
This year KPN will again be present on all Pride Amsterdam boats. The boats at the Canal Parade will once again be equipped with smart sensors provided by KPN. These ensure that the boats stay at a safe distance from each other and are locatable any time. In this way, KPN contributes to the safety of the Netherlands’ largest boat parade.

As with its participation in Canal Parade in previous years, KPN continues to make the link with technology. In 2015, for example, KPN won a prize with an empty boat equipped with an on-board 360֯° camera. Live streaming made Pride accessible to people across the globe for the first time, even in countries where the LHBTQIA+ community has no rights at all.

KPN Pride
KPN has an active policy on diversity and inclusion and strives to create a safe and free environment for all employees. The KPN Pride network is dedicated specifically to the interests of LGBTQIA+ employees. As an example, our Collective Labor Agreement enshrines that birth leave also applies to rainbow families and that employees in transition are entitled to take time off work. Partly in recognition of this policy, KPN won the Winq Workplace Award, an award intended to honor companies that actively promote a safe working environment for everyone.

KPN is committed to diversity, freedom, and equality, both in the workplace and beyond, offline and online. We believe in the power of diverse teams and an inclusive and equal corporate culture. Irrespective of gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural background, religious beliefs and age, as well as neurodivergency and working capacities. Everyone stands to benefit. That’s why we are continuing to work on diversity and inclusion. "It’s good for our colleagues, for KPN and for customers too", Hilde Garssen adds.

As part of its social engagement, KPN also champions the LGBTQIA+ community outside the company. In partnership with the KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds, KPN Pride has helped make the Pink Seniors’ Christmas Dinner at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam a resounding success. Last but not least, for five years, KPN has been lead sponsor of a Chair at Leiden University for the acceptance of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders in the workplace.