Godrej Industries Group Reaffirms Commitment To LGBTQIA+ Employees, Community

Pride Month at the Godrej Industries Group culminates in a Pride March at the group’s headquarters at Godrej One, Vikhroli on Friday, 21 June 2024. The march will be led by Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products, and joined by senior leaders from across the group.

The group marks Pride Month in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, Godrej’s own queer employees in India and around the world, and their allies. Leaders at the group have said that striving for queer inclusion is part of its broader commitment to India’s constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice. 

Over June this year, Pride-focused initiatives at the Godrej Industries Group have included upgraded medical policies for queer and transgender employees; workshops on allyship and gender-affirming medical care; queer-focused relationship counselling sessions; and a spotlight on trans and non-binary employees sharing their stories of coming out and inclusion, among other initiatives. A Pride flag and other queer-affirming signage have become flashpoints of conversation among employees and visitors to Godrej One. 

About the group’s Pride schedule, Nisaba Godrej said: “I’m very glad we’re celebrating Pride Month, which is a great affirmation of the diversity of our people, of the communities we belong to, and of India itself. But Pride is also a year-round endeavour for us at Godrej. Our celebrations this June are a culmination of the efforts we’ve make to advance LGBTQIA+ inclusion and to be constant partners to the community, both within Godrej and in society at large.”

Over the last year, the group’s efforts at advancing LGBTQIA+ inclusion have included a significant update to its caregiving policies with improved benefits for non-traditional families. At an upcoming GCPL factory at Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, leaders have publicly committed to hiring at least 5 per cent of its workforce from the LGBTQIA+ community. Senior managers across the group have committed to improving efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion for historically excluded communities in the workforce, including queer persons, as part of their business goals for the financial year.

“This Pride Month builds on years of amazing work that group companies have already been doing to advance LGBTQIA+ and other kinds of inclusion,” said Parmesh Shahani, Head, Godrej DEI Lab. “Our celebrations are a part of what we’re doing at Godrej One to re-affirm our commitment to LGBTQIA+ equality through tangible steps such as policy changes, hiring, creating inclusive products and services, and working for social change."

On 21 June, the Pride March, open to all Godrej employees, will be followed by an event led by four queer artists who are Godrej Industries Group employees, who will discuss what it means to own their narratives in an event open to the public. The afternoon includes a queer-themed film screening, high tea, and a mixer for queer people and allies.

“As a queer person myself, I’m especially proud that four of my colleagues feel safe and comfortable enough to share their own stories with other Godrejites and the wider world,” Shahani said. “It will be an evening of storytelling, movie magic, and, of course, rainbow cake.”