The St. Pete Pride parade, which attracted 265,000 people in 2019, hasn’t been held for two years because of the coronavirus pandemic. But when participants march again, members of Florida’s new Duke Energy WeR1 employee resource group will be among them.

For Jeff Baker, it’s a matter of personal and professional pride. In his 16 years at Duke Energy, he said he has never felt discriminated against at work because of his sexual orientation. But he also never realized how many allies he and his LGBTQ+ co-workers have.

NortonLifeLock is celebrating PRIDE this month. We hosted our first Virtual PRIDE Parade, which included conversations with LGBTQ+ identifying leaders from inside and outside the company, and recently completed two important grants to Out & Equal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

As we start to celebrate Pride Month, the growing call from consumers for brands to avoid “rainbow-washing” is substantive. And with every rainbow-branded product, individuals are looking under the hood to find out if and how the company is truly supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.

Every year during June and July, our associates around the world come together to participate in a broad range of activities in celebration of Pride. Even as the coronavirus pandemic impacts worldwide events and with hundreds of parades and events postponed or canceled, there is still an opportunity to bring about awareness on a global level—and to celebrate milestones like the U.S. Supreme Court's decision. This year, we embarked on a new direction and are using virtual events as a way to globally celebrate diversity and equality during these challenging times.