Queer in IT: A given. Visible. Safe.

Throughout my training at adesso, at vocational school, and in my personal life, I meet people every day with all kinds of stories. Among them are those who, at certain moments, wonder whether it’s safe to be themselves right now. Whether it wouldn’t be better to refer to their partner as a good friend in that sentence. Whether it might be dangerous to hold their partner’s hand in public.

Yet we didn’t choose to be the way we are. I never decided to be gay. So why should I have to worry over and over again about how the person I’m talking to will react?

“Things used to be different. There was no such thing back then!” my grandfather would have said. But that’s exactly where the problem lies: the caution to avoid standing out is a fundamental part of how we have to navigate the world. Because we believe that this part of us should remain hidden. And that feeling doesn’t just disappear when you escape the past, when you move to a new city, change jobs, or the company becomes more diverse.

I’m just one example. One of many queer lives and admittedly, one that can go to work in the morning without a care in the world. What I didn’t realize for a long time: Being accepted at work like this isn’t a given. It’s luck.

Diversity isn’t a bonus. It’s the driving force.

The IT industry is one of the most queer-friendly sectors in the job market. According to a Stack Overflow report, around eight percent of the developers surveyed identify as LGBTQIA+, a higher percentage than in most other sectors. And at the same time, many report not feeling fully visible or safe in the workplace.

Visibility isn’t created by a rainbow logo in June. Nor does it have to be in-your-face. It emerges in the seemingly smallest moments: when someone mentions their partner and nothing happens. When the reaction to a nerve-wracking coming-out is just a “So, what now?” When someone joins the team and realizes: Here, I don’t have to weigh who I am today against who I show. Psychological safety is not a soft topic. It is the foundation that allows people to show what they’re truly made of.

At adesso, I get to experience this every day. Not as a marketing slogan. But as the attitude of the people who trained me—and who have fully accepted me. That’s not something to be taken for granted. And that’s exactly why we take to the streets under the flag.

We’re showing our colors.

This summer, I’ll be helping set up the floats for Christopher Street Day in Hamburg for the third time. The fact that adesso is participating in CSD in six cities this year—including, finally, my adopted home of Cologne—is a clear sign of a work culture and camaraderie that isn’t a given. We celebrate these moments together: in our daily work and in a big way on the streets with everyone who knows that flying the flag in June means more than just being there.

I don’t wish for being queer to no longer be an issue. I hope that it can be an issue without becoming a problem. And someday, hopefully, no one will have to fight anymore just to be who they are. Without a second thought about the consequences.