Our employees share their time at Berlin Pride
44 volunteers from our LGBTQI+ Employee Resource Group worked together in five workstreams to organise our presence at Christopher Street Day Berlin, amongst other 2024 Pride initiatives.
Take a look, as our colleagues attend the demonstration together:
Steph, Tyler, and Sam share their thoughts
It's tradition for our employees to share speeches on the Zalando truck at Christopher Street Day, using their voices to contribute to a more inclusive world. Read on to learn about their stories:
Steph shares:
"Dear beautiful colleagues,
Look around you! It’s like a rainbow exploded, and glitter is raining down from the sky. This incredible sight is a testament to our vibrant community. Let’s give a big round of applause to everyone who made their way here today despite the weather forecast. You are all fabulous for celebrating love in every single one of its glorious and colourful forms!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Steph. I’ve had the honour of leading the truck management work stream in this year's CSD organisation team. Most of you know me as the person who guarded the precious wristbands that allowed you to board the truck today.
Like many of you, I’ve walked a long path to be here. When I first came out to my mother at the age of 13, I was living in a very remote area in Germany. For a long time, I believed I was the only queer kid around. But at some point, I figured out that there were more of us—our voices just weren’t as loud as they are here today. So, being here today, surrounded by queer people and organising pride events as an active part of Zalando’s queer community, is like telling my 13-year-old self that I was never alone or different.
Last year, one week before pride, I shaved off my long hair. Someone asked me if I shaved my hair because of pride. I got quite defensive and said no, as if I would go through such a drastic change just to look queer for one day. But what started with shaving my hair turned into a months-long journey through all the nuances of my own gender expression. It took me quite some time to finally come to terms with being just as queer in my gender identity as I am in my sexual orientation. So, this year marked a second wave of coming out. And I’m still not out to most of the people who are dear to me. So, if you see them, please act surprised.
Looking back now, I can only repeat that I didn’t shave my hair for pride, but I definitely benefited from organising pride and the courage it gave me to be part of a supportive community.
Many of us might still feel alone and different, and I want to make this day about them. So please, dance for everyone who cannot dance today. Sing for all the people who cannot share their voices as freely as we can. Love like there are no consequences. Today is our day to show the world that we are connected by love and that love will always win!
Happy pride, my friends. Let’s make this day an unforgettable one!"
Tyler shares:
"Many of my peers around me and in the overall community have it super clear for themselves. They identify as homosexual, lesbian, transgender, asexual, and so on. Which is great, that’s what we are here to celebrate during Pride month.
However, there is also a part of the community, including myself, that doesn’t have it all figured out and doesn’t know which label they fall under, if any. Like many who can relate to this, my timeline is more open-ended. I’m here standing in front of you, stating that this is fine and you’re just as much a part of the queer community. We are also here to celebrate you!
As much as society makes us label ourselves. There’s no need for us to do this ourselves if this is not feeling 100% right or helping you forward.
All of us are walking our own path and it may look very different than that of our lovely queer brothers, sisters, or friends beyond the binary. I’m stating to you that there is no wrong path in self-discovery. There’s no way you can make a mistake when finding what works for you!
For myself, even though I realized from a very early age that I wasn’t falling under the heteronormative norm, I’m still trying to figure out where exactly I stand.
From the inside, I’ve asked myself many times, “I fall under multiple letters, but which one do I identify with the most?”. From the outside, my wide variety of interests have been questioned and labeled as “too straight”, “way too gay”, or “fem”, as I love football and skateboarding since I’ve ever known but I’m also queer. How does that go together?
After the latest episode of Drag Race, I immediately switched the channel to watch the Euros ‘24 semi-final. Truth be told, I scream just as loud and passionate for the final lip sync as for the late-minute goals.
I love my duality and I’m lucky that I have a safe space to grow and develop as a person.
Events from the past that have sculpted me to the present version of me. Present me is happy where I am right now, which was a very long road to get there. And I’m wholeheartedly very excited to see what the future holds
I’m thankful for those close to me, either with us or not anymore, who led with patience and love to guide me to where I am now.
Shout out to Brand, Lilly, Matthijs, Willem, Kamal, Francis, Francesco, Shaz, and my mom.
Yes, you helped create this goofy human being.
The point is every part of me is just as queer. Regardless of what I’m doing, where my interests lie, or what letters I identify with. Every single letter holds just as much power and means just as much as you want it to. It’s up to me to find peace with my own existence, time will tell, and if it stays open-ended, that’s also perfectly fine. Most important is to stay true to me, be kind, and lead with love.
Happy Pride! Celebrate you!"
Sam shares:
"Hi everybody, thanks so much for taking the time to listen to me during what we all know is the most fabulous day of the year for our community. For those that don’t know me, I’m Sam and I’m in the TPO team, my pronouns are she , her and I have had the wonderful privilege of working at Zalando for almost 10 years. When the CSD organisers at Zalando asked for volunteers to make a speech, I immediately raised my hand because I wanted to take the opportunity to show my gratitude for being part of this amazing day. But then I thought about it and I was thinking that it’s not just my gratitude towards Zalando but also my gratitude in general for having this wonderful opportunity to celebrate our diverse community. So first and foremost I’d like to take this opportunity now that I’ve got the microphone to thank the city of Berlin for allowing us to stand up for our community, to let voices be heard, to speak up, and also to show solidarity to the members of our community who continue to face challenges and prejudices in their everyday lives. I find it amazing and feel that we are so privileged to live in such a wonderful city that gives us the opportunity to shine. So thank you Berlin for the love and support and pride month.
Secondly, I’d love to thank the organisers of CSD - the greater organisers of this wonderful event. Can you believe how many people are here cheering us on and watching us as we celebrate our love for ourselves and our community for each other? It wouldn't be possible without the dedicated members of the CSD committee so thank you so much for how much you do to make this wonderful event truly shine!!
So that’s my second thanks.
Thirdly I’m so grateful that we have these wonderful Zalando organisers who help us along the way. I’d like to thank the Zalando CSD organisers who have kicked ass today, and I mean, we have wait staff who are hand-delivering drinks!! How cool is that!! No really, your hard work has not gone unnoticed so thank you for everything you've done to get us here today.
Fourthly I'd like to thank our company Zalando for allowing us to shine, love, and dance our asses off in this wonderful parade. I'm really proud to work at a company that is so proud of us. This is my fourth parade and I just love Pride at Zalando, it's the highlight of my year!!
Finally, I'd like to thank you all, every one of you who turned up and are celebrating here with me. Every year I feel so welcomed by you all and I party with new people and old friends, I laugh, love, and dance my ass off so thank you all for making an OG member of this community feel like the luckiest girl in the world!
Thank you all!!"
Opening the Zalando Berlin Pride celebrations for 2024
In an evening of connection, music, and performance, our LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) opened the Zalando Berlin Pride celebrations for 2024.
Our ERG members brought the community together in the days before the Berlin Christopher Street Day / Berlin Pride (CSD) to reflect, connect, and create more awareness and understanding among our colleagues, both within and outside of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Panel discussion: ‘Our Time: How Queerness Shapes Time, Identity and Solidarity’
Before joining the Berlin Pride demonstration, members of our LGBTQI+ Employee Resource Group organised a panel discussion, ‘Our Time: How Queerness Shapes Time, Identity and Solidarity’ to amplify the voices of the community.
Hosted by Samet, the hybrid panel talk journeyed through time as Alexis (Senior Employer Branding Manager), Jule (Lead Business Partner), Mondell (Art Director Social), and Sergei (Senior Project Manager) shared their perspectives.
The panellists looked back and shared how they navigate setbacks when faced with homophobia and transphobia. They looked at today and shared personal experiences, as well as advice for colleagues to support the queer community at Zalando. Lastly, they looked into the future to discuss how we can show solidarity within the community going forward.
Thanks to Converse and NOISY MAY for donating their merchandise, as sales from these donations resulted in 690€ being raised for GLADT e.V. 🌈
For more stories from our LGBTQI+ community at Zalando, check out our employee campaign 'Their Time', exploring how Pierre, Simone, and Sebastian's understanding and acceptance of their identities have evolved over time: https://zln.do/Pride24
