NMITE is celebrating #LGBTHistoryMonth and our Head of Partnerships, Toby Kinnaird, has opened up as to why his daughter is such an inspirational figure in his life. 🏳️🌈
“My daughter came out at the age of 16. Before this, I had a very minimal understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, and I remember previously asking myself, ‘how would I feel if any of my children were to come out, would it make any difference to me and my feelings towards them?’ The answer I soon found was no, and the only concern I really had around my daughter coming out was how others would view and treat her. I didn’t want life for my daughter to be any more difficult than it needed to be.
I have learnt that my daughter is strong and ever so sure of herself. To be able to come out at such a young age and be so open shows that her maturity is way beyond my own at her age. Her identity is hers, and no one can take that from her. I am incredibly proud of her, and I’m proud that she felt comfortable enough to come out to her family and friends. Equally, I’m proud of their reaction and support, and importantly, she has helped to educate us all.
When I was younger, people were much more, well, terrified really, about coming out. Now, it’s so much more accepted but there is still sadly prejudice surrounding the community and work that needs to be done. I hope that we continue to progress in the right direction.”
Our Head of Partnerships is right. There is always work to be done, but here at NMITE, we're proud to say that we have a safe and open culture where each and every member of the NMITE team is free to disclose their identity and be their authentic self.
