AIM partners with Stonewall as a diversity champion, calls on members to take action

14 January 2019 - Press release

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has joined the UK's leading charity for lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality, Stonewall, as a 'Diversity Champion' and encouraged the wider industry to do the same in a drive for greater representation and inclusivity in the sector.

The independent sector has always been a welcoming place where people are encouraged to express themselves. However, Stonewall's research shows that up to 35 percent of LGBT people in Britain still hide the fact they're LGBT at work due to a fear of discrimination[1]. Through its partnership with Stonewall, AIM will support its members in creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels accepted.

Creating an inclusive and diverse workplace holds a huge amount of benefits for any business. Ensuring that LGBT staff feel free to be themselves at work will drive a number of key performance factors such as engagement and innovation, enabling LGBT staff to reach their full potential. AIM is encouraging its membership to get in touch and find out how they can make this possible. If you are a member of the independent community, please contact AIM to see what you can do to drive positive change.

AIM is committed to the recruitment of diverse talent.  As a Diversity Champion the trade body will encourage its members to consider diversity in their recruitment, advertise on LGBT job sites and clearly display their organisation's commitment to LGBT equality.

AIM will disseminate a library of research and best-practice guides to its members in order to increase awareness and knowledge of how best to further LGBT equality amongst the community.

It will also support its members in reviewing their equality policies by directing them towards the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, the definitive benchmarking tool for companies to assess their progress on LGBT equality.

In addition to this, AIM will organise Empowerment Programmes for its membership to take part in, which will help to educate and enable individuals within the independent sector to act as visible public role models for LGBT equality, challenge homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, celebrate difference and improve inclusion.

Paul Pacifico, CEO of AIM said: 'The independent sector is a diverse community in its very essence. Diversity is one of our greatest assets and I am proud to say that we have always been leaders in this area. However, it's crucial that we don't become complacent - there is still a lot of work to be done. Through our partnership with Stonewall, we will be offering advice, information and practical steps for our members to help improve LGBT equality, get the best out of their staff and improve their business.

"We hope the wider industry will recognise the need for progression in this area, and join us in doing what they can to improve the culture of acceptance and inclusivity in the world of music.'

Vicky Hayden, Head of Private Sector Memberships, Stonewall said: 'It's so important that we're now working with AIM. We need everyone involved in independent music to feel included and welcome. To make this happen, we need individuals and organisations to step up to show their support for LGBT people and that's what AIM have done today. We're excited they've joined us as a Diversity Champion and we look forward to working with them to help further LGBT equality in music.'

Dream Wife (Lucky Number Music) said: 'Initiatives like Stonewall are vital for equal representation of LGBTQ identifying people not just in the music industry but in general. Raising awareness and taking action on issues such as this is are important. We need more role models that are female identifying and non-binary in the music business, we need to normalise these roles and the access to them; particularly within the LGBTQ community. We need to stand together in this, we need to be loud and we need to be proud!'