Edit, June 1: In just the few days that elapsed between when this was penned and when it was posted so much has happened.
Today in discussing everything that is transpiring, someone pointed out that the roots of Pride Month are not just in the historic riot at Stonewall, but also riots at Cooper Do-nuts, Compton’s Cafeteria, and others.
As we think about what we do to build a diverse, civil, and inclusive community, we look for ways to show that everyone is welcome here and that their lives matter, that black lives matter.
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Happy Pride Month from the Hyperledger open source community! We are proud to have an inclusive community here at Hyperledger. This year has some new challenges for all of us. While the pandemic impacts each of us differently, many of us involved in Hyperledger are fortunate to have jobs that we can do virtually. In fact, one of the reasons it is natural to be inclusive in open source is that it just takes an internet connection to get involved. Of course, it takes an active effort to be a contributor and an active effort from the community to make sure that everyone feels included.
We have a couple new initiatives to announce in Pride Month. First off, we are starting a new guest speaker series. Hyperledger is supported by large and small companies alike, and we are inviting leaders from these companies to come and talk about what Diversity, Civility, and Inclusion mean within their companies and how participating in open source helps. Our first speaker is Jim Gordon from Intel on June 10th: https://wiki.hyperledger.org/x/kw7cAQ
We were also looking forward to joining our member companies at Pride Month events. The plan was to show our support at festivals and other activities and encourage their participation in this open source project. It is perhaps bittersweet that we were able to run Hyperledger Global Forum replete with our “All Are Welcome Here” message, but that might have been the last in-person event for many of us this year. As we looked towards Pride Month events, our nascent on-site plans have had to be curtailed. Fortunately, we are discovering that more and more events are finding a way to continue through virtual means. And as a do-ocracy YOU are welcome to help us be present and connect at those events.
Out and Equal is hosting a couple of virtual events including a June 1st kickoff for pride month and a June 15th virtual brunch: https://outandequal.org/virtual-offerings/
You are welcome to show up and represent the Hyperledger community at these events.
More broadly, there’s a host of LGBTQ+ Tech organizations you can check for other events: https://www.pride.com/technology/2018/5/03/7-lgbt-tech-groups-you-should-know-about
Lesbians Who Tech, for example, is hosting what they are billing as, “… the largest LGBTQ tech gathering in history.” https://lesbianswhotech.org/virtualpridesummit/
If you make it to an event, let the rest of the community know by dropping in chat (https://chat.hyperledger.org/channel/dci-wg) or sending a note to the mail list (https://lists.hyperledger.org/g/dci-wg/).
Regardless of how you celebrate this month, have a healthy and proud month!
