Dublin Bus and its employees announce a new community partnership with Gay Community News (GCN) for Pride 2021, while also telling Dubliners to watch out for its special Pride campaign, ‘Coming Out With Dublin Bus X DoDublin X GCN’ which hits buses on routes across the Capital this Friday morning.
With no Pride Parade in the city again this year and as part of its continued support of the LGBTQ+ community and employees, Dublin Bus, DoDublin sightseeing and attractions and GCN have worked together to create the ‘Coming Out With …’ outdoor ad campaign. After a year of staying in, Dublin Bus, DoDublin and GCN are celebrating Pride by helping Dubliners ‘come out’ – all across the city. The campaign will see a special group of people who call Dublin their home, revealing their true selves on advertisements on the side of buses across the city, with the chance to read more about their personal stories on GCN.ie. Keep an eye out too for the special video, which goes live on Dublin Bus socials as the sun rises on Dublin Pride this Saturday morning and is sure to stir lots of emotions.
Speaking about the campaign, Vivienne Kavanagh, Dublin Bus Employee Development & Equality Executive said: “For over 10 years Dublin Bus has worked to champion the community and play our part for LGBTQ+ causes. We’re really looking forward to bringing this celebration of Diversity and Inclusion to the streets and help the newest members of the community celebrate this milestone and tell their story with GCN. As a company we take great pride in our progressive and pioneering D&I policies, and want to ensure all employees and customers feel welcomed and supported.”
Curators of queer Irish culture, GCN is Ireland’s only dedicated national LGBTQ+ press. It has been a vital, free-of-charge information service for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community since 1988, just a year younger than Dublin Bus whose employees have been getting Dubliners to where they need to be since 1987. With over 3,600 employees, Dublin Bus is considered a pioneer in the development of policies and support initiatives around diversity and inclusivity. 2017 saw Dublin Bus work with TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland) to produce its Workplace Gender Transition Policy and Guidelines for transitioning employees. And in 2018 and 2019 it helped ‘Proud Dads’ and older members of the LGBTQ+ community to come together and enjoy Pride. The resulting heart-warming videos were seen hundreds of thousands of times across the globe.
Lisa Connell, GCN Managing Editor, said of the ‘Coming Out With’ campaign: “GCN is proud to be chosen as Dublin Bus’ community partner for Pride 2021. As Ireland’s national LGBTQ+ press, GCN marks 33 years in publishing this year, Dublin Bus marks 34 years, both organisations have been connecting communities across all those years. LGBTQ+ visibility and representation is so important in supporting and affirming our community and in challenging discrimination. This partnership gives visibility at the most wonderful, dynamic level and signals to our society that LGBTQ+ folk are valuable and respected members of our society.”
Pic credit: Maxwells Dublin
