International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia (IDAHOT) raises awareness to help fight discrimination against the LGBTI community. Brett Tooke of Customer Connect at Medibank says although his own experiences as an LGBTI person hasn’t been too difficult, he is well aware that others haven’t had the same experience.
From an early age, Brett knew his most authentic self and was confident in living the way he wanted to. IDAHOT exists in the hope that one day, everyone will have the chance to live their lives as they wish.
“Even from an early age, I never found my sexuality to be an issue. I’ve always been comfortable being myself. That’s just how I felt and that’s just how life was.”
Despite this, he has always and still is, extremely active in working for the equality that the LGBTI community deserves. He says that this is a vision that Medibank also shares and has worked extremely hard in promoting.
“My passion is equality. Medibank supports this and will not stand for any discrimination. The organisation really embraces diversity and no matter where a person is from or what their background is, they are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work.”
Brett and his Customer Connect team.
This year, Medibank had its very own float at Mardi Gras and around 80 employees had the chance to participate in the parade. Brett was one of these employees and says it’s something he has always wanted to do.
“I’d been to Mardi Gras as a spectator previously but to be included in the actual parade and be a part of the Medibank float was just fantastic. I can officially tick it off the bucket list!”
Medibank Mardi Gras rehearsals!
He takes extreme pride in the fact that he is a part of the Medibank family. During his time with the organisation, he has been welcomed as equally as everybody else and is always encouraged to be true to himself.
“I’m so proud to be working for Medibank and I don’t shy away from telling people that. It’s a breath of fresh air. Diversity and inclusion are actively promoted in a variety of ways and I think that is such a huge step forward for any company.”
According to Brett, in order to erase discrimination towards the LGBTI community, we need to always remember that we can have the equality that we want and need, so long as we help each other out.
“We’re all brought into this world and will leave it the same way. Our journeys in between can be poles apart but let’s embrace our differences. We need to reach out to those who may need it because that’s where change begins.”