At its core, Pride month is a time for visibility. Every June we come together to reflect on the progress we’ve made as a community, as well as reminding ourselves of the issues LGBTQ+ people still face on a daily basis. In doing this we shed light on the queer changemakers in our community and celebrate the daily work they do to further acceptance of those who are marginalised.
In the spirit of visibility, the Ocean Bottle team has come together to celebrate our favourite queer environmentalists, activists, and ocean advocates.
Who we’re celebrating
Queer Surf Club
QSC is a community of LGBTQ+ surfers from across the globe. Powered by their foundational values of community, advocacy, and inclusion, QSC’s mission is to break down the barriers within surf culture which exclude people from diverse backgrounds.
Ocean Bottle is proud to have worked with QSC and its founder Frazer Riley on a recent film celebrating the power of finding connection and getting the queer community into the ocean.
“I’ve wanted a community like Queer Surf Club all my life. Ever since I came out, I’ve wanted to feel that sense of belonging with people and also to be able to feel like myself, doing the thing I love the most.” - Frazer, aka Frazzle.
Want to be a part of the QSC community? Join their Slack group here.
Pattie Gonia
Pattie is a drag queen, environmentalist, and co-founder of The Outdoorist Oath.
When they’re not performing they work to help queer people get into hiking, and they just recently funded eleven scholarships for young LGBTQ2IA+ people to attend the ESCC Summer Expedition.
Learn more about their work here.
Emily Endean
Emily is a nature photographer and one of Ocean Bottle’s content creators. Her instagram account @the_never_endean_story documents her and her wife Carol’s life away from the 9-5, favouring van life together with their dog Buster.
Check out her photography here.
Our Commitments
As well as spotlighting LGBTQ+ community members, we want to take the opportunity this month to reflect on our own commitments.
Equal Opportunity Hiring has been a key focus for us internally, and we’re proud to share that the actions we’ve taken towards this have ensured that 14% of our workforce identify as LGBTQ+ (higher than the national average).
Beyond our hiring process, we have introduced an ongoing D&I training programme to ensure that our queer and BAME team members are properly respected and supported at work.
Externally, we commit to supporting and collaborating with queer organisations all year round. This can be seen in our partnership with QSC, who we are proud to have been working with since 2021.
