RainbowPages: interactive website promoting visibility, findability and safety by and for LGBTQIA+ people

Match Belgium has launched the RainbowPages, an interactive website promoting visibility, findability and safety by, for and about the LGBTQIA+ universe. Not unlike the White Pages or the Yellow Pages. By which we for once don’t mean Grindr.

“At RainbowPages you can easily and quickly find organisations, liberal professions, entrepreneurs and artists who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community or who are LGBTQIA+ friendly and are committed to inclusion in the workplace and environment”, the website says.

RainbowPages are an initiative of the LGBTQIA+ organisation Match Belgium supported by the Brussels-Capital Region department of Economy and Employment.

For this project, Match Belgium is also collaborating with Utsopi, the organisation dedicated to the interests of the sex work community. Zahra Eljadid, visual artist, is the website builder for this.

“Rainbow Pages is best compared to the Yellow Pages and Tripadvisor online” Match Belgium says in an introduction to the website.

“Registered professionals and organizations can designate different facets of their identity, if they wish”n referring to intersectionalirty.

For example, the website visitor who is a black pansexual trans woman and poly, can explicitly search for a black LGBTQIA+ relationship therapist who has joined Rainbow Pages. She may feel better understood and more secure. She may have experienced misunderstanding from a previous therapist who has little to no experience with LGBTQIA+- patients.

Allies

Allies can also register and indicate that they are working towards an inclusive safe workplace and society. Organisations can also indicate other additional facets that show they are working on inclusion.

This can be a gender equal board, inclusion scan, Green Key label, VAPH care provider, anti-discrimination policy, wheelchair accessibility. VAPH is the Flemish Agency for People with a Handicap.

“By doing so, we encourage every registered person/organisation to make an extra effort for a sustainable inclusive society. We also avoid the black-and-white image that is sometimes expressed with pink-washing. We turn it into a positive action by rewarding everyone with badges (little symbols/tags) and by doing so, actually also indicating where there might still be work to be done.”

In a second phase, the RainbowPages are a specific channel for employers to post jobs and connect with job seekers. When a job posting is content-inclusive, it still needs to get to the super-diverse target audience. RainbowPages can be the missing link in this way.

A third component includes training sessions that the website visitor can book for themself or team. The instructor in each case is someone from the Match community.

What and who are the RainbowPages for?

Organisations, liberal professions, entrepreneurs, artists and services that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community or are LGBTQIA+-friendly and committed to inclusion.
Training courses and workshops given by professionals who are part of the match/rainbow pages community.
Jobs published by organisations that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community or are LGBTQIA+-friendly and committed to inclusion.

Why?

Match’s long-term aim is to bring more inclusion and diversity to the decision tables across all sectors and life domains such business, sports, arts, politics, research, health, socio-cultural, tech,…

Indeed, at Match, they believe that a consequence of more diverse and inclusive teams, current expectations, norms and forms of discrimination are dismantled.

This creates a society where one person can develop their talents to the fullest, grow as a person and have the opportunity to contribute to society. Moreover, research shows that diverse and inclusive teams are more innovative & economically stronger too.

This can only be realised, according to Match, if we support each other more and increase each other’s voices.

Match wants to achieve that by launching this website which has these objectives:

Making visible organisations, professionals and talents that are LGBTQIA+ and/or collaborate to create an inclusive and non-discriminatory workplace and environment.
Making findable organisations, professionals and talents that are LGBTQIA+ and/or collaborate on an inclusive and non-discriminatory workplace and environment.
Increase sense of safety and well-being of citizens and visitors in Belgium in the public sphere (e.g. hairdresser or bar) and private sphere (e.g. A lesbian couple is looking for a plumber. They consult RainbowPages to see if they can support someone from the community ánd they feel safer with a woman they welcome to their home. (Previous gender-based violence & LGBTQIA+-phobic behaviour experienced from carpenter).
Encourage organisations and individuals to adopt inclusive policies.
Encourage collabs between organisations and individuals, with a view to creating new opportunities and added value for each party.
Advise and support at every stage of inclusive business, taking inclusive action.

You can sign up as a professional, artist, company, organization, service thats queer or queerfriendly and committed to inclusion via this Google Form.

What is Match Belgium?

Match Belgium is an LGBTQIA+ organisation that aims to empower, inspire and support women, trans, non-binary people, people of colour and people with a disability in their personal lives and professional development. All their friends and allies are always welcome.