Andrea Zick (She/Her) is a PhD researcher at the UK Food Systems Centre for Doctoral Training and the Corporate Social Responsibility lead at OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie. She kindly took the time to write this blog for us, reflecting on Pride Month and her experience of being queer in the workplace. The opinions expressed are her own, and may not be reflective of those of the UK Food Systems Centre for Doctoral Training or OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie.
So, OXO Tower Changes its Light … Happy Pride!
Are these tokenistic changes still of relevance or are there activities which have more relevance? This was the conundrum I tackled with Keith from Coin Street a few weeks ago. It seemed we both agree that changing the colour of a logo or getting brands to create special editions in the rainbow flags sometimes feels cringeworthy. However, it also indicates that those businesses who do are welcoming the LGBTQ+ community, and to me, this implies a willingness to have more nuanced conversations.
One such conversation was hosted on the 2 June 2023 in the British Library.
Queering the Table – The British Library Food Season
Having always wanted to go to an event of the British Library Food Season and never been able to do so; this niche topic was hitting all the right notes for me. Some may wonder whether this has been put on at the beginning of Pride month as part of the general PR noise around queerness to tick the various boxes of D&I. Luckily the wonderful panel of Gurdeep Loyal, Rachel Rumbol, Hugh Richard Wright and Terri Mercieca also spoke about their feelings of rainbow washing and why Pride month is still relevant. I feel similar as described by the panel; torn because seeing so many businesses overtly engaging in the topic helps raise awareness but also worried that this is often merely lip service without engaging in the inner work of changing company cultures to be more inclusive for LGBTQ+ communities.
The conversations covered many of the themes one would expect.
Topics such as:
Does queer food mean glitter, sparklers, or rainbow flags or is queer food simply food?
Can food be a vehicle for queer activism and community building and if so why would that be of value?
What are the panel’s favourite queer hospitality places from the past and today?
Which queer online foodie makes the most waves in the community and why?
Why seems the US queer food debate currently richer?
What personally touched me probably most, was the reflection that kitchens are often still the least queer-friendly spaces and it had me wondering and reflecting on my history working in kitchens. I only came out in 2019 when I fell in love with the most wonderful woman, but had left the kitchen at that point. During my career in UK kitchens, I met quite a few queer chefs. In fact, the kitchen I first worked at was led by an openly gay man and my very first memory made in that kitchen was of him walking through the kitchen singing along to the radio with a pink orchid in his hand being loud, proud, and camp. Was that a pure chance encounter?
I would agree with comments from the panel and audience that there is a tendency for queer chefs to be pushed into the pastry or sometimes at least in my days into the starter section which was also often true for women in kitchens at that time.
The panel described and reacted to the comment of the audience echoing the experience described that many kitchens they worked in were testosterone, macho and sexist places which turned a blind eye to misogynistic and homophobic acts, where no one dared to speak to the HR or management team to get this addressed as either discrimination and/or abuse.
As I said, it’s fair to say my experience was different to the extent that most kitchens I worked in had openly queer chefs, and I would say abuse and sexism were not tolerated there.
Sadly, the conversation didn’t explore what it means to be a trans chef when many businesses haven’t quite figured out yet how to ensure that changing room and shower spaces are giving everyone similar access. The other theme I had hoped to hear more about was the idea of the pink pound which refers to the higher disposable income of those who live with same-sex partners because they may not have children. However, this is shifting, and more same-sex couples are also having families further the transgender experience could be vastly different given that a sex change could be costly not only due to the medical costs but also because of the potential time off required for recovery. In addition, the current statistics indicate that transgender people are still discriminated against in the workplace and often don’t have the same opportunities as others.
So, what I took away from that event was: there is huge potential to explore what LGBTQ+ in hospitality and food means and that I would love to see more of such dialogues unpacking why we link some foods to men and other to women, what gender fluidity can offer in the context of food production and food security.
Oxo Tower Wharf will be lit up in rainbow colours for the London Pride weekend from 30 June – 2 July 2023 as a beacon of solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities in London, across the UK and around the world.
