THE AVIO AERO

PEOPLE’S MAGAZINE

As the month of June comes to end, a time globally recognised as Pride Month, it is essential to reflect on the significance of this annual celebration. Pride Month serves as a reminder of the progress made in the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and others) community, whilst also highlighting the ongoing journey for equal rights and acceptance.

At Avio Aero, everyone flew with Pride during June, and shall continue to fly with Pride 24/7, 365: proud to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. The company recognises the importance of acknowledging and supporting Pride Month because its people believe that diversity is the foundation of innovation and progress, and that the LGBTQIA+ community does yet suffer discrimination. Avio Aero strives to be a home away from home for everyone.

This year, Avio Aero is a proud sponsor for Torino, Napoli, and Salento Pride parades for the second consecutive year, demonstrating its people’s commitment to inclusivity and embracing the rich tapestries of the communities where they work and live.

Employees from Rivalta di Torino headquarters taking a picture with the Pride frame.

“Pride is a worldwide event, we need to remember that diversity is always wealth. But it is also important to work every day to affirm the rights of homosexual people, in all the actions of our lives"

In an exciting development, we are excited to announce our sponsorship of Prague Pride (scheduled for 12^th August), marking our inaugural participation in this Czech Republic’s remarkable event in the front row.

“Pride is a worldwide event, we need to remember that diversity is always wealth. But it is also important to work every day to affirm the rights of homosexual people, in all the actions of our lives”, says Luca Trapanese, special guest at Avio Aero Pomigliano site.

In fact, Avio Aero’s Inclusion & Diversity team organised "pre-Pride" events in several Italian sites, external guests have been invited to join and set the tone for a month filled with celebration and awareness. Such events provided an opportunity for meaningful conversations, fostering understanding, and building bridges between the employees and the LGBTQIA+ community.

The first pre-pride event was held at the Brindisi site, and the guest speaker, Anna Maria Calabrese – President of the Commission for Equal Opportunities of Brindisi Municipality, acted as a strong advocate for these events.

The Avio Aero team at the Pride parade in Naples, here in piazza Dante.

“The reality of Avio Aero impressed me. On the positive side, of course. As I reported publicly in my post on social media, it is not for everyone to pause from work and to let employees dedicate a moment of training on civil rights. Furthermore, in this way, there’s a chance to intimately reflect on our own's attitudes or behaviours, including those prejudices of which we all, even unconsciously, are impregnated.”

She goes on to say that her commitment to diversity and inclusion in Brindisi is incessant. Anna Maria believes that listening is fundamental, both towards those who have prejudices and for the support and improvement of future interventions.  As a city councillor and president of the Equal Opportunities Commission, she has promoted awareness and informational meetings for the Brindisi residents in collaboration with trade associations, which preceded the first Brindisi Pride, in August 2021.

Brindisi has also welcomed a second special guest, speaking during the event dedicated to employees: Natascia Maesi, President of Arcigay association of Italy. “I had a positive feeling as I attended the Avio Aero event: we made an important step ahead, together we worked on the deconstruction of stereotypes and prejudices which often anticipate violence. We also shared helpful tools to recognize homo-bi-lesbo-trans-aphobic violence and take on it in our daily routine and workplace (often, that is where LGBTQIA+ people can’t feel welcome), seeking a wider language that respects all the diversity”.

The Pride parade in Lecce, attended by the Avio Aero people of the Brindisi site.

Luca Trapanese, a single gay father of a girl with Down syndrome he adopted in 2018, was instead guest speaker at the pre-Pride event in Pomigliano d’Arco. He recalled how society on the one hand is unprepared for diversity, sometimes it is afraid of not being able to confront itself, other times it is ignorant because it does not know. For example, there are still those who are convinced that Down syndrome is a disease. We need to create Culture, to "Educate" people about disability and diversity.

Something that resonates with the level of inclusiveness that Natascia sees in Italy nowadays. “We are just a bit ahead the year zero”, she says. “The law on civil unions was approved in 2006 and, however, does not recognize the chance for couples of the same gender to recognize their children at birth. Still no law against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, against misogyny and ableism, no law that stops surgery on intersex minors or bans, once and for all, the so-called reparative theories”.

The start of the Pride parade in Torino, with the whole Avio Aero team attending.

The advocacy and expectation from the lawmakers are indeed recurrent in Natascia’s words: “we are also missing laws on hate speech, and it is necessary to make education projects on diversity, consent, affectivity, conscious and positive sexuality mandatory in schools and the adoption of career alias in every context from sport to school, in hospitals and in companies. Some laws, like the 164 on gender affirmation courses, need to be rewritten… in short, there are still many things to be done”.   

At Avio Aero we believe that, together, we can continue to learn and listen to all the voices, experiences aiming to soar to new heights while celebrating the vibrant tapestry of humanity that makes our company, as well as the whole world, a better place for all.