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My Journey as a LGBTQ+ Ally as Selective Celebrates PRIDE

By Martine Whitehurst
Vice President, Claims Shared Services

This year, Selective was a Gold Sponsor of the New Hope Celebrates (NHC) PrideFest. The event takes place in May each year in the Delaware River Valley. It features a Pride parade that starts in Lambertville, New Jersey, and crosses the Delaware River to New Hope, Pennsylvania. Working with our valued distribution partner, GMG Insurance, Selective employees participated as spectators in the parade and hosted a booth at NHC's Pride Fair.

If you have attended Pride festivals, you likely know how uplifting they can be. Every time I participate in a Pride celebration, I am awed by the positivity and inclusivity that flows throughout the event. This year, Selective sponsored the NHC PrideFest, which takes place in May leading up to Pride month, making it one of the first Pride festivals of the year.

Selective's Pride Alliance Employee Resource Group, a team that works together to promote an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ employees, worked for months preparing for the NHC event. Several employees from our Corporate, Mid-Atlantic, and Richmond offices traveled to New Hope to support the PrideFest, while proudly wearing our Selective t-shirts. This small town was overflowing with enthusiastic people on the day of the event. All gathered together to celebrate Pride. The parade was massive, and our Selective booth was bustling with visitors interested in learning about Selective and getting their hands on Selective swag!

I am so proud to work for a company that backs up its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion with action and support.

It was especially meaningful to share our PrideFest experience with members of GMG Insurance, one of our valued independent agency partners. Ryan Fuller, GMG Insurance's Vice President of Sales, was in attendance and shared his views with me:

"GMG Insurance was excited to team up with our partners at Selective in the New Hope Celebrates PrideFest. It has been important for GMG Insurance to support this community event for the past seven years. This year was not only the first celebration since COVID, but having Selective be our partner made it much more impactful to the community and us. It was great to see so many Selective employees attend the festivities and share in the event.”

When Selective formed the PrideAlliance ERG, I immediately wanted to get involved. I have always believed in LGBTQ+ rights but needed more education to become a stronger ally. Throughout my time working on the Community Outreach pillar of PrideAlliance ERG, I have become much more aware of marginalized groups' challenges. I have learned the terminology that LGBTQ+ people use to identify themselves, I have listened to coming out stories and stories from parents of LGBTQ+ children, and so much more.

In addition to advocating for my co-workers at Selective, I had another important motivation for joining the PrideAlliance ERG. I have a teenage relative who recently came out to our family. I love this family member unconditionally and want to know how I can best support them. In PrideAlliance, we often talk about how times are changing and that we believe young people will lead us to a more inclusive and loving society.

If you are an LGBTQ+ ally like me, I encourage you to continue your learning journey. The Pride Alliance ERG relies on the information published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). HRC is a non-profit organization that lobbies on behalf of LGBTQ+ people. The organization provides excellent educational material. If you go to the HRC website, you will see the quote: "Love Conquers Hate.” We can all rally around that sentiment!

About the Author

Martine Whitehurst is the Vice President of Claims Shared Services at Selective, responsible for auto physical damage claims, subrogation, and SIU. Martine has been with the company for eight years. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from James Madison University. She started her insurance career at Travelers, managing workers compensation claims, auto claims, and claims operations in Virginia.

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