When the Credit Crunch dismembered bewildered businesses, trashed the retirement pensions of hard working individuals, and saddled society with the prospects of a lot less for a lot more for a long time to come, many bright minds asked the question – what were they thinking?

Diversity is hugely rewarding. Much more than variety being just the spice of life, there are tangible benefits. It’s a wide held belief nowadays that if there were more senior female figures in finance then the type of risk taking and highly competitive mindset required to cause such a calamity would never have reached critical mass. Diversity is hugely rewarding.

At the same time, we live in a world where gender is one of several barriers that assign us roles to live out. Race, age and sexuality are also powerful forces in how children are socialised. The beliefs children adopt about who they are and what people like that do will become a powerful shaping force in the dreams they dream for their future.

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.

Mahatma Gandhi
Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)

Tech Queens aims to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs from Gay, Lesbian and Transgender communities by chronicling the work of our current outstanding thought leaders and innovators. Within our LGBT community we’ve had great minds creating technology for many years and yet at the same time LGBT people are seldom thought of as the stuff technology is made of, nor as technology entrepreneurs. Hair dressers, fashion stylists or entertainers perhaps, but LGBT people in tech? C’mon that’s stuff for the real men right?

Herein lies the issue. With technology now having reached the level it affects everyone, technology as an industry is still a predominantly straight male dominated industry. Sure there are great LGBT people amongst them and we’re not advocating ramming one’s sexuality down others throats. However if diversity never gets a spotlight, newcomers will never get to realise what a great, exciting and welcoming industry this is.

LGBT people have always had a passion for the internet. For many of us it was a lifeline. We may have felt isolated and alone at one time and connecting with likeminds through the internet may have reassured us of the worth of our own humanity. In the early days of the web a great many of us began joining the dots with Geocities, Homestead, Tripod and other personal home pages. Soon our communities gained critical mass and moved onto more sophisticated platforms. And yet despite the fact that a great many LGBT people hand made their websites with great technical skill and design competance, too often they leave themselves at home and take just part of them to the office. In their home life their true creativity flows. Come the next morning a large part of their self, their identity gets parked at home.

• Would you be as creative if you only brought half of your personality to work?
• Does help you as an employer to have staff who bring the heart and soul with them to work?
• Are there benefits from embracing a diversity of opinion and outlook within business?

Tech Queens seeks to provide the following:

• Recognition for outstanding work done by LGBT tech pioneers
• Positive role models for the LGBT youth of today and tomorrow
• Clear communication of the value LGBT staff can bring to an organisation
• Inspiration and collaboration opportunities for LGBT tech entrepreneurs and corporate technology companies

Tech Queens is not about parading and it’s not about insisting on policies that make everyone feel awkward. It’s simply about recognising that we are different, being grateful for that and looking for ways to channel that into positive uses within corporate technology intrapreneurship and independent entrepreneurial pursuit. By creating open dialogue, we believe that friendship and conversation and all the good things that spring from it will prevail.