Supporting and honouring diversity at home and at work

On 26 October 2023, in celebration of Pride Month 2023, the Bridge Group hosted a Seminar with guest speakers:

Leon Boshoff, Tracey Pinder, Bianca Williams, Kirsty Harris and Alice and Jessica Swanepoel

for a panel discussion on mental health and acceptance within the LGBTQ+ context

Get to know the Panellists

Leon Boshoff

When, as a father, I was told by my son that he was gay, I came face to face with some hard and scary options. What must I do? What must I say? What would people say? This was never part of the future picture I had in mind for any of us. The collision between my values and belief system and this new reality forced me to make choices I was not prepared for. Do I love my son? Of course! Why did he do this to me? It was a journey to realise that the son I knew from birth, was still the same man who had the courage to tell this truth and was in fact not doing anything to me.  This was his choice and my acceptance of that choice, did not require my approval; but what it did require me to make a choice – was my love for my son conditional on him realising my expectations for him or would I just be a father, and love and accept him unconditionally? The future picture I had in mind, may not be what I envisaged, but I am okay with that – I still have my son. 

The thoughts of a Father and his son.

 

Tracey Pinder

Tracey Pinder is the owner and founder of The School of Life (Pty) Ltd and The School of Life Non Profit Organisation. Tracey is a neurodiverse individual with over 20 years of counselling and coaching experience. She has dedicated her practice to uplifting individuals from all walks of life. She has personally trained over 60 Life skills coaches and leads a team of  like minded, dedicated, knowledgeable and passionate coaches who  altruistically educate, equip, empower and inspire individuals by raising self awareness, developing life skills and cultivating self-respect

 

Bianca Williams

Bianca Williams is an Advocate by profession. She holds an LLB degree, a postgraduate diploma in Labour Law and a partially completed LLM degree. Bianca is an Autistic individual, diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and an array of co-morbidities.  She is also a Mom to two Autistic kids diagnosed with ADHD (and then some).

Bianca spent the majority of her life on a journey to find out more about her neurodiversity. A journey which highlighted the huge gap in people’s knowledge of neurodiverse conditions. A journey riddled with obstacles ranging from ‘a lack of support’; ‘a lack of acknowledgement’; ‘a lack of acceptance’ (to name a few).

A journey which saw her legal practice burst into flames… ‘not because she was incompetent’; ‘not because she lacked intellectual skills’; ‘not because she lacked enthusiasm’ … BUT…’because of a lack of support’; ‘because of a lack of acknowledgement’; ‘because of a lack of acceptance’. A journey which saw her claw her way out of the ashes Authentically Autistic and Unapologetically Neurodiverse… ‘not because she was less neurodiverse’; ‘not because she had less co-morbidities’; ‘not because she had less challenges’… BUT… ‘because she have developed a voracious appetite for knowledge of everything neurodiverse’; ‘because she learnt how to communicate her needs’; and most of all ‘because she became a part of like-minded individuals’.  Bianca is a Certified School of Life, Life Skills Coach specialising in Neurodiversity.

 

Kirsty Harris

Kirsty identifies as a gay woman and is the child of “straight” parents. She is also a registered counsellor and completing  The School of Life, Life Skills Coach training.  Her area of focus is on predominantly trauma counselling, as well as working with identity and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Kirsty’s passion lies in helping people, individuals, and groups.  She is also passionate about learning from other people, their stories and their experiences: her  research focus is centred in the field of  Human Rights, looking at equality (generally) and gender equality (more specifically).

 

Mother and Daughter, Alice and Jessica Swanepoel

Alice is an attorney in private practice and the mother of Jessica, an openly gay teenager.

 

Click here for the recording of the Seminar.

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