Celebrating Pride at Charles River: LGBTQ+ Employees Share Their Stories

Roxanne Champagne, Process Improvement Specialist, Laval

Pronouns: she/her

One of the ways cisgender female Roxanne Champagne celebrates Pride Month is to dye her hair in bright rainbow colors. It is a chance for her to demonstrate, quite literally, her support for the LGBTQ+ community that she has been actively part of since she accepted her identity in adolescence. “It’s a way to show that I'm proud. And proud is the opposite of shame.”

But it wasn’t long ago when Roxanne felt excluded by those from her surroundings who were important to her. In high school, when she first came out as a pansexual her friends stopped hugging and touching her, and when she started dating a girl in her late 20s, her mother had a difficult time at first accepting Roxanne’s identity. “I had an aunt who came out many, many years ago, which impacted family relationships. My mother was very supportive of her,” recalls Roxanne, “but with me, she was shocked, and it was difficult. … She told me that the entire world can be gay, but not her daughter.”

Roxanne’s relationship with her mother is on much sturdier ground today—in part because her mother came to understand her unconscious bias about homosexuality—and Roxanne uses this experience to help bring psychological safety for the community around her. This role has become easier over time, because she is surrounded by coworkers who “allow people like me to be openly queer.” Roxanne is based at Charles River’s Laval site in Canada, where her job is sort of like a troubleshooter for study data. She analyzes processes used by her Safety Assessment colleagues that help them avoid deviations and mistakes, and help simplify and computerize data collection. She began at Laval—then under the tutelage of Citoxlabs—as a general toxicology and histopathology technician.

Roxanne says Charles River’s decision to include LGBTQ+ individuals in its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs is major step toward increasing awareness and visibility of a community long vilified in workplaces. She just wishes they provided more time during the workday for employees to partake. “Being in the LGBTQ+ community does not impact my career,” says Roxanne. “If you have the potential and you have the qualifications you can grow here.”