“Physics for all” ran the cover story on the March issue of Physics World magazine, and it's a sentiment that we can surely all put our weight behind. The issue included an article about CERN’s LGBT community, and in particular last summer’s incidents of defacement of posters they had put up around the site. This story was picked up by The Sunday Times newspaper, which is widely read, and other media around the world have followed. So I’d like to set the record straight: there is no place for intolerance at CERN.

Last summer, when the LGBT posters were defaced, CERN Management unequivocally condemned such acts, and where the perpetrators were identified, disciplinary actions were taken. That position remains unchanged.

We are a diverse organisation, and we celebrate that diversity in all its forms. It is one of our core principles. It permeates our Code of Conduct, and respect for diversity is set out in laboratory policies. Diversity was among the key ingredients of the recent five-yearly review of the financial and social conditions of the members of the personnel, which resulted in many new actions that aim to make CERN as inclusive as it is possible to be. In short, ensuring that CERN is a model of physics for all.

Celebrating diversity means treating everybody equally, regardless of ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation or gender identity, and giving everybody the same opportunities. CERN brings together people of over 100 nationalities: everyone is welcome here. The principles of respect, openness and peaceful collaboration are part of CERN’s DNA and they are embedded in our mission. They are principles we shall continue to nurture and defend.