The LGBTQ+ Opportunities Almost No Brand Has Touched

Editor's note: This piece is part of a series with Graham Nolan on the ways marketers can commit to LGBTQ+ allyship and rethink visibility, support and inclusion in the workplace. The volume of anti-LGBTQ+ bills boomed from 41 in all of 2018 to 238 in just the first three months of 2022. Beyond unprecedented legal battles, LGBTQ+ individuals are more than twice as likely than heterosexual people to face mental health disorders in their lifetime and twice as likely to experience homelessness. Two fifths of transgender adults have attempted suicide in their lifetime, compared to less than 5% of the general U.S. population. Yet while brands tout rainbow logos and hire drag queens every June, where are they for the community when we need access to mental health resources or need to pay rent—challenges that impact the LGBTQ+ season we call The Other 11 Months of the Year? The Idea That You Only Come Out Once Is a Falsehood Brands know we're tired of bandwagon activism. That’s a challenge in supporting all social movements. Ikea and Absolut were pioneers for LGBTQ+-targeted ads, but each subsequent brand rainbow has felt less bold. There are social problems in plain sight that changing your logo for a month doesn't solve. To provide the most value to LGBTQ+ communities, brands must delve into the most uncomfortable parts of our lives and address our most ignored problems—and do it early. So what are the most obvious currently ignored LGBTQ+ challenges where brands could make the most immediate impact? Health Queer people are rarely seen en masse in healthcare commercial, and if they are it's probably for PrEP. But LGBTQ+ people are less likely to have a regular provider or health insurance. And recent politics have negatively affected the mental health of 94% of LGBTQ+ youth. This is in addition to a general lack of LGBTQ+ cultural competence by healthcare providers. Plus, even when it comes to common health issues, we’re still not the ones seen skipping through the fields with allergies. Health brands, understand this: Like other companies, you may actually be in the best position to help us if you’ve only focused on the general market in the past. The first major brand that delivers a focused, visible, intersectional, ongoing commitment to addressing insurance inequities will be anything but bandwagon. Johnson & Johnson recently pledged a commitment to LGBTQ+ depression relief that will make more of an impact than another parade float. LGBTQ+ Creators Weigh In on How Brands Can Prove Their Commitment to Advocacy Parenthood We face systemic discrimination in the pathways toward legal parentage. Nonbiological parents must deal with additional complications when trying to attain legal custody due to second-parent and stepparent adoption procedures, which are expensive and involve invasive home visits from social workers. Further, LGBTQ+ families have historically faced discrimination in child welfare and custody decisions. Hundreds of major brands focus on families, but where is the brand putting our families front and center consistently, to show there is no baseline definition of family—and family problems? Pantene amplified its community commitment with awareness and financial commitment around these challenges—and in November, of all months! But more brands must demonstrate the complexity of family. What social platform will be the first to create a direct digital pipeline to adoption resources and financial resources? Which tourism brand will expressly cater to LGBTQ+ adoptive families and their needs for safety and support? Bi- and pansexual communities Myriad micro communities exist under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, and many don’t often see themselves reflected in the media or even their own social circles. They may not even see their own reflections in the mirror, as self-erasure is amplified by media erasure. So if you’ve shown gay men and drag queens, then you’re up for breaking new ground—which we admit is a serious challenge. How do you showcase any one person’s spectrum of sexual orientation authentically, without tokenization? First, ask bi and pan people how they might find and connect with each other, and let that lead the way for representation. And compensate them for telling you about those ways. Understand that connection doesn’t have to be all about sexual behavior, and that there are other ways to rep those communities. OkCupid took a direct route to representation, because self-identification is inherent in the product. But which less obvious brands and categories will find strategic advantage in showing what was previously obscured? Some brands—in fashion, dining, events and technology—will be the first to provide breakthrough opportunities to people who love beyond monogamy or the binary. You know that brand will be rewarded. Why is that not your brand? We know it’s a tough call, to wade through discomfort and to do so early. If you bring ignored issues to light—if you take the strategic risk that you may not get it perfect, so you can lead versus follow—the rewards will be meaningful and eventually lucrative. Listen, be an active ally, then tie action into your mission in a way that makes sense. Why Lego Is Asking the LGBTQ+ Community to Build a Giant Pride Alphabet Out of Bricks