Avoid Rainbow Washing with Real DEI Gains
Even though Pride Month is celebrated in June, by mid-May storefronts and social media are ablaze in the colors of the rainbow. The rainbow flag, designed by Gilbert Baker, was first flown as a symbol of gay pride in the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade and its significance has only grown. Unfortunately, the rainbow flag has also become a mere marketing tactic for some companies- a checklist item on an editorial calendar and an opportunity to make some colorful graphics- as a way to cash in on the LGBTQ+ community’s buying power. With an estimated $1.4 trillion in buying power in the United States, the LGBTQ+ community has significant ability to vote with their dollars. Instead of blithely slapping a rainbow on every product or post, companies who want to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to these consumers need to do so clearly, consistently, and with action.
Don’t Let the Rainbow Do the Talking
Your support has to reach beyond a color palette or graphic design. Implied support through token efforts is at best ineffective and at worst offensive. Your clearly articulated values must show up in all you do as part of a planned, comprehensive communications strategy. Internally, stakeholders must decide why they value LGBTQ+ people and issues, as well as how they want to talk about them and talk to them. Defining your organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of time will allow you to use that framework to guide all future communications.
Be an Ally All Year
If supporting the LGBTQ+ community is truly a priority for your organization, you need to show that support throughout the year, not just in June. A best practice for communication strategies is to incorporate a diversity of perspectives and ideas. Find ways to amplify Queer voices inside your organization and your community in all of your communications. Speak up loudly on timely issues that affect your industry and the Queer community.
Take Action
Once you have a communications strategy prepared and have committed to deepening your commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, it’s time to take action and this can take on many different forms. For some organizations, tangible support is given through donations to nonprofit organizations or educational programs. Other companies may want to take a more hands-on approach and organize volunteer days for employees and company leaders to get involved. Depending on what your organization does, it may make sense to partner with LGBTQ+ businesses and create new opportunities and offerings.
An often overlooked but critical step in any DEI effort is measuring its progress. Organizations need to craft clear goals and benchmarks they intend to hit with their strategy and be transparent both internally and externally about how and when those benchmarks are met. Achieving a more diverse and equitable workplace and economy is possible and it will take all of us working together towards these goals to do so.