05 Apr Steer Clear of Rainbow-washing or you WILL be called out

Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy to the notion of rainbow-washing; those that fail to stand up to scrutiny need to be prepared for a backlash.

We live in a time when companies are increasingly being held to account – and this is exactly as it should be. If you want all the benefits that come from being diverse and inclusive, specifically in relation to an LGBT+ audience, your support MUST come from a place of authenticity.

Or to put it another way:
If you say you support the community, you have to be able to demonstrate what that support looks like.

Rainbow- or pink-washing is a term used to describe a variety of marketing and political strategies aimed at appealing to an LGBT+ audience in a bid to make companies, governments and even countries seem more progressive and tolerant than they are. Recently we have seen the Conservative Government accused of doing just that.

In May 2021 it announced that it was to hold its first ever global LGBT conference: Safe To Be Me. The conference was set up “to tackle inequality around the world and urge countries to take action.”

So far so good. This was a clear sign from the Government that it had intentions of tackling existing issues around safety and discrimination against LGBT people in the UK head on. But it wasn’t long before the cracks started to show.

In January 2022, the UK was identified by Europe’s overarching human rights body, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), as a country which was notable for “extensive and often virulent attacks on the rights of LGBT+ people”. Indeed, the UK was grouped together with Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey as a country where this was of “most concern”, due to advances made in equal rights being under threat.

Not exactly the behaviour of a world beating country hell bent on tackling inequality…

Safe To Be Me, the Government’s flagship LGBT event was on shaky ground and sponsors were slow to come on board as a result. At this stage however, things were arguably still salvageable.

Then the Government announced on Transgender Day of Visibility that, rather than a promised blanket ban on conversion therapy, a practice which has been described as unethical and harmful  by Stonewall, it would ban conversion therapy for LGB people but not for those who are trans.

Needless to say, that sounded the death knell for the event. At the time of writing, 100 groups including Stonewall and Mermaids, have pulled out of the LGBT+ conference and it has been rebranded “Unsafe To Be Me” by the very people it was set up to represent.

If you want to appeal to an LGBT+ audience, try taking an inside out approach. Make sure your actions speak louder than your words and show the community that you are not just doing it for the optics.

Consider incorporating some of the following and your approach to LGBT inclusion will stand out for all the right reasons:

• Adopt a clear position on LGBT+ inclusion as well as a zero tolerance approach to homophobia or transphobia. Make that position clear to all employees
• Examine existing communications, are they inclusive? If not, update them.
• Run awareness sessions and workshops to educate employees and empower them to be conscious and considerate of LGBT+ colleagues.
• Create policies so that when LGBT+ people come out in the workplace there is a blueprint for how to support them.
• Consider adopting forward thinking policies in relation to healthcare benefits and guidelines for gender transition and same sex partnerships.
• When developing supportive initiatives, consider how they can have a lasting positive impact on LGBTQ+ communities.
• Platform LGBT+ individuals – all year round not just for Pride month.
• Lead by example and advocate openly for LGBTQ+ people.

As for the Government, with things as they currently stand the event promises to be a washout. The only real choice the Government has is to draw a line in the sand. Apologise for getting it so monumentally wrong and postpone the event until such time as it is able to take some meaningful steps towards making sure LGBT people really do feel “Safe To Be Me” starting – but not limited to – a full ban on conversion therapy for all.

To discuss how we can support you with ensuring your communications are inclusive, drop us a line.

*Post update* “Safe To Be Me” has now been cancelled

All eyes will now be on the Government to see what steps it will take to try to rebuild trust.