Why Brands Need To Stop Seeing The LGBTQ Community As One Tick Box

The LGBTQ community, are a broad spectrum of gender identities, sexual and romantic orientations.

And yet for years, advertising aimed at the community has been dominated by a set of mostly white, gay men. Almost all have rippling abs and very, short shorts.

After working in gay media for many years, I can confirm pictures with flesh and unattainable bodies images drive a lot of clicks. But they no longer drive confidence in a brand’s care and support for the LGBTQ community.

Neither do rainbow logos – at least not on their own.

I remember a time when our community was pleased to see rainbows on logos. How bold those moments were. A sign that our cause was entering the mainstream – gaining momentum.

But now, each year when Pride month comes around I’m flooded with press releases about rainbow products. And I’m not the only one to let out a loud sigh.

The community sees much of this for what it is, ‘our lives matter when they’re profitable.’

“The LGBTQ community is not one box because it is made up of so many different demographics, Robin Gray, owner of LGBTQ media group Gray Jones Media tells me.

“Gender, race, social background, identity, sexuality. The community is broad, yet it’s typically the white gay male who is the focus of advertising and promotion.

“Brands are lured in by the promise of the pink pound. But in reality, the community is exceptionally discerning and after years of being pandered to. It sees straight through inauthentic advertising.”

How can brands win our support, with rainbow logos?

When brands back up their rainbow products with year-round support for the LGBTQ community – the rewards they can reap are high.

Queer people have lots of rainbow products already. We support organisations, not because ‘there is a rainbow on it’ but because they look out for our community.

There is a great recent history of this. In the U.K., it looked like the Government might not only drop their plans to reform transgender rights but it was reported, they may roll some back some.

In response 132 major U.K. companies including Google and Disney, called this out. As part of a huge community-led backlash, the rife and leaked speculation did not come to fruition.

You need only look to the first openly LGBTQ elected politician in the US, Harvey Milk, for the historic precedence of this.

His famous campaign in the Castro to boycott Coors Beer with the Teamsters Union tipped the balance in the fight. It saw five other competing brands finally cave and sign up to support employment and gay rights.

Brands need to not only be savvier with their advertising now. They need to look after their LGBTQ staff – and advocate for the community when our rights are challenged.

It’s why so many brands rightly support all kinds of LGBTQ organisations. Take Puma who last year supported Trevor Project, a life saving US suicide prevention organisation that advocates for LGBTQ youth.

It’s an example of a partnership with LGBTQ charities where a percentage of ‘rainbow product’ profits go to the organisation.

Still, the ones that are best celebrated within the community, are the ones that also come with large secured donations. And even better? With year-round support for their work, with mentoring, media and pro-bono work.

How can brands talk to all of the LGBTQIA+ community?

“Authenticity is the key. The LGBTQIA+ community is not a homogenous group. There are many different demographics that fall under the umbrella,” Richard Jones, co-founder of Gray Jones Media says.

“The biggest mistake brands make is trying to advertise to the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole with one campaign, usually over pride month. Being LGBTQIA+ is 24/7 365. The brands that succeed are the ones who have plans to target elements of the community all year round.”

And the best way to achieve this? We need only look to the rise of drag culture media shows to get the answer.

Hiring LGBTQ people to join the team, is the only way to truly understand and represent the community in media production.

“To do something authentically, you need to be engaging with people with that lived experience. Having people on your team who represent that community and live that experience is vital. A diverse company will produce diverse work.”

Or indeed, be inspired by adverts that weren’t only made by the LGBTQ community, but by them. One inspired Gay Times advert with Reebok last year saw the mag pass over the camera to a group of trans and nonbinary skaters in Scotland to film the advert.

As the rise of social media advertising, podcasts and YouTube has taught us – niche works best – and the same is true when talking to the LGBTQ community.

Gray Jones Media runs numerous sites for niches within the community – from ‘gaymers’ to ‘bears’. And its audience is growing for it.

People are waking up to the enormous pressures on journalists and editors, who are rewarded for feeding hungry and divisive social media algorithms – all to serve ads to repeat the cycle again.

The LGBTQ community are looking for content and adverts to deliver on the needs of the community – not just clicks.

Agree? Sign up for my free newsletter that skips algorithms that filter LGBTQ stories. QueerAF explains and anayles the LGBTQ world while paying underrepresneted queer creatives to write it.

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