How to Tell If Your Company’s Pride Campaign Is Bullshit (and What to Do About It)
At the bottom of the New York City Parade partner section on its website , beneath civil society organizations dedicated to promoting equal rights for LGBTQ people are buried a host of corporate giants with little history of positive activism.
All of them are organized on a multi-level system, where banks and brewing companies trade in solidarity with other state-owned firms, characterized by the corresponding “platinum”, “gold”, “silver” and “bronze” statuses. This is the kind of sponsorship list you’d expect from a NASCAR event or the Collegiate Bowl Games, but pride is a tradition rooted in radicalism; it was catalyzed by the brutal and illegal repression of New York City ‘s gay community by the NYPD in 1969 , culminating in the Stonewall riots and the ensuing decades of activism that propelled gay rights into the mainstream.
You may have found that your company grabbed hold of the pride after same-sex marriage became legal, but this kind of corporate “solidarity” can often feel empty, especially when the company’s actions are not in line with its rhetoric.
How do you know a company pride campaign is bullshit?
A rainbow-themed profile photo may not generate much goodwill, especially if a company broadcasts a message of support but donates millions to anti-LGBTQ politicians .
Knowing, for example, where your employer can donate some of their excess cash (if you work for a company wealthy enough to donate to political campaigns) is a good start. You can follow the money through a number of databases, such as the FEC website or Open Secrets, to see if your firm’s CEO or board members are anti-LGBTQ or Super PAC eligible. There’s also the Progressive Shopper, which basically does the same thing, albeit with consumer considerations in mind.
The question also arises of what the company is doing for its LGBTQ employees on a material level. Corporate messaging easily peaks in June, when the pride celebrations are in full swing and many businesses are waving the rainbow flag, if only to compete with one another. More importantly, however, is what the company actually does for its employees when the focus is on others. Many high-income companies donate to LGBT people simply for positive PR, but may refuse things like transinclusive healthcare or insurance that covers, for example, mental health.
As stated in a 2018 Vox article , when big companies cash in on the zeal of the pride, it really is an atmosphere of weakness:
So money going to LGBTQ charities is good, isn’t it? In the abstract, yes, but collectively, this structure of consumer donation creates a context of so-called weakness, providing brands and consumers with an easy way to support social and political goals.
Basically, any company that promotes LGBTQ issues for the sake of marketing expediency should be wary.
What to do with performative support for your company
Many companies have internal resources and teams for LGBTQ employees, but closing the doors can only affect a few changes at a broader level. Teaching others, especially non-LGBTQ people, is integral to creating a more inclusive workplace.
Openly talking about the use of non-binary pronouns or normalizing the use of the singular “they” can do more to ensure that there is no microgression behind the public shell of inclusiveness. More broadly, removing gender language from a company’s written policy can go a long way toward attracting non-gender employees.
Another way that managers and senior management can move a business forward is to make diversity and inclusiveness a part of the employee vetting process. This makes it a formal part of the criteria, rather than a vague idea that sounds good in theory but cannot be implemented. You can also push the company to provide the same benefits for LGBTQ employees and their direct colleagues. This means guaranteeing paid parental leave to everyone who has a child.
From a top-down perspective, it may be worth hiring a specialist to teach workers the basics of LGBTQ inclusiveness, ideally through in-person workshops.
One of the most effective ways to use collective power is to unionize your workplace , which allows workers to formalize a set of working standards that are then legally codified. Of course, the overall success of your union campaign depends on the cooperation of your employer, but the aforementioned benefits (and many others) can be gained through this process.
While corporate solidarity may often sound pointless, it can be reduced, at least through collective action. Is there anything more indicative of a spirit of pride than this?