June is Pride month, and if you haven’t seen rainbow flags hiked up flagpoles or giving a temporary new design to many company logos, you must live in true isolation.
I will state from the beginning that I am not an expert in the topic, nor in matters of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI, DE&I). However, I strongly believe that anyone should be allowed to, at a minimum, ask questions when they come from a true desire to understand, and preferably, to express their thoughts, too, as long as they do so in a respectful manner. I personally do not understand why it should ruin anyone’s life that there are people who love others of the same gender, yet I also don’t think it’s a good idea to try deny them the right to think the way they do – again, as long as they aren’t promoting harmful action.
I learnt only this year that Pride Parade actually originated more as a demonstration than as the joyful gathering it is today in many (not by any means all) countries. Called ‘Gay Pride Liberation March’, the first-ever ‘parade’ in 1970 commemorated the Stonewall uprising of 1969, when the police raided an LGBTQ-friendly bar and arrested and ‘roughed up’ suspected cross-dressers, something that was at the time forbidden by archaic (and ridiculous!?) laws.
In all honesty, learning this background made me appreciate Pride more. I’m not sure if I’d feel as strongly about human rights and equality if I weren’t a woman, but I am aware that not every girl and woman even in today’s world can be as dismissive of their gender as I can be. That’s why I think celebrating International Women’s Day is absolutely necessary, and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t think the same of any other downtrodden group of people. I digress, but I mean that fifty years is not a long time, not really. And seeing how much homophobia, hatred, and outright crime there is against LGBTQ-members, we’re nowhere close to not needing Pride.
Each year, I see more and more companies switching to the rainbow logo on LinkedIn, and hoisting up the colourful flags. Companies are, however, careful in doing so, for several reasons. One, they fear accusations of whitewashing. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon, but unless your company actually is doing something to support the cause, it’s cause for embarrassment. Second, they fear alienating investors and customers. Third, the company leadership may not be onboard.
Rainbow Washing Or Baby Steps?
If you’ve browsed hiring ads in recent years, you’ve probably noticed an increase in DEI or Equal Opportunity Employer statements. I believe the latter is a legal matter in countries like the US – I don’t know if you need to provide proof of abiding by the applicable laws to be able to include those words in the job posting.
DEI doesn’t have the same as far as I know (correct me if I’m wrong), but some companies hesitate affirming their commitment to diversity and inclusion in job ads because they don’t have a specific policy in place. I understand that – it would be quite awkward if a company claimed they were strong supporters of inclusion and it then turned out that members of minorities were, unwittingly or not, excluded from company activities or that there were no bathrooms for non-binary employees.
Still, not including it may also be negative, the more common they get. Here’s my take on it: prepare early. If you want to celebrate Pride month or even give a small nod towards it by, for example, changing the colour of your company logo, look into your company practices from the point of view of DEI. Reach out to an expert or read up on it. You don’t have to be perfect, but you need to be sincere. I think it’s silly to require someone to have perfect DEI safeguards in place before they can state they take it seriously (you’ll never be ready). As long as you openly communicate internally that you want to ensure the workplace is pleasant for everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, and take baby steps in making that the reality, I think you’re good to go. What do you think?
Choose Your Customers Wisely?
I’ve never acquired customers. I don’t know if beliefs come up in sales calls. I don’t know if companies selling their services and products to other companies run a background check on potential red flags – for the grand majority of them, I’m sure they don’t. King Dollar still rules. But do companies live in fear of alienating their customers?
The bigger the deal, the more flexible the morals, I might surmise. I think this comes down to the leaders’ own feelings: if they don’t think celebrating Pride is a big deal, they’re probably more willing to forego any acknowledgement in favour of a new customer. Presumably corporations care less about these things in B2B cases where the corporation doesn’t have a single value set, than they do in B2C cases. This Signal AI article on backlashes from consumers is an interesting read on two well-known US brands, BudLight and Target.
I find it very hard to relate to angry consumers who are upset that a transgender influencer drinks beer, or that a store sells rainbow-themed items in June. Do you feel that now, drinking beer means you’re transgender? Or a supporter of transpeople? That your profits go to supporting the cause? These reactions aren’t logical or intellectual, naturally, but stemming from fear of difference and change (‘back in my day…’). In these cases, the companies should consider their customer base. Who buys our product? What are they like? Do we want to try reach a new audience at the risk of losing (some of) the existing customers? Businesses aren’t charities, nor are they charged with setting norms (kudos to those who do, of course), and their primary interest is always profit. That said, if the company feels that it is the right thing to support Pride, take baby steps as suggested above. What can you do in this moment to express your support and approval for the LGBTQ+-community?
If you are in a leadership position and can decide, you can decide not to take on investors who would pull back for you supporting a cause you find important, especially if it is in no way clashing with whatever the investor does (supporting stopping smoking might be a weird cause for a cigarette company). Although I just stated that businesses’ Number 1 priority is profit, as a leader/owner you can of course choose how you want to make that profit.
Red Flags at the Top
I’ve never knowingly worked with or for someone who is homophobic. Or thinks women are lesser beings than men. Or that race determines anything meaningful in a human. I had a very interesting conversation about Pride with someone in their late-sixties. They felt they can’t say anything anymore, that they get shut down for expressing their sincere feelings and thoughts. I could see what they meant. It’s scary out there, especially in (US) social media, where cancellation is always only one misplaced word away. And if you grew up being touted that being gay is criminal (decriminalized in Finland in 1971), a sickness (status as an illness removed in Finland in 1981), or plain wrong, it’s hard to change how you feel and think about it. I’m hopeful that each new generation dilutes the harmful ideas the previous generations have passed on, but I also hope we can coexist peacefully and respectfully.
As to ‘can’t express their thoughts’, these thoughts tend to be slurs and sad remarks. ‘Why can’t I call someone this or that?’ Because it is an insult. You also know that by choosing that word, you are belittling that person. In the case of homosexual men, for example, the rare occasion where you might ‘need’ to refer to them as a homosexual man is maybe if you’re attending a wedding and looking for a his & his present (let’s say someone suggests only his & hers themed items). That’s it. You don’t bring anything to the conversation by highlighting someone’s ‘deviation from the norm’.
But what if the leadership of a company was anti-LGBTQ+, and you either want your company to take action internally, or you work in a role where you think showing support would actually be a good business decision, as calculated as that sounds? Again, baby steps. I’m sure there’s many people who don’t agree with me on this (‘why should we have to be mindful of people who aren’t mindful of us?’), and I am open to other suggestions – I hesitated writing about this topic at all, but I feel that I should practice what I preach and have the courage to give my two cents even if I’m not an expert, since I do so in a respectful way.
A great example of a baby step: a friend was updating the personnel data base at their company. They wanted to include the option ‘other’ for gender. The CEO said no. My friend pushed back, but the CEO was adamant. My friend did, however, get to include ‘I don’t want to say’. I see clearly that that’s not ideal – non-binary people should have the ability to say. But perhaps, I am hoping as a CIS-gender woman, it is better than having to choose between man and woman?
I also know several senior leaders from many companies who think DEI isn’t something that’s needed. ‘We don’t discriminate here.’ But how could you know that? Have you done a single survey? No. So you don’t know. I suspect many senior leaders of a certain demographic probably think it’s all hogwash and a waste of time and money. I think most DEI initiatives fail because 1) the purpose isn’t clear; 2) the objectives aren’t clear; 3) the plan isn’t clear; 4) they’re not introduced to the company with enough time and context; 5) there isn’t leadership support.
I’ve worked in organizations that proudly hoist up the rainbow flag and speak about Pride publicly. I found out about it the same time as externals did. A bit of a miss, I would say. And I’ve worked in organizations where there wasn’t Pride celebration, and that was discussed with some intensity internally. If I was in the position to make the decision, I’d just take it up on myself to begin the conversation, get a sense of how the organization feels about the topic, and decide on how to acknowledge the first Pride of the organization. If I got a call from a CEO, screaming at me to switch of the rainbow colouring of our company’s logo on LinkedIn, that would kick-start a conversation. And potentially tell me that it’s not the place for me.
I wish everyone a happy and proud Pride month, at it’s closing, and a joyful parade. For me, it’s a solemn reminder of fighting injustice and working towards a world where every individual is free to exist as they are.
Does your organization celebrate Pride? How? How do you feel about it?
Sidetracked 
Leave a comment