Pride /prīd/

noun

a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
consciousness of one’s own dignity.
confidence and self-respect as expressed by members of a group, typically one that has been socially marginalized, on the basis of their shared identity, culture, and experience.
a public event, typically involving a parade, held to celebrate LGBT identities, culture, and experience.

verb

To be especially proud of (a particular quality or skill).

Define it.

It’s the first imperative of every business school protocol, in addition to being a solid approach to moving through life’s challenges, opportunities and lessons that we use every day at ADage Marketing Group. Brands across every medium and platform during the month of June are #rainbowwashed to capitalize on the immense power of the LGBT community – as prominent social influencers, as consummate consumers and as a wealth of prospective professional talent.

What’s wrong with being welcoming? That’s not welcoming – that’s pandering, which is why for the last two years ADage has chosen not to ‘bandwagon’ during Pride, despite queer leadership. 2022 is the year of #WelcomeDisruption, and it’s time to #BreakTheSilence.

noun

1. achievements

Most people wouldn’t know that the reason Pride month is celebrated in June is to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in NYC that began during a police raid on a Village bar on Saturday, June 28, 1969. That raid started like all of the others going on in every state and city across the US – but that night, the patrons fought back, leading to days of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons rioting. That is one fact – among innumerable others – that the majority of people are unaware of when it comes to the contributions of LGBT+ individuals throughout history. From my personal mentor and hero – who spent decades leading our community as a prominent business figure and openly gay man – to the long line of rebels and revolutionaries, no history lesson is complete without honoring the ‘queer contribution.’

Get your Google on:

Marsha P. Johnson
Sylvia Rivera
Josephine Baker
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
Michael Dillon
Virginia Woolf

Bayard Rustin
Eleanor Roosevelt
Frida Kahlo
Nancy Cárdenas
Simon Nkoli
Ifti Nasim

My Coming Out Story…Adrienne Mansfield

“I came out at 15 in my Sophomore year at an incredibly conservative, rural high school. To call the rest of my secondary school tenure uncomfortable would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. From physical assaults, verbal abuse, social ostracism and prejudice from even teachers – it pretty much sucked. I was willing to be the first to come out…but refused to be the ‘only’ one, especially since I knew that what I did would make a difference, one way or the other. Forging ahead with badassery on Max mode, I found a teacher willing to take a chance and registered the first Diversity Club (generic for gay-straight alliance or GSA) in 2002. After graduating in 2003, I felt the achievement was enough in just creating the safe space for others I had needed, while I was there to facilitate it. Fast Forward! Ten years later, it’s my wedding night for a marriage that was only recognized in my state two weeks prior. A late-arriving guest was the young woman that I had been mentoring since she was 11, who excitedly came to tell me during the reception that she was named Prom King at MY high school. At her graduation in 2014, I learned that there were 40+ active members. So, I’ll end with the wise words of Margaret Mead, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’”

2. conscious dignity

After careers spent in advertising, it’s astounding how many marketers miss the ‘queer mark.’ We are HUMAN FIRST in every sense. Any student of gay history knows that the LGBTQ+ community is notorious for boycotting those brands that have shown themselves to be either homophobic, transphobic or prejudiced towards the community in any way. From a frosty beer to a crispy fried chicken sandwich, brands that choose to make an anti-gay statement are heard LOUD and CLEAR, and the response can be felt in the absence of cold, hard dollars.

Senior living providers need to take note…in the Age of The Dark Funnel, it can be a costly risk to allow cultures of microaggressions to continue or fail to eradicate exclusionary practices. The future of communities welcoming diversity depends solely on what leadership chooses to see – and do – today.

According to LGBTQ+ publishers, 73% of neutral or positive LGBT online news is incorrectly flagged by brand safety blocklists, denying them vital ad revenue (CHEQ);

31% of the LGBTQ+ community feel marketing portrays them badly (LGBT Capital);

64% of LGBTQ community members say businesses don’t do a good job of reaching out to the transgender and gender-expansive community (CMI);

79% of people believe gay women are under-represented in advertising (Marketing Week);

0.06% of people featured in advertising in the UK are from the LGBT community despite making up 1.7% of the British population (Lloyds Banking Group);

4 in 10 still feel brands aren’t fairly representing LGBT people in their ads (Think with Google)

3 out of 4 tested LGBTQ+ themed ads outperform generic ads in driving brand recall (Kantar Millward Brown);

71% of LGBTQ+ respondents and 82% of allies said they were more likely to purchase from a company that supported LGBTQ+ equality (CMI);

45% of under-34s say they’re more likely to do repeat business with an LGBTQ+-friendly company (Think with Google).

Source: Pride: 11 Stats Which Show Why The Ad Industry Needs To Do More For LGBTQ+ Community – Unruly

3. confidence & self-respect

#QueerAtWork Means more than just your coworkers knowing that you date the same gender and still talk to you in the break room. #queeratwork means more than knowing that your (current) boss is “cool” and so he/she/they probably won’t fire you when they find out you’re gay. #queeratwork is beyond being matched with team members, clients or vendors who share your “lifestyle.” #queeratwork is still a relatively new concept…it’s only been two years since open discrimination against LGBTQ employees has been illegal.

According to LaFawn Davis, group vice president of Environmental, Social & Governance at Indeed: “Building an LGBTQ-friendly workplace goes way beyond equal employment law, or blanket statements of support and rainbow branding during Pride Month. Companies can make changes both big (covering gender reassignment surgery, offering the same level of parental leave for all employees, not just birth moms), to small (not making people select one gender or race on forms, including preferred pronouns in communication) that work to build a truly inclusive culture.”

Coming out at all is a monumentally brave decision – and at ADage, we believe that should never adversely impact a person’s career! The organic diversity of our organization is a direct reflection of an intentionally built culture, inclusive hiring practices and a foundational belief in the value of #WelcomeDisruption.

Did You Know? Tokenism is FALSE ADVERTISING! Promoting the ‘illusion of inclusion’ is lying.

Tokenism is a performative action a business takes to appear diverse. Typically, this involves including a minority group (these groups could be based on characteristics like ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability) for the sake of sounding or appearing diverse. These misguided attempts focus the business more on the marketing visuals than taking action to actually address diversity-related issues.

4. celebrating

Throughout the month of June, marketers will see an onslaught of stock photography with pride flags waving above smiling crowds…but there’s another side to the parades and celebrations, a darker side that you have to experience firsthand because most people would be shocked. ADage cofounder and storykeeper, shares this story:

“Imagine being 15 years old, a few hours from home with an older friend and her wife, attending your first pride… It’s exciting, thrilling even. I guess you think that you’re going to see Gay Disneyland when you’re young, but then you get there. We parked the car and were faced with signs scrawled with hate speech, a police roped off mob of angry strangers yelling, “you’re going to burn in hell” and telling you that you should die. In that moment as a young adult, I realized I had to walk past the hate to get to the love….so with the voices of the people chanting slurs reverberating in my ears, squinting to block out the visuals, I made a beeline for the ticket booth. Wristband secured, I took a few more steps, and let the drag queen rendition of “It’s Rainin’ Men” drown out the hate with pride. That was my first experience at Pride.”

verb

1. especially proud of

Love is a verb – an action, something you act out in real life. So is Pride. With a powerful past and a promising future, let’s take Pride beyond June this year!