Celebrating Pride Month: The Importance of Authenticity

June is Pride Month, and is an incredibly important celebration for millions of LGBTQ+ people and their allies and advocates around the world. It is a time to emphasize efforts to promote visibility and encourage inclusivity and acceptance, as we all work together towards impactful change.

In a recent survey conducted by GutCheck, 50% of the LGBTQ+ community believe they are treated unfairly, highlighting the need for year-round efforts dedicated to making the world a better place for the LGBTQ+ community.

*What does Pride mean to you?

88% of consumers are positively influenced by brands that celebrate Pride Month by demonstrating authentic inclusivity, and showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.

When asked what specific brands authentically care about and support LGBTQ+ causes and issues, a variety of apparel, tech, and retailers were mentioned, as seen in the word cloud below. Exposure to statements of support on social media, temporary logo changes that include rainbows, advertisements and commercials are identified as driving reasons to believe the mentioned brands support the LGBTQ+ community.

However, brands will need to demonstrate support beyond a rainbow-infused logo. One of our key findings was that many consumers are skeptical of a company’s authenticity in their support unless there is proof beyond Pride-oriented marketing campaigns in June.

“I don’t know, because I believe that companies don’t do anything unless it’s going to benefit them financially. Therefore, it’s difficult to ever know if they’re being sincere or self-serving.”

“A lot of brands such as Nike has contributed to the LGBTQ community, and other companies as well.”

With the rising visibility and importance of diversity and inclusion efforts, it is critical to back Pride Month branding with concrete examples of support. An all too common pitfall is to present supportive messaging without also implementing measurable actions to cultivate inclusivity. This lack of authenticity is something consumers notice.

Here at GutCheck, we are passionate and fully committed to our goal of creating a highly inclusive and diverse workplace, as well as infusing diversity inclusive practices into the work we do with our clients. We firmly believe that leaning into our empathic mindset serves as the foundation needed to make real, authentic changes to support our LGBTQ+ community. Recently, we have implemented a company policy that requires non-binary as a selection option in gender screeners for every survey we conduct for our clients. We also host an annual Pride celebration event in June in Denver, CO, to raise donations for The Trevor Project, a non profit focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.

While we are proud of the improvements we have made, we fully recognize and own that we have much to learn and even more to do. We are committed to working tirelessly as we evolve our business and ourselves to achieve these goals and ideals. There’s always more work to be done and we look forward to the colorful journey ahead!