“That can be incredibly off-putting,” she says. Hawkins says it’s also important to avoid using gendered language in job descriptions, which has the tendency to deter LGBTQ candidates from applying (words like “competitive” and “outspoken” are coded as male “collaborative” and “compassionate” as female). “Will my chosen name and my pronouns translate into my email, into a chat function, into the way I present in any kind of virtual communication and in person?” Other effective cultural practices include adding pronouns to email signatures and introductions during meetings (for example: “I’m Mitchell Kuga, and I use he/him pronouns.”) “When I join an organization and fill out all that paperwork in my new hire orientation, how is that information going to feed into the rest of my experience?” says Hawkins. She recommends doing so via your company’s intake and onboarding systems. Start At Homeīefore proclaiming your support of the LGBTQ community, ask yourself: are the LGBTQ people in your company being protected and affirmed at work? Hawkins stressed that fostering proper pronoun usage and chosen name recognition is a good place to start, particularly for trans and nonbinary workers. “We appreciate that, and we appreciate you supporting local Pride organizations and showing up in the parades and buying vendor spaces and letting the community at large know that you’re welcoming-but Pride and partnership with the community is 365, so what else are you doing?”īig Cartel spoke to Hawkins, whose department oversees HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, about how brands can more effectively support the LGBTQ community year round.
“Turning your logo to a rainbow for the month of June is not enough,” says RaShawn Hawkins, Deputy Director of the Workplace Equality Program at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). But there are many meaningful ways for companies to support queer communities that go beyond mere lip service. From Marks and Spencer’s LGBT Sandwich (a BLT with Guacamole) to Trump’s Pride merch, which included a rainbow colored “Make America Great Again” hat, “rainbow capitalism” during Pride month has become the new normal- a shift that speaks to both the queer community’s buying power and the growing desire for brands to appear socially conscious (even ones that actively harm the LGBTQ community). One of my favorite pastimes every June-along with celebrating my queer elders and taking up more unapologetic space in the world- is laughing at brands pandering to queer people in increasingly harebrained fashion.