Buried at the bottom of the New York City Pride Parade Partner area on his websiteIn addition to community organizations dedicated to promoting equality for LGBTQ people, there are a number of corporate giants that have little experience of positive activism.
They are all organized according to a tiered system in which banks and beer companies act in solidarity with other public companies, which are distinguished by their respective status of “platinum”, “gold”, “silver” and “bronze”. It’s the kind of sponsorship list you’d expect from a NASCAR event or college bowl game, but Pride is a tradition rooted in radicalism; its catalyst was brutal and illegal crackdown on The New York City gay community from the NYPD in 1969which culminated in the Stonewall Riots and subsequent decades of activism that brought gay rights mainstream.
You may have found that your company comfortably adhered to Pride after gay marriage was legalized, but such corporate “solidarity” can often feel hollow, especially when a company’s actions do not live up to its rhetoric.
How do you know if a company’s pride campaign is nonsense?
There’s only so much benevolence a rainbow-themed profile photo can generate, especially when a Company sends message of support but donates millions to anti-LGBTQ politicians.
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Knowing where your employer might donate some of their excess money, for example (if you work for a company rich enough to donate to political campaigns) is a good place to start. You can track the money through a number of databases such as: Website of the Federal Electoral Commission or Open secrets to see if your company’s CEO or board members are particularly familiar with anti-LGBTQ PACs or super PACs. There are those too Progressive buyer, which does largely the same thing, albeit with the consumer in mind.
The question also arises as to what a company does specifically for its LGBTQ employees. It’s easy for corporate news to peak in June, when the Pride celebrations are in full swing and a flurry of companies hoist the rainbow flag, if only so as not to be outdone by one another. More important, however, is what a company actually does for its employees when the spotlight is elsewhere. Lots particularly well-heeled companies Donations for LGBTQ purposes only for reasons of positive PR, but can do without things like trans-inclusive health care or insurance that covers mental health, for example.
As a 2018 Vox article submitted, it is really a climate of Slacktivism that prevails when large corporations take advantage of Pride zeal:
So raising money for LGBTQ charities is a good thing, isn’t it? Abstract yes, but in its entirety this consumption-oriented donation structure creates a context of so-called slacktivism, which offers brands and consumers alike an opportunity to support social and political issues with little effort.
Basically, any company that advocates LGBTQ issues for the sake of marketing expediency should be cautious.
What to do against the performative support of your company company
Many companies have in-house resources and groups for LGBTQ employees, but keeping the door closed can only make limited change on a broader basis. Educating others, especially non-LGBTQ people, is a compulsory part of building a more inclusive workplace.
Speak openly about the use of non-binary pronouns or Normalization of the singular use of “she” can do more to ensure that behind the public facade of inclusivity there is no climate of microaggression. More generally, removing gender language from written company policy can go a long way towards including non-gender workers.
Another way leaders and people at the top can advance the cause is to include diversity and inclusion in the employee review process. That makes it a formal part of the criteria rather than a vague idea that sounds nice in theory but isn’t updated. You can also get the company to ensure the same benefits for LGBTQ employees and their straight coworkers. That means guaranteeing paid parental leave to everyone who has a child.
From a top-down perspective, it may be worthwhile to hire a specialist to train workers on the basics of LGBTQ inclusion, ideally through face-to-face workshops.
One of the most effective ways to use collective power is to Organize your workplace which enables workers to formalize a range of workplace standards which are then legally codified. Of course, the overall success of your union campaign will depend on the collaboration of your employer, but the above (and many others) can be achieved through this process.
While corporate solidarity may often sound hollow, it is possible to make it less, if only through collective action. Is there anything more indicative of the spirit of Pride than that?
