Pride: Why You Should Focus on Inclusivity All Year Round

Embrace inclusivity for your brand beyond Pride Month. Explore why diversity is crucial and how to build authentic LGBTQIA+ inclusion through content, social impact initiatives, and workplace policies. 

Why your brand should make inclusivity a top priority

Creates a sense of belonging for all individuals

Internally and externally fosters a diverse community

Promotes equality and respect for all

Brands that do inclusivity right

Toast's advice to the restaurant industry

Harry's intentional Pride products

PayPal's inclusive benefits packages for employees

Happy Pride Month! This June, as we celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community’s journey toward equality and inclusion, it’s the perfect time for brands to reflect on how they can better embrace diversity and build authentic connections with all of their audiences. Inclusivity shouldn’t just be a priority in June, but always. 

Diversity is critical in today’s landscape. Discover how you can develop strategies for making your brand more inclusive, how inclusive marketing can create powerful community engagement, and the importance of making a social impact. 

Take the important steps to build authentic connections with your customers and employees. Go beyond simply tolerating differences; instead, proactively celebrate the diverse voices that make your community richer and more vibrant. 

A sense of belonging fosters an environment where people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives feel valued, respected, and accepted. When you make an effort to ensure all people feel welcome in your organization’s physical or online spaces, you unlock your organization’s full potential. It gives you the opportunity to create an improved customer experience that resonates with the needs of diverse customers. In turn, you’ll build trust and credibility with your audience, letting them know you align with their values and acknowledge their unique experiences. 

Creating a team from a variety of backgrounds empowers people to be their authentic selves at work. This feeling of comfort empowers team members to share their unique perspectives and challenge assumptions. In fact, teams that are age, gender, ethnically, and geographically diverse make better business decisions 87% of the time. With this team, you will fuel innovation, creativity, and problem-solving, leading to better products, services, and strategies that cater to the unique needs of your diverse audience.

All individuals deserve to be treated with fairness and respect, regardless of their backgrounds. When people feel a strong culture of respect, they are more likely to be engaged and loyal. Ensure your employees undergo the proper diversity, equity, and inclusion training to maintain respect among fellow employees and customers. 

See how these brands take Pride to a new level and embrace the LGBTQIA+ community year-round. 

Toast is a restaurant management software company that helps restaurants manage orders, sales, and payments all in one place. Their mission is to “empower the restaurant community to delight their guests, do what they love, and thrive.” Toast has three designated content pillars to help them develop content to serve their specific purpose. The first of these content pillars is “Welcoming,” where the brand focuses on being friendly, approachable, and for everyone. But the company doesn’t just “talk the talk,” they “walk the walk.”

Toast created content about inclusivity in the restaurant workspace to guide other businesses in the right direction. One of their popular blogs is “How to Run a LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Restaurant,” which breaks down the issues affecting the community today and specific ways restaurants can be sensitive to that. They consistently produce content that uplifts the LGBTQIA+ community, which is one reason why they were awarded the LGBTQIA+ Advocacy Award in 2022 and multiple positive workplace culture awards. 

Take a look at your content pillars to see where you can make adjustments. How can you become a thought leader, like Toast, in the inclusivity space? Consider which industries and consumers your organization appeals to and how you can educate them on creating a sense of belonging in their spaces.

For many brands, it’s easy to slap a rainbow flag on a t-shirt and call themselves “inclusive.” Harry’s does things differently. Harry’s is a shaving company that creates products “for all men, thoughtfully.” The brand places special emphasis on men’s mental health, setting aside 1% of its sales to support its social mission of access to quality mental health care. But when the brand says “men,” it doesn't just focus on its cisgender audience. 

In 2019, the brand released an ad called “Shave, or Don’t,” showing a wide range of shavers using their razors, including a trans man. This was subtle— the brand didn’t need to explicitly call out that they had a trans man in the ad because he is simply a man who should be included. 

Year-round, Harry’s donates to The Trevor Project, an organization focused on suicide prevention efforts in the LGBTQIA+ community. During Pride month, they donate 100% of the profits from their limited edition Pride sets to The Trevor Project. 

The Trevor Project’s initiatives align perfectly with Harry’s social mission, making their partnership seamless. Assess how your business’ morals and values could help you designate a social mission and how inclusivity can play a role. In this effort, it’s important not to force relationships. Create partnerships that make sense for your brand and the mission you’re trying to achieve.

When it comes to your inclusivity efforts, the work shouldn’t all be outward-facing. It’s important to create an inclusive employee experience for your team.

Take PayPal, for example. The financial technology company provides employee resources for its diverse workforce, highlights team member voices, and creates inclusive benefits packages. As an employer, PayPal is known for its great health care benefits; one package even includes adoption and surrogacy assistance for parents at up to $25,000 per child. It is health care benefits like these that made one PayPal employee decide to join the company. When Starla Scott decided to start her transition, PayPal’s HR department supported her the entire way. The company provided resources when they could and made her gender and name change as seamless as possible from both a logistical and social standpoint. PayPal used this employee’s experience to create a more streamlined process and start conversations about the best way to navigate a transition moving forward. 

Look internally to see how you can leverage inclusivity in the workplace. If you don’t already have a DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) statement, use best practices to create one that fits your brand. Consider how you can tailor your employee handbook, benefits packages, and other important documents to be more inclusive to all. Having a DEI statement is just the starting point— use these concrete policies, practices, and behaviors to implement and live those values every day 

There are many ways to authentically incorporate inclusivity into your brand strategy, whether through inclusive product offerings, mission-aligned partnerships, or fostering a diverse and supportive workplace culture. The key is to go beyond surface-level representations and take meaningful actions to create real change. 

The impact can be huge. Fostering a welcoming environment all year round will build trust with LGBTQIA+ employees, customers, and community members. Your organization will attract a diverse range of talented people with different perspectives. Showing a genuine commitment to equality and social justice will help make society a more inclusive place for everyone.

Get more resources about LGBTQIA+ inclusion and allyship at the links below: