The serious business beyond celebrating rainbows
But as we ready ourselves for the joy and celebrations of Pride month, it also important to acknowledge that there is still much more to be done to ensure the rights of the global LGBTQI+ community – not least in the business sector.
Recognising our own uneven landscape, in 2018 Unilever signed the UN LGBTQI+ Standards of Conduct for Business with the aim of accelerating positive change by adopting its five pillars of conduct for tackling discrimination at work. And in 2020 we furthered our commitment to inclusion by signing the Declaration of Amsterdam, a global statement of support for LGBTQI+ rights.
But we also operate in a world where more than half of UN member states still have no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment.
Where half of Fortune 500 companies provide benefits for LGBTQI+ domestic partners.
And where the LGBTQI+ community’s rights are under threat, with Florida state’s passing of ‘Don’t say Gay’ bill and the UK’s tempering of its bill on conversion therapy to exclude rights for the trans community.
So where do we go from here?
“As Unilever, we have both a platform and a responsibility to promote positive change,” says Aline Santos, Chief Brand Officer and Chief Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Global Marketing. “And we can and should do this by fostering inclusion within and beyond the Unilever ecosystem.”
Through our brands and our Unstereotype framework, for example, we are working to increase the representation of the LGBTQI+ community in the media. In recent research on media representation of the LGBTQI+ community conducted by ad agency Karmarama and Gay Times magazine, 72% of those surveyed think the way they are presented in advertising is tokenistic.
“It’s clear LGBTQI+ consumers don’t see themselves represented in media and comms, and by increasing this representation we can save lives,” adds Business Development Marketing Manager Julian Gomez.
“And while that might sound like a bold statement, we know there’s a direct link between lack of representation (and protection) and suicide rates among the community.”
To improve representation, we’ve partnered with Gay Times to create a LGBTQI+ playbook for marketers as part of Act 2 Unstereotype, to educate, inspire and give guidance to our marketers.
“I’ve been gay for 48 years and a marketer for 24 but I couldn’t define what to do to address the community needs by myself. It’s too rich,” says Julian.
“One of the most incredible things about our community is just how rich and diverse we are and it’s crucial we have the right voices at the table to represent us,” Angharad adds.
“And while we currently offer only offer the playbook to our own marketers and agencies, we are looking at the option of providing it as an open-source document,” says Aline. “In this way, we hope to shine a light for others and become the beacon of inclusivity we aspire to be.”