How To Show Your Ally Pride on Your Website & Socials

LGBTQ+ people do their research before choosing where to spend their time and money. 

We want to invest in companies that have proven they are Allies, and in today’s virtual world, your brand’s website and socials are the go-to way to check you out. 

I’m giving insider info on what I look for when vetting a company’s online presence for proof of Queer inclusion.

And should you change your logo to rainbow during Pride month? I go there too.

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Show Notes:

Welcome to part five of the Be Proud series, 10 essentials for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. Today, I'll be talking about the importance of having Queer representation in your organizations virtual spaces. Most notably this is on your brand website and on your social media accounts to start.

Why is this important? Online presence is your first impression, especially nowadays. Everything's virtual. And even though that will, fingers crossed, change in time, certain things about the business world and the way that we consume content, it's going to stick. So it's really, really, really important to have your online presence show that you are an inclusive brand.

Anyone looking into your company, whether this is a staff or a consumer. They're going to use what they can see on your website and your socials to gauge whether or not they want to keep going with you, access your services at some point, or are they going to move on? So you need to make a good first impression.

No pressure.

Now your overall audience definitely includes LGBTQ+ people. Whether you realize that or not. It does, even if that's totally not on your radar. In addition to that, your audience also includes friends and loved ones of LGBTQ+ people. And a lot of people who not only support generally equality, but in particular support, Queer equality.

Another thing that sometimes companies don't think about is there are a lot of major Queer organizations out there. And when they are hosting events or promoting projects or wanting to collab with other companies to bring services to LGBTQ+ people, oftentimes that work entails collaborating with non-Queer specific organizations for in-person events.

This could be like food vendors, hotels, airlines, places to hold conferences. So even if for anyone out there, that's like, you know, the work that I do, the work that my company does, it's not for Queer people and it never will be like, that's just not going to be a thing for us. Never say never because you don't know, you don't know when someone might want to collaborate with you and might want to present a business opportunity to you.

And here's the other thing. You definitely won't know that unless you get the chance by showing them that you have some cred when they start to look into you, because I can promise you as a member of this community, we do our research. We vet people out before even asking them if they're interested in an opportunity, because historically,

we have not had people be welcoming to us and we have not had the workplace be welcoming to us, so for anyone wanting to collaborate with you, they're going to do their homework first. So having that online presence is something that will give you sort of the checkmark for the next steps to come bigger picture.

Having Queer representation shows that your company is forward-thinking, ahead of the curve, progressive, friendly, and welcoming. These are all good qualities to have. Now I see this a lot in brand messaging. It's like we welcome everyone. Or like our brand values, all people, all walks of life. This is kind of weak.

Don't generalize it. Actually spell it out. And not only that, you can't just say we welcome everyone. You also have to prove it to those people that historically aren't welcomed by default. So let's talk about getting the, no, thank you, from a Queer organization. I've heard this so many times from companies, either companies that I've worked for, or companies that were asking me for some guidance.

Okay. Here's what happens. They want to increase their ally cred, meaning they recognize, Hey, inclusion's really important. And we want to be able to show the world that we are supported and allies to the Queer community. They're like, Hmm. I know one of the ways that we could do that is we could do a collaboration with an LGBTQ+ organization.

Like, maybe they want to sponsor them. Maybe they want to, like, co-host an event with them. Maybe they want to have them write a blog for their website, something like that. And a lot of times right up front, those companies will get told. Thank you, no thank you. And so I've gotten to be on the other end of that and hearing the companies be like, I don't get it.

Like what happened? Why didn't they want to work with us? What was the problem? So historically it would depend on sort of my position with that company, whether or not I gave them any information as to why that would happen. One, sometimes they weren't asking me, you know, sometimes when I would be new to an organization and they would learn that LGBTQ+ inclusion

is a specialty of mine. Sometimes they would kind of share those stories with me and be like, we just don't get it. What happened? But they weren't, it was rhetorical, you know, versus sometimes they would be like, do you have any insight? You know why they don't want to work with us? Here's the thing, today

in here, I am going to be giving you some insider info. If your company reaches out to an LGBTQ+ organization wanting to do a partnership of some sort, the very first thing that Queer org is going to do is they are going to do some research on your company and where that starts is going to your website.

That's the very first thing and likely it's also going to entail going on your company's social media account. So, what are they looking for? They are looking for how much visual representation there is right there in plain sight without having to do a lot of digging that shows not only is your company supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, that they serve them.

And they're making it a point to let that be known. I know for me, if anyone reaches out wanting to do a partnership of any sort. That's the very first thing I'm going to do. If I go on their website and I can very easily see, oh yeah, they totally are allies. Oh, awesome. They have services specific to the Queer community.

If I can find that out, I'm intrigued. Then I want to know more. If there's absolutely nothing about your businesses existing work with or support for the community. That's when the red light comes on. You are going to get told. No, thank you. Now side note here, not necessarily by me, in fact, in particular not by me, because this is the work that I do.

This is my job. It's my job to tell the people that reach out. Hey, I looked into your company and here's an issue. Here's where we need to start right here right now .Back to if this is more so that you're wanting to collaborate with a major Queer based organization, they're going to give you the, the red light, the stop sign.

And they're going to say thanks, no thanks. Why? Because you need to have evidence that backs up that your company is an ally. Otherwise, it looks performative. It can look like you just want to promote equality because you know that it looks good for your company's image or your increasing outreach to LGBTQ+ people just to get more business.

Both of those things feel icky to Queer people. And we know when it's happening. Not only do you have to be able to talk the talk, you have to be able to walk the walk, which means you need to say that you're an ally and you need to prove it. You need to have some cred. If you can make us feel welcomed, we will then feel safe to come to you, to buy from you, to partner with you, to refer people to you.

This has played out many times for me in my work with my Queer focused therapy practice. Oftentimes I would get cold reach outs from people who essentially were like, oh, I see that you work with LGBTQ+ people. I have a business doing X and I also offer services to Queer people. So feel free to send me over some referral.

And so what do I do? I'm like, you know, girl, I'm going to check you out first and find out. For example, with my therapy practice, once someone reached out to me and they said, I see that you're LGBTQ+ specialized. I see that you work with a lot with the trans community. I'm a vocal coach. And so I have a vocal training business and I to work a lot with the trans community.

Here's my website. So you can check me out and then like, if you like to meet for a coffee, that would be lovely. Click. Check out their website. It's professionally made. It's, you know, it's very clear that this organization does vocal coaching, you know. However, First of all right off the bat. I see, I saw nothing about working with the trans community.

I didn't see a pride flag. I didn't see any services specific to the trans community. That's a problem. That's particularly a problem if you're reaching out to someone and saying, I too offer specialized services, because I am not going to send my people anywhere that I don't have some trust in, and that I don't have a warm relationship

with. To be able to say, yes, you know, this person is an ally. This person is supportive. This person has done XYZ things to show that. So right away, I was like, this is weird. But you know, this person had specifically reached out to me and I would call it a warm reach out. Like it wasn't totally one of those like spammy ones where they're just.

Eric Sullivan, you know, we think your website is so awesome and we'd love to tell you how it could be better. You know, just like random stuff like that. This was actually somebody who like added a personal touch. She commented on some of the work that I did, you know, whatever, whatever. So it was like, maybe, you know, maybe I'm missing it.

Let me check here. So like I looked into it a little more thoroughly and I still couldn't find anything on there. To start, I replied and I was like, Hey, you know, Hey, so-and-so thank you for reaching out. You know, I know you said that you offer services specific to transgender people. I went on your website and I really can't see anything that suggests that.

And for me, that's really important in order to send my people to anyone. I need to know that. And it was interesting because the person wrote me back and was like, oh my gosh. Yes. You know, that's the company that I work for's website. I totally should not have sent you that one. Here's my personal website because, you know, I guess.

They one worked under the umbrella of a company and maybe they also have their own personal brand website. So here's my personal website, you know, check that one out and also thanks for the feedback. I'll pass it on to the company. So that I go on that one and share it up all over the page. I'm seeing trans pride flags.

I'm seeing like, not only like vocal services, I'm seeing a subheader, that's like trans vocal services and I'm like, okay, cool. Now we can talk. We ended up having our coffee chat and while we were talking, they were like, totally got your feedback. I feel the same way. That was an oversight in sending you know, the company website I think they said the company website is a little bit more professional and I thought that might be a good look or whatever.

And they even said, The company for this person loved that she had specialized training in working with the trans community. That was one of the reasons they brought her on per her. But then when it came time to advertise that and to let it be known, they were like, no, we don't want to do that because we don't want to market specifically to that community because we don't want to niche down like that.

We're afraid it's going to limit our business and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, subtext. We don't know, we don't want that to be a known thing. We don't want to be that much of an ally. So that's super problematic. And this person knew that too. When you're reaching out to people, if you're going to claim that you have some kind of specialized training for Queer people, or you offer services specific to them, that needs to be known.

That needs to be known. And your website is a prime way to do that.

Hey everyone. Eric here with a question for you. What's your company's inclusion score? If you're like. Mmm, I don't know. How do I measure that? Don't worry. I've got you. I've created a free checklist of the 10 essentials your organization needs to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. It only takes a few minutes to discover your score and you'll get practical ways to make it higher.

Hashtag winning! To level up your diversity, equity, and inclusion, head over to Be Proud With Eric dot com slash inclusion checklist.

Now, in addition to website, social media is a major way that people get to know brands now. And it's neat. I love it. I really love it. This is one of the big ways that I built up my therapy practice was I started posting things on specifically Instagram stuff about the work that I was doing.

I started doing videos that evolved into like a YouTube channel with some mental health for Queer people videos. And it was really neat that as my therapy practice expanded, when people would reach out more and more, they would be like, I found your website. And then from there I found your Instagram and I looked into you and I love all the stuff that you do for our community.

And I love that you educate professionals on how to be inclusive.

So your company and your brand's social media accounts are another great way that you can clearly let it be known to people that you are an ally to the Queer community. And it's a great spot to demonstrate your cred for that. Because again, it's, you can't just say it, that doesn't fly anymore. You can't just be like we're allies.

Social media is a way to kind of show people the ongoing intermittent things that you're doing to like up your inclusion, learn about how, learn about Queer experiences, promote LGBTQ+ people. Like there's so many different things you can do there. Now let's refresh. I talked about this a bit last week when I was talking about having affirmation in your physical spaces.

This question of like historically around pride month in June is when a lot of brands are like all rainbow everything. And like, we are allies and we love Queer people. And the trend that I've been seeing in recent years is people being like, okay, cool. But like, and you know what, ha what have you actually done though?

Because again, if you're just like go Pride! With nothing else to back it up, it can look performative. It doesn't mean that it actually is, but it can read that way. And so something you can do to work against that is having a regular online presence about not only the inclusion work that you're doing, but if you're going to be

promoting pride stuff, the Queer inclusion work that you're doing. So this is sort of the ongoing question. First of all, I get like, so should we be posting stuff for LGBTQ+ pride on our social media? Yes, absolutely. Regularly. It doesn't have to be every day. It depends on the type of work that your company does, but yeah, like periodically, yes, that should be there.

The other question is. Is it okay to be posting stuff during pride month? So again, yes, it is. It helps if you're also intermittently doing it year round. So like in June, if you want to up that sure. Go for it. And also make sure that you are making efforts to educate yourself on the Queer community, on Queer history, on lived experiences of Queer people, and amplify those stories.

And finally, again, just make sure you can back it up with some cred. It, it was actually on social media that I first saw someone not call out a company, sort of we'll say. Ask for their credentials, essentially ask for their credit. It was a company who during June changed their social media profile picture to like their same logo, but they updated it to be a pride flag within their logo, which that, again, that's super common and I still think it's cool.

You know, I like it. It excites me. I'm like, yes, Queer representation. However, there are a lot of people out there and you know, I'm one too, but who are like, well, okay, but what are you actually doing? Like, we want more than just an updated profile picture. Those are nice. And they're fun and they're cute.

And they amplify representation. But what else are you doing?

What to do with this information? Here are some things you can do with it. One, Increase representation on your website and on your social media accounts. Two, give some thought to what your credit is, so that if somebody asks you have that at the ready to present to them, and remember, that's also really helpful.

To give, if you're reaching out to someone, for example, an organization, or if you want to collaborate with them, that can be helpful to be like, we want to take our inclusion to the next level. We love being a supporter to the community. Here's all the things that we've done. And we want to do this thing next.

That reads a lot better. It also kind of shows like, oh, okay, gotcha. This isn't the very first thing that you're doing. Maybe you've known for a while that it would look good to show your allyship, but it's kind of tricky because, Hey, you got to start somewhere. So I think starting is better than just ignoring it.

If you're asking for somebody else's help in that. Don't just start there, then you're kind of putting more work on them. That's also why Queer orgs saying no, a lot of the times. Cause they see through it. They're like, I mean, TBH y'all need us more than we need you. You want to collab because it looks good for your company.

Do we necessarily need that collaboration? Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. Now reminder this does it apply to me. This doesn't count for me. You can come in, come as you are, including having no Queer credit. But if you don't, this is where I'm going to start with you. Here's the thing, you can totally, I think, give this a go and do some of these things on your own.

If you want to take the guesswork out, hire it out. Hire a consultant, one, make sure that you're doing it right. And two, it looks really good. It shows that like, not only are you thinking about it, you're also willing to invest time, energy, and money into actually implementing inclusion. And bonus, if you hire a consultant for inclusion work, you should also let that be known.

That's not a secretive thing. I know sometimes companies have apprehension about that. They're like, I don't know. Does that look bad? Does it make it look like that we're not allies because we didn't know how to do this on our own. And we had to like hire it out to get help for it. No, absolutely not. It looks good. To me

it looks good. If I see anywhere that accompany has invested time, energy, and money into recruiting someone who can help them with their Queer inclusion. Big check mark for me. This is also often how a lot of people make their way to me. In asking for my help on projects that they're working on.

Sometimes they've started it off. They kind of done it on their own. Like they realized it was important and they're like, cool, let's give this a go. They've done that. And at some point into the project, they start to get nervous because they're like, you know what, if we're doing this wrong, we don't want to do this wrong.

So then at that point they can bring. Some outside help to one, get some relief to be like, phew. Now they're putting their stamp on it. And again, confidence too. Confidence that they know what they're putting out is correct. This also saves time with things that you don't know how to do. Usually you can figure it out, but that takes time and energy.

And just depends where you want to put your resources. I went through this recently with, you know, the podcast is relatively new. I wanted to have a website for it to help with promotion and to help with SEO. First, I learned that that was important. I was like, oh, okay. That's a thing. And it's, you know, the recommendation I got was like, it's not optional.

If you really want to have a successful show, you should have that. So I'm like, okay, it's kind of dragging my feet on it. Cause I'm like, I hate web design. So I realized it was important. And then I was like, okay, I can do this. You know, I've been through a coaching program. And part of it was how to design a website.

I can do this. Always hated it though. Started doing it on my own, was running into some hiccups, knew that some of it wasn't right. And I wanted to make sure that what I was putting out was correct and looked good. And I didn't want to drive myself batty in the process. I gave it a go for a little bit and then I was like, nope, none for me,

thanks. So instead I hired it out and luckily I have an awesome contact of a web designer who is super helpful and did an amazing job.

If you want some help, here's how I can help you. I will research your company's virtual presence. I will look into it. I will give you my feedback live and direct, and I'll tell you what's working,

what's not working, and overall how you can improve your LGBTQ+ plus representation so that your company can get some cred. Having that Queer representation in virtual spaces is one of my 10 essentials. That's why we're talking about it today. So reminder. You can get my free checklist to learn about the other must haves for your brand.

And through that checklist, you will discover your inclusion score. On the next episode, I will be dishing about one of my favorite essentials. How to take care of your staff. Until next time stay proud

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