Pride Month – Stand Up for the LGBTQI+ Community

June is Pride Month! 🌈 In addition to the festive activities aimed at raising awareness and celebrating the LGBTQI+ community, this means one thing above all else: rainbows everywhere (including on this blog).

Over the years, more and more companies and brands have replaced their logos with rainbow versions in June.

But simply adding color to a logo is, of course, not enough for a brand or company to authentically advocate for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community during Pride Month. There are a few simple yet effective ways for you and your brand to create a successful campaign:

The campaign or advertisement is intended to show your support for the LGBTQI+ community, so it’s best to collaborate with people from that community—for example, as photographers and models for your campaign visuals.

This has the advantage—in addition to demonstrating inclusivity—that you can get direct feedback on your campaign from people in the community. This helps you avoid unnecessary faux pas and potential social media backlashes.

Your campaign will have a greater impact if the message is also conveyed by real people from the LGBTQI+ community.

By the way, you can also get your company’s gay and transgender employees on board here. This also helps build trust internally.

The notion that companies should generally refrain from making political statements is long outdated. This year, the slogan “Raise Your Voice” is even among the top social media trends. A wide variety of brands, large and small, are increasingly using their voice and reach to educate the public about social, environmental, and political issues.

This means that Pride Month is the perfect opportunity to educate people about LGBTQI+ issues, culture, and the many misconceptions and prejudices that exist.

It is important for companies and brands to have a deep understanding of the origins and significance of Pride, because only then can they respond to critical feedback in a factual and convincing manner.

Do you want to actively support the LGBTQI+ community? Great! Then donate the proceeds from your Pride Month campaign or special collection, or start your own fundraiser to support nonprofit organizations that advocate for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community.

There’s a wide enough selection, for example, PinkCross, Rainbow Families, Lesbian Organization of Switzerland, TGNS, InterAction, Youthful Days, Queeramnesty and You-Are-You.

It’s also important that your company and your brand stand for inclusivity all year round—and that this isn’t just a marketing stunt during Pride Month to polish up a tarnished image.

👉 Learn more here about how onlineKarma gives back —through donations and more.

Authenticity is important here as well, so that you don’t receive a lot of negative backlash in your next Pride-themed campaign.

In the context of Pride, social media channels offer a range of ways to quickly spread your message of inclusion to as many people as possible.

To connect with your followers, live streams on Facebook and Instagram are one of the best ways to celebrate Pride in a direct, transparent, and authentic way—especially since your audience can post comments and ask questions in real time!

Instagram Live and Stories also offer the option to donate directly or start your own fundraiser.

If you want the content of your Pride campaign to stand out from the crowd and the rest of your feed, use special Pride Stories templates.

You can use simple design tools like Canva to create your own templates. And just like that, your Stories will stand out more!

Hashtags are a great and easy way to get more attention and reach for your post.

So use Pride-related hashtags to spread your message—for example, #lgbtq, #loveislove, #equalitymatters, #accelerateacceptance, or #pridemonth.

Collaborating with influencers is a great opportunity to reach a new audience and raise awareness of your Pride campaign.

If the influencers are part of the LGBTQI+ community, work with someone who is a genuine advocate for your mission.

This way, you’ll not only create a greater opportunity to raise awareness, but you’ll also be able to reach more people to raise funds for the LGBTQI+ organization of your choice.

This point is very important and aligns with point 3: The key here is for companies and brands to fully stand behind the message of Pride Month and to actively advocate for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community —all year round.

With “rainbow-washing” refers to the practice of using a Pride Month initiative or campaign to try to conceal one’s own shortcomings in this area and sweep them under the rug.

As a result, the entire campaign would no longer seem authentic and would therefore lose all its impact.

That’s why: Be authentic, stand by your words, and back them up with actions.

This should go without saying and is a basic requirement for you and your company to show support for the LGBTQI+ community: Avoid sexist remarks, homophobic jokes, or anything similar.

Also, show moral courage and step in when you encounter offensive or hurtful comments or actions—both online and in real life.

With that in mind: Happy Pride! 🌈