Kate Wolff, inc- chairman of Do the WeRQ and founder and CEO of Lupine Creative, says Bud Light’s behaviour” created anxieties among anyone more”.
“]That uncertainty ] is permeating through everyone, not just Southwest software, but in general how people are approaching Pride in June”, she said.
In the run-up to the national election, the Republican Party has become a fixation for transgender rights. In the anti-trans motion, Texas has been the state with the most effective activity, passing a bill, SB14, last year that forbids trans Texans under the age of 18 from receiving treatment for puberty, hormone treatments, and surgeries.
SXSW’s origins in Texas gave SXSW the opportunity to fight state-wide shrinking LGBTQ+ right head-on, just as sessions on abortion rights did. Rather, these issues stayed at the edges,” creeping into the edges of conversations”, says Graham Nolan, an Austin- based freelance PR and communications advisor and inc- founder of Do the WeRQ.
He claims that Austin residents “feel safe in the bubble” of the liberal enclave and do n’t engage in enough discussion about the state’s laws.
According to Keisha Townsend Tait, chief inclusion officer of Austin-based agency GSD&, M., Texas ‘ anti-abortion and anti-LGBT+ laws are affecting business ‘ ability to retain and attract top talent there.
” It’s come up with our current employees, and it comes up during our recruitment process”, she says. People are less likely to hold a place if they believe they have less freedom in particular neighborhoods or areas.
As the family of a trans boy, GSD&, M’s Glass has personally experienced this growing animosity toward the transgender community in Texas. Now more than ever, she says the group needs a tone and help from companies.
” There’s a number of items that are happening in the political area that’s making it so that people are taking a step up a little bit, but certainly, that’s when we would want them to really move in a lot more”, she says.
” I want to view brands who are willing to have families that look like me: identical- sexual parents with trans kids who are happy, who are thriving, who are excited about life, who have futures and plans”, she adds.
Brands may find supporting the LGBTQ+ community easier when it is n’t under attack, Wolff asserts, but that kind of thinking misses the point of an effective advocate.
” Our community is suffering right now.” This is a time where we’re actually in need—not when we’re trending, not when we’re fun, not when we’re being celebrated”, she says. Brands must appear and carry the line with us. Every day, we adhere to that line.
Most Americans believe that businesses should wield their influence to bring about positive social change; however, many people have lost the desire to do so while wading into political waters. Only 41 % of respondents in a 2023 study by Bentley University and Gallup said they think brands should take a public position on current events, compared to 48 % in 2022. However, the outcomes vary significantly depending on the party. Most Democrats ( 62 % ) said they were in favor of businesses taking a stance, compared with just 17 % of Republicans and 36 % of independents.
You can wave a red flag in front of a bull without doing it.
Ad executives anticipate brands to remain silent about the LGBTQ+ community this year, with all the latest “bleak Pride,” as Mulvaney described the 2023 event during her panel session.
Wolff claimed that her agency, which has earned a reputation for producing LGBTQ+-focused activations for businesses like the streaming platform Max, is still struggling with the effects of brands “being more insecure”. She claimed that last year, Lupine received half as many RFP requests for Pride as she did in years.
” In this moment, they’re thinking it’s not worth it to be loud”, she says. They can remain silent and support someone or go about nothing until they feel more prepared and safer to show up.
She describes the current state as a “really uncomfortable moment in culture and marketing.”
While the general public is less vocal, some brands still show up behind the scenes to support the community.
Raja Rajamannar, the financial services giant’s chief marketing and communications officer, claims that the company” silently works on what we believe in.” While it has run public campaigns for Pride month, such as 2020’s True Name campaign to promote its self- identifying card initiative, the financial company has also long supported the LGBTQ+ community through grants and product design.
In a “divided world”, Rajamannar says communications strategies “have to be smart”.
If you are aware that there is a risk, he says, “you do n’t need to go and wave a red flag in front of a bull.” ” You do n’t talk about it, but you do n’t stop doing good things”.
To Wolff, consistent support to the community “is just as powerful as running a Pride campaign—if not more”. Brands who are averse to backlash can show allyship in other ways, she says.
Townsend Taitt points out that there is a myth that doing nothing is the best course of action at the moment. Businesses need to understand that being inactive as well as making a statement or taking action are risks.
” It is not hate that is the main enemy, it is uncertainty in our allies that causes stagnation”, adds Nolan.
Queer storytelling is expanding in film and television.
This year’s SXSW saw a positive impact on the community as film representation increased significantly. This year, twenty-seven queer movies were screened, an increase from three in 2022.
According to Glass, the development of queer storytelling gives brands an opportunity to connect with the public without having to develop a particularly successful campaign.
” That’s going to be the way for brands to then find easier ways back in to be able to support us — despite all of the political stuff that’s happening”, she says.
Campaign US spoke with SXSW organizers to find out if the lessening LGBTQ+ programming at the event was a result of fewer panel discussions about the community being submitted or chosen by attendees. The company did not respond by time of publication.
