Good morning!
We’re about halfway through Pride month, and along with heartfelt and meaningful celebrations of the LGBTQIA+ community, there are also some overtures that miss the mark.
“Rainbow washing” has become a popular term to describe when companies pay homage to Pride in a superficial way, often for financial gain. And while it’s typically used to call out ill-advised marketing or product campaigns, LGBTQIA+ workers and their allies are also taking issue with companies rainbow washing internally, according to a SurveyMonkey poll of more than 2,079 U.S. adults who self-identified as either LGBTQIA+ or an ally.
Around 40% of that group says the gravest error a company can commit during Pride month is overlooking internal issues such as discrimination, harassment, or the absence of inclusive policies within their organization. That was ranked higher than insensitive marketing campaigns, and failing to include LGBTQIA+ voices.
Around 58% of LGBTQIA+ workers believe their workplace does just the right amount throughout the year to support LGBTQIA+ employees, and 9% think their companies do too much. That percentage drops to 43% who say their employer is doing just the right amount to commemorate Pride, and 13% who think their company is doing too much.
Corporate practices towards transgender or nonbinary employees got lower scores. Just 24% of respondents overall say their workplace supports transgender and nonbinary employees by hosting regular diversity and inclusion training, or using inclusive language. Around 19% said their workplace has inclusive bathroom policies, and 17% said they have employee resource groups (ERGs) for trans or nonbinary individuals.
For employers, one step in the right direction is to ensure that all of their employee programming is inclusive of all marginalized employees, no matter what month it is.
“Throughout the year, [what] are you continuing to focus on, whether it's benefits, experiences? And then really having those conversations where the LGBTQIA+ community has an opportunity to talk about it,” Antoine Andrews, SurveyMonkey’s chief diversity and social impact officer, tells Fortune. “It becomes genuine when you're talking about Women's History Month, but you're also highlighting trans women as well. It becomes a continuous drumbeat throughout the year.”
Pride month itself is significant, however, and employers should also actively engage employees in the LGBTQIA+ community and help them guide programming and broader inclusion policies. LGBTQ employee resource groups can also be an important piece of the puzzle. Around 34% of respondents don't think companies listen to LGBTQIA+ perspectives when planning for Pride. Respondents also said that hosting educational panels or workshops on LGBTQIA+ topics and gathering feedback from the community are some of the most genuine Pride month initiatives a company can take.
“If you don't know who's within the community, it's hard to engage it,” says Andrews.
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
Today's edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.
