Your (Pride) flag decal won’t get you into heaven.

Corporations flying the Pride Flag without taking meaningful action is nothing more than an empty gesture.

Total Engagement Consulting’s second LGBTQ Pride Month blog has been provided by my new associate Deanna Jones.  Link to our first Pride Month blog, “LGBTQ+ Pride Month Blog 2023 – Fighting the Increasing Hate.”

Some of you recognize the title of this song (with a little editing) as a John Prine masterpiece. Link to John Prine’s song on Youtube. We lost John a few years ago due to covid but I am reminded of this sentiment recently with the amount of rainbow washing that is really starting to kick into gear for Pride Month. According to the Urban dictionary, rainbow washing is when a business uses the rainbow Pride colors on advertising, apparel, accessories, and yes, flag decals to indicate progressive support for LGBTQ equality. Mostly it is performative in nature and does nothing to provide tangible results for the community.

We see a lot of this rainbow washing today. While Trans-rights have been trampled throughout our country, major corporations have been mostly silent. In 2016 our state (NC) faced a large corporate backlash and lost billions after passing a so-called “bathroom bill” (HB2) that banned transgender people from using bathrooms aligning with their gender identity. In 2023 we have seen a large influx of anti-trans bills that attempt to eliminate medical care for young people and in some cases, adult medical care. Bathroom bans are getting passed, parental rights are being taken away and this time, nearly every corporation has been very quiet.

Corporations, with their immense influence and resources, have the power to make a substantial impact on social and political issues. Why are corporations remaining silent on anti-trans bills? One reason is their perception that they will face retaliation for speaking out. Governor DeSantis went after Disney when the company came out against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida (see my earlier blog.) The Governor is proud of this fact stating directly to the Disney Corporation, “It’s not going to work out well for you” and “I’m going to punch back”. This puerile threat has been carried out swiftly by the Governor. He has tried to tax them more, remove their autonomy and even suggested building a prison next to the park.

This map shows in darker red colors states now proposing or passing anti-Trans legislation.

In this current hate filled environment created by the right-wing agenda in conservative governments, corporations are facing backlash from a small minority of anti LGBTQ customers. These allegedly aggrieved customers seek to puff themselves up and claim they represent the majority with their outsized reactions which they most certainly do not. Witness some of the inflammatory videos posted by anti-LGBTQ forces on the right.

The corporations that tried to be inclusive such Anheuser-Busch and Target have faced this backlash and appear to immediately be cowed and afraid of these repercussions from the select few consumers who react violently. This is a huge miscalculation for them. Their cowed responses have done nothing but alienate larger groups of consumers, especially younger and more diverse populations. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 20% of people in Generation Z identify as gay, transgender, or bisexual. This is in comparison to 3% of the Baby Boomers.

A report released last December from GLAAD and the Edelman Trust Institute found that if a brand publicly supports and demonstrates a commitment to expand and protect LGBTQ rights, Americans are twice as likely to buy and use the brand. Millennials and Generation Z are 5.5 more likely to want to work at a company that supports and demonstrates a commitment to protecting LGBTQ+ rights. I believe we are clearly at the beginning of a monumental shift in attitudes and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ population. Over 20% of Generation Z identifies with the community. Where will your company be when these employees and consumers have the largest share of purchasing dollars? Does your company now wave a Pride Flag while simultaneously acquiescing to the anti LGBTQ mob? I certainly hope not.

Companies cannot claim to be LGBTQ+ supportive while contributing to anti-LGBTQ+ legislators

Walt Disney employees and demonstrators during a rally against the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill at Griffith Park in Glendale, California, Alisha Jucevic | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Companies cannot “have their cake and it eat it too” by claiming to be supportive of their LGBTQ+ employees, customers and community, and yet make political contributions to lawmakers who harm and demonize LGBTQ+ people. Companies can no longer straddle the fence; they must choose sides and take a strong stand as anti-LGBTQ proposals are flooding state legislatures at a record pace (link to Bloomberg article.)

The latest high visibility situation in recent news concerns the Disney company. They have long been considered a great supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, but then when the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law restricting discussion of LGBTQ issues in public schools was voted into law in Florida, Disney at first issued a tepid lukewarm statement about the proposed legislation while donating money to politicians who were voting for it.

About a hundred employees at Disney staged a walk out in protest, and I was in full support of their action. An organization simply cannot claim they support a community, yet provide money to those people who are seeking to harm that community. Disney’s CEO has since come out with a much stronger statement against this harmful bill which basically denies the existence and legitimacy of LGBTQ+ families, and has pledged to no longer fund politicians who legislate harm and hatred of LGBTQ+ people.

Disney has their annual “gay day” at their theme parks, but do they really stand with us, or just want our money? Photo from Shaul Schwarz for TIME

It is a common practice (yet a very bad idea) for companies to make political contributions. The concept is to support and try to elect legislators who will pass laws that will benefit your business so you can make more profit. But far too often, this places profitability over stated values and principals, and compromises integrity. And the LGBTQ+ community is not going to quietly sit by while companies throw us empty words of so-called support while giving money to those who harm us.

Two final thoughts

First, kudos to my former employer IBM. They are one of the very few large companies that has never made political contributions. (Read their governance statement about this.)

Second, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which annually measures and scores companies’ LGBTQ+ support through their corporate equality index (CEI), needs to take a much more rigorous look at this. So many companies are now scoring 100% on the HRC scorecard, but I think much of it is empty words and platitudes instead of real action. HRC does have a practice of deducting 25 points from the rating of any company that does harmful things against the LGBTQ+ community, and now they need to uncover any company that contributes money to lawmakers who vote for anti-LGBTQ laws smack them with a “minus 25.” HRC, are you listening?

The LGBTQ+ community and our allies must continue to speak out loudly against any company that contributes money to politicians who harm us, including boycotts and walkouts, until this arcane harmful practice ends.