How to Avoid Rainbow-Washing This Pride Season and Beyond

We’re about halfway into Pride Month and while I’ve heard from many organizations about what they’ve been doing to support greater LGBTQ+ inclusion, I’ve also gotten a lot of inquiries from organizations that are just now pulling their Pride initiatives together.

If you’re one of these organizations, you’re certainly not alone. However, when pulling together last-minute Pride initiatives, you end up inadvertently communicating a lack of care and commitment to the greater LGBTQ+ community.

This is certainly not the message we want to send to our LGBTQ+ employees, colleagues, and clients. Instead, we want to show our commitment by ensuring our initiatives are substantive and ongoing.

Oftentimes, a last-minute and poorly-considered Pride initiative will come across as little more than rainbow-washing. Also know as pinkwashing, rainbow-washing is a way of nominally supporting the LGBTQ+ community with graphics and vague affirmations but not providing any material support beyond that. One way to avoid this is by properly planning your Pride initiatives, especially by involving members of the LGBTQ+ community within your own organization.

I talked about this in my recent appearance on Inside the Issues with Alex Cohen: “We need to make sure their actions are in alignment with their values.”

We discussed the current state of corporate Pride, how to avoid rainbow-washing, and steps for supporting LGBTQ+ employees. If you missed the episode, you can watch the replay here.

For more information on direct ways you can ensure your LGBTQ+ initiatives are culturally responsive and affirming, make sure to attend our monthly TGX+ Inclusion Roundtable. Bring your questions and ideas about supporting the TGX+ community during Pride Month and all year long.