Who are LGBT+ People?

As we begin to discuss foundational information regarding LGBT inclusion and since marketing is so key to all of you it seems perfect to begin by talking about how the LGBT population is discussed what signals inclusion and how this impacts marketingTerminologyFor many of you the letters in the acronym sound a lot like alphabet soup a mess of letters stuck together that seems to always be changing and is just silly to expect anyone to make sense of It39s understandable without a foundation Let39s discuss that Basically this population encompasses two main groups both of which have a long history of being discriminated againstamp160sexual minorities and gender minoritiesSexuality and Gender What39s the DifferenceSexuality is whom a person is attracted to romantically or sexually Gender is who a person is So when you think about sexuality you are thinking about what boxes you would check of interest if you were online dating and wanted to be shown profiles The most common sexuality is heterosexualstraight However gay lesbian bisexual and pansexual are also becoming more commonly discussed There are many sexual orientations that are not heterosexualstraight Anyone not heterosexualstraight is a sexual minorityGender is who a person is When you close your eyes how do you identify yourself Most people have their gender identity and their body in alignment their body matches their brain Those people are called cisgender However gender has nothing to do with body parts This isn39t new though if your mother or wife had a double mastectomy she would not stop being a woman due to the loss of those body parts right The same thing is true with all people and gender Those who do not identify as cisgender have a brain and body not in alignment and that makes them a gender minorityBack to the LettersAs a result of decades of discrimination and mistreatment sexual minorities and gender minorities came together to support one another and to work together to stop the discrimination When the group came together they were seen as GLBT gay lesbian bisexual transgender However as discrimination is layered it became clear that women are often marginalized that much more so the letters rearranged to LGBT Over the years other letters were added to become more openly inclusive Sometimes you may see a Q for quotqueerquot or for quotquestioningquot or an I for quotintersexquot or an A for quotallyquot to bring supportive majority people into the minority community At risk of the acronym becoming far too long the general best practice is to go with LGBT The plus sign acknowledges all of the people who do not fit into the L G B andor T identitiesMarketing to LGBT PeopleOften companies wanting to seek out new consumers keep an eye on trends As this community formed companies stayed mindful At first the group was seen as nothing more than problematic In the 1950s being gay was listed as a mental health disorder and though this was stopped in the early 1970s some were slow to accept this However as more LGBT people came out to families and as more research occurred society began to recognize that an LGBT identity did not indicate harm or depravity or crime As companies recognized this and as events celebrating LGBT inclusion grew marketing opportunities began to appearAt first many companies were nervous about whether marketing to LGBT people would cause them to lose business from their nonLGBT customers However continued research consistently indicated that this was not happening Instead it was discovered that companies that market toward LGBT people increase business from all areas of consumer traffic as inclusion has consistently been an area of focus for many consumers when making product and service choicesWhere are LGBT People Marketed ToIn America the obvious answers tend to occur during June for Pride month During this time many companies participate by sponsoring floats in Pride parades hosting events during Pride weekends and sending their company representatives and ambassadors to hand out tiny items during gatherings atamp160Pride events nationwide However marketing to LGBT people is not just for June Nationally there are magazines and websites for LGBT audiences including some specifically for gay men some for lesbian women some for transgender people and more Companies now know that placing advertisements in these locations specifically targets these audiences These ads may include a romantic scene with a samegender couple they may include a model who is gender ambiguous or they may indicate images of families that appear to be nontraditional in a variety of ways These advertisements may be identical to a major campaign with the tiny exception of an image changeTake ActionYour action task is to think about your current marketing or to find an ad in a magazine How might you easily alter it to make it connect with an LGBT audience You don39t have to do anything except to think about and consider whether marketing to an LGBT audience is really so different to marketing toward the nonLGBT audience you are used toIn SolidarityClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Who are LGBT+ People?

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Kryss Shane

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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