Pride and LGBTQ+ inclusion is good business. Here’s why

Right now, companies across the country are meeting to discuss what to do during Pride Month. Fireside chats with LGBTQ+ leaders like me will be planned. Local marches will be sponsored. Rainbow logos will be designed. Internal messages will be drafted. Throughout this flurry of activity, corporate leaders will ask themselves and their advisers: Is this enough? Is this too much?



So, this Pride Month , my suggestion for our nation’s CEOs is this: do something you can really, truly be proud of. Forget the noise and the nonsense, and instead take action based on your vision and your values. Focus on the greater good. Because the truth is, what’s in the best interest of your coworkers, consumers, and company, is in the best interest of the LGBTQ+ community. And vice versa.



At Out & Equal , much of the work we do is out of the spotlight, in direct partnership with Fortune 500 companies. We get calls every day from CEOs and other C-suite leaders who want our help figuring out how to do better on LGBTQ+ equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace . And we’ve found that when these leaders have the opportunity to ask questions openly, they understand the benefits of building businesses where everyone belongs; they just need some support on the execution. It’s in these environments they can be vulnerable and ask us questions about, say, pronouns or bathrooms that they worry, in other spaces, would make them look out of touch. And with better information, they can start to piece together a plan that will ensure their employees and their business are better off.



Successful CEOs know that profitability requires being forward-thinking. That is, they know they need to see past the challenges of the moment toward the opportunities of the future. 



For instance, in 1989, when 69% of Americans opposed marriage equality, Ben and Jerry’s offered health insurance to same-sex partners of their employees. In 2009, when 54% opposed marriage equality, Ben and Jerry’s was criticized for changing the name of the flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby” in celebration of the passage of Vermont’s marriage equality law. By 2015, when the ice cream company submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of marriage equality nationwide, they were joined by 30 other companies. And today—despite these actions or, more likely, because of them—Ben and Jerry’s remains among the bestselling ice cream brands in the country.



This example can teach executives today how to lead with vision. In this moment, extremists are using equality as a wedge issue, and as a result, we’re seeing a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ actions and attitudes . Still, the long-term value of doing right by LGBTQ+ consumers and employees is undeniable. Nearly 8% of all adults now identify as LGBTQ+, an all-time high. And with more than one in five Gen Z adults, those aged 18 to 26, identifying as queer, that number is expected to increase. The size of the LGBTQ+ community is one consideration, and its strength is another. LGBTQ+ consumers have $ 3.9 trillion in purchasing power globally. And allied consumers, whose purchasing power is undoubtedly trillions more, are more likely to support brands that support LGBTQ+ equality. The opportunities of the future are clear.



Now, when looking towards the future, it’s important to make decisions from a place of authenticity and integrity. Reams have been written critiquing corporate performance during Pride Month. “For brands, it’s ‘put up or shut up’ time,” read one headline from last year. “The problem with brands and performative activism,” read another. At best, these critiques suggest rainbow logos are not a significant enough action at a time when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack. At worst, they suggest that corporations are more interested in making a buck off  LGBTQ+ consumers than making real change.



LGBTQ+ employees and consumers want to see corporate leaders do the right thing, whether or not it’s profitable, popular, or picked up by the media. In 1982, for instance, Levi Strauss CEO Bob Haas joined his employees in the lobby of the company’s headquarters to hand out educational leaflets on HIV/AIDS. It wasn’t a publicity stunt; it was a show of solidarity. It was a real integrity move.



So, CEOs: this Pride Month, by all means, stand up. Speak out. Be loud and proud. But don’t hesitate or equivocate. Don’t doomscroll or look at outlier polls. Show the courage of your convictions—or, at least, some reverence for the evidence. Look ahead, confident that the words you are saying and the actions that you are taking reflect your vision and your values—and will help build a better future for your employees, your company, and the LGBTQ+ community.