The winter of discontent for queer representation

A decade ago, The Independent called out the Christmas ads for ignoring LGBT people. Not much has changed.

Sure, we've seen a few ads with LGBTQIA+-centred stories over these years. But with growing attacks on ads with any kind of queer representation, these small gains are already falling away.

It brings me no festive joy to make this observation, but we've been left out in the cold this Christmas.

The queer disappearance

In Campaign's last ever print edition, I was invited to write about the future for LGBTQIA+ people in our industry. I mused that "we'll see light shone on parts of our community underserved by ad creative" and that representation will become more usualised and incidental. We Are Social's Think Forward Global Trend Report predicts the same – with "post representation" being one of its top three trends for 2024.

It was GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis who said in Time earlier this year: "Companies will not end the standard business practice of including diverse people in ads and marketing because a small number of loud, fringe of anti-LGBTQ activists make noise on social media."

Since then, the Christmas ads have dropped. These ads are a good gauge on the state of queer representation. They centre emotional storytelling and their large media budgets connect them to a broad audience. They might be the most powerful way to usualise queer people.

Recent years have given us some beautiful moments of queer storytelling. Etsy's "Gift like you mean it: new guy" (see above) showed a black gay couple being embraced by family. John Lewis & Partners had Elton John's life played back to us in "The boy and the piano" by Adam & Eve/DDB. And last year's "She" from Diageo by El Ruso de Rocky gave us a grandfather learning the art of make-up to show allyship toward their queer/trans+ grandchild. We even had a gay santa in Posten's "When Harry met Santa."

In 2023, gay male visibility in ads for Marks & Spencer, Dobbies and Walkers is safe and superficial. They're decorative characters to tick boxes.

There's not a single ad with queer-centred storytelling. The queerest thing on screen this year might be the John Lewis Christmas tree; a human-eating house plant with echoes of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.

Christmas ads enter development early in the year, so the lack of representation is likely a reaction to the warped and untrue "go woke, go broke" narrative.

This regressive reaction is what I feared was coming after Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney whipped-up drama. Talent agencies have reported a decline in bookings for Trans+ talent in particular. We're seeing brand nervousness translate into timidity on visibility.

There are glimmers of hope, though. Both global brand director Eleonore Murauer at Reckitt/Durex and Camelot's head of marketing communications Anna McInally spoke to this at Outvertising Live.

They helped guide their industry peers to include us in the work and brave the backlash. Channel 4's Diversity in Advertising Award is also a crucial initiative right now. And the broadcaster did this after its own research revealed that brands have stepped back over backlash fears.

Tools for a queer resurgence

Here are a few things we can use to rebuild visibility for all:

1. We re-establish the commercial case

A GLAAD-Edelman study in 2022 found that Americans are two times more likely to use a brand that shows support for LGBTQ rights. Unfortunately, the damaging and untrue "go woke, go broke" narrative is causing brands to think twice.

The Outvertising Consumer Report is a collaboration with YouGov that explores the attitudes and spending intentions of LGBTQIA+ consumers. It tells us that LGBTQIA+ people want brands to be socially progressive and vocal.

GLAAD's Advertising Visibility Index showed many US consumers are ready to throw their support behind pro-LGBTQ brands and only 17% of people feel that LGBTQ representation advertising would cause negative feelings.

This research proves the commercial case.

2. We flood our peers with insights

The Outvertising Consumer Report is our Christmas gift to the industry – pulled off by Kendra Rogers and Rodney Collins in the Outvertising Intelligence team.

It's packed with insights from YouGov Profiles data – like how much gay men love Mini Cooper Classics and how lesbians love Fifa World Cup. It's also got some more curious insights – like how our community significantly over-indexes in their love of The Sims game and Bi women love Build-a-Bear workshop.

These insights that showcase both sector and segment dynamics can spark conversations with clients and creativity in the studio. And they can help inspire teams to create work that represents everyone.

3. We invest in our talent

We can't see a queer resurgence without addressing non-inclusive work environments. Nabs' All Ears research showed that less than 50% LGBTQ+ people feel able to be themselves in our industry. And the Advertising Association's All In Census highlighted issues with retention.

During a panel session at Outvertising Live, Matt Foster, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Ogilvy, explained: “I’ve always maintained that the agency model is broken and in the current climate the cracks are even more conspicuous.

"Selling units of time instead of the value of creativity to clients squeezes the ability to sustain equitable practices. Clients declining spend and lower margins often means investing in people is the first agency budget item to be compromised yet... what we truly 'sell' are our people. They must come first.

"DE&I sits at the centre of this and if clients are in a state of retraction, short-term cuts [across the industry] will only cause long-term damage to progress."

On the brand-side, the picture isn't much better. Tate Smith, a trans consultant and someone who speaks on their lived experience as a trans man and consults for businesses on implementing trans+ inclusion policies is similarly downbeat about cuts to DE&I budgets.

They said: "We're struggling to get buy-in from C-suite and senior leadership on basic transitioning at work policies due to internal nerves, and so trans inclusion efforts stagnated."

Being trans+ inclusive is about much more than pronouns on your email signature. Healthcare should cover gender-affirming care. With zero-tolerance to deadnaming, outing and deliberate misgendering. Counselling would help, too.

The harder to achieve systemic change we need will take marginalised communities lobbying together to protect basic minimums on DE&I investment, respect for the job with director seniority and untying of hands with a dedicated operational budget. Progress can be two steps forward and one step back. That's 2023 in a nutshell.

As camp and as cliché as it is to write, there's always a rainbow after a storm. So let's make sure we see it.

Marty Davies (she/they) is joint chief executive of Outvertising, the marketing and advertising industry's LGBTQIA+ advocacy group; and co-founder of Trans+ Adland, a grassroots community group of trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and intersex people across the world of marketing and advertising. They are also the founder of creative strategy consultancy Smarty Pants.