Name: Impact Initiative 2023: Taking A Stand: Empowering The Lgbtq+ Community
Uploaded: 2023-09-13
Duration: 16 min 6 s
Description: Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO, GLAAD Interviewer: Ellie Austin, FORTUNE

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO, GLAAD Interviewer: Ellie Austin, FORTUNE

Impact Initiative 2023: Taking A Stand: Empowering The Lgbtq+ Community

Conferences

So, moving on to a completely different subject. Now, since the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969 June has become Pride Month, a time to spotlight and celebrate the LGBT Q Plus community while also calling attention to the myriad challenges that it still faces over the years, many corporations have supported month via donations and public ally ship. However, this year was slightly different targets. Pride merchandise received major backlash leading the retailer to remove some of the items from its stores. And it's been reported that this backlash was at least in part responsible for the company's first sales slump in six years. Bud Light also found itself at the center of controversy earlier this year when it partnered with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as part of a marketing campaign. So how can companies publicly display support for the LGBT Q Plus community without finding themselves at the center of a crisis to talk about all of this and more. I'm thrilled to sit down with Sarah Kate Ellis, the President and Chief Executive Officer at Hi. So um lots to talk about Sara. I'll go back in a moment to the target and the Bud light incident. But I want to start bigger picture a report that God released earlier this year shows that 91% of Americans think that LGBT Q plus people should live without discrimination, which seems incredibly obvious. But you know, it hasn't always been the case sadly and yet this year's Pride Month in June. So I think it was a 300% increase in anti LGBT Q plus incidents. How do you explain this dichotomy? Yeah, I think we're all seeing this dichotomy, right? Whether it be people of color women, LGBT Q folks, we're all under attack as a marginalized, as marginalized communities. And um I, I just want to build out a little bit more context to that. Um from a legislative perspective, we've seen over 600 anti LGBT Q bills at the state level across the country. And so when you think about that, the don't say gay bill in Florida is actually law now in nine states across this country. Um And about 79 of those 600 bills have been enacted. So they are law now. And so what we're seeing and the, and the culture that we're living in is being driven by honestly misinformation um and is really targeted if we're being very honest against the trans and gender, nonconforming community within our community. And they're the, they're the easiest target if you will, they have the smallest share of voice in the country in the world. Um they are incredibly marginalized. They can't get jobs, they can't. Um uh you know, there's so much that goes on the violence against this community. And so we're finding in this day and age, um we have as a community always been politicized, even though this is about human rights. This is not a political issue, it's a human issue. Um but it works for ratings, it helps um anti LGBT Q politicians raise money, get people wound up. Um And so I think that we're in the center of that right now and I think it's going to increase over the next year during this election. It's gonna be a very volatile time during this election. What do the figures show about the number of people that are spouting this abuse, this horrific abuse or committing these violent acts? I think it's easy to make the assumption that this is a huge section of the population, but I don't know if that's the case. What does the data show and what does it show about the bipartisan nature as well as support for the LGBT Q plus community? So that's a great question. And I just want to say everybody in America knows someone who's LGBT Q. You're either in, we're either in your family, we're at your workplace, we deliver your mail, we serve you your, you know, dinner at a restaurant. And so it is 91% of Americans that think that LGBT Q people should be left alone. There is a very, very small minority of folks who are anti LGBT Q and they have an outsized voice right now. Um And I often say that, you know, where we stand is that this misinformation gap. So if you think about the not missin non information gap, so we have an information gap right now, especially around the transgender community, 30% of Americans say they know somebody who's transgender, more Americans say they have seen a ghost. OK. So what is filling their heads is what these anti LGBT Q politicians are saying? And it's being reported out by the news as, as word of these anti LGBT Q politicians. So that's what's filtering this, this kind of culture that we're living in and it seems so outsized. The one thing that I really think is important here and for all of you in your corporate roles, something that we've been working really hard at glad with is that the attacks in our community have changed. And now I think Corporates are seeing social media weaponized against them. The same way the LGBT Q community has seen social media being weaponized against us. And so the thing that I've been doing more so than ever before is working with your risk folks around how to mitigate this and how to see this coming. And so a lot of them don't even know what to look for, right? Because they're not trained in this. So we're starting to train a lot of risk managers and security managers around. What, who are the anti LGBT Q voices? Where is this coming from? Because all of those attacks that you referenced earlier started on social media, they whip up and energy on social media and then the companies are caught flat footed because they're not looking for it. And then all of a sudden this happens, right? And you, and you're in the headlines and you don't want to be in the headlines for that. I know that, um I will say that what we, we did after Target was create a corporate war room with about 300 of our corporate partners and we started to look at all of that so we could get ahead of it. And so the thing back to what you originally said, there were hundreds of pride campaigns that went off without a hitch. Um, there were two that got a lot of media attention. Now, there were other companies that did get attacked. Um, let's be really clear about that. The difference in that is that those companies were ready and they didn't step back, they leaned in and that's the difference here. And it's, you know, when I talk to a lot of CEO si say it is basic school yard behavior we're talking about here as soon as you give space to bullies, they will be back the next day. But if you stand up and you say that's not happening. Take Bud Light and Nike, for example, Nike has a deal with Dylan Mulvaney too and was very out and and loud about their marketing partnership in pride. They went after Nike and Nike Ceo said that's not our value proposition. We stand with who everyone. And that's another thing I think one of the ways that you all um can really build in some safe around this is you represent everyone, right? Like Coca Cola makes drinks for everyone and you know, you make sneakers for everyone and that is a compelling way to not have to get caught in picking one side over another and there are no sides here, right? There's a right side and there's a wrong side of history. I'll stop. Sorry, I have that as you talk a lot, a lot of my questions. That 10 um another thing you do at glad is you release an annual social media safety index which analyzes how the five major social media platforms keep LGBT Q plus people safe. Now this year Twitter or as it is now known, dropped 12 points compared to its 2022 score. And let's imagine that Elon Musk was here with us on stage right now. What would you be saying to him about what he needs to do to help and keep the LGBT Q plus community safe? Uh Yeah, I mean, what's so sad about that is that Twitter actually was a leader in this space. Um We used to hold them up before Elon took over. Um They had a Trust and Safety Council that was really effective. Um And I think for us, when we look at the social media platform, it, as I said earlier, it is a place of convening and collaborating. It is also a place that has been weaponized against our community at dramatic rates. And that's why we started me measuring it because I always say even though they've all had incremental good change, except for Twitter who fell off, this literally fell off a cliff on this. Um It's that they didn't back slide. That's actually the win for us um because it's not a priority for them. And until we move in a legislative place and space and regulation on social media, we're not gonna see the change that we need to see at that level. But I would tell Elon, like, cut it out literally stop. You are putting people's lives at risk. Um And we see the conversion from online to danger and violence offline and in real life, are there any questions for Sarah Kate? Yes. Can we get a mic just here, please? Thank you so much. Hi, I'm Francy with Allstate. Really appreciate your remarks about um standing forward. That was our take away from what happened with anti Russian target. The other takeaway. Unfortunately, though was the business implications for these are significant, the stock price they their loss in market share. And in my position, I don't have those same case studies for people standing up for the brands. I'm wondering how you're counseling brands right now who are uh perhaps taking up? Maybe we just sit this one out or stay silent approach. So thank you for that question. And I think what's really important to understand here is and we're getting to the bottom of this. The math actually doesn't work out. When you look at LGBT Q folks and our allies, we are way faster and quicker to move away from brands that don't support LGBT Q people or women or people of color. And so if you're thinking about a marginal or a small community of anti LGBT Q people, my theory on this is it's actually the LGBT Q people and our allies that drove the downturn in retail uh target. And at Bud Light, you can't find in New York City a an LGBT Q bar that's going to serve Budd Light. You won't go, go to an event that is going to serve Bud Light. So I think that when those companies stepped away from us, we stepped away from them. Um And I think so, I'm, I'm trying to get that build that for you all because I think I know that's critical in your conversation. Is there any way to measure that? What you just? Yes, yes. They're actually, yeah. So our research department is working on that. Um, and we're working with, uh, to build that out but the numbers don't even work out. Like, if you think about the anti LGBT Q people who really, really detest us, it's 13% of the population. So they have to be outsized in those companies which they aren't because they're mass market companies. So, it's, the math doesn't line up in my opinion. And, and I, I'll prove that I, I'm hoping to prove that out. We've got another question right at the back. Hi, my name is Keisha. Um, and I work in public health and also federal consulting. So I have a sort of devil's advocate question, um, particularly with the, with the Bud Light situation because there are some, uh, voices that say, ok, well, that was, you know, part of a certain culture and Bud Light represents this thing and we weren't quite ready to have this representation. And so I'm curious, that's not my opinion. I'm, I'm just saying, I've heard that conversation. Um, and I'm curious what you would say to that if it's, well, we all need to be ready or you just have to get over it or if there's anything to, you know, sort of combat this idea that there are these sort of protected spaces that feel like I'm not, I'm the person who represents me is supposed to look a certain way or be a certain way and this didn't do it for me. II, I want to understand that. Did you understand that question? I couldn't understand exactly what you were asking in that question because I want to make sure I answer it properly. I was the question about the companies feel like they have to be ready to take action. No, it was more about with, with Dylan representing Bud Light, that Bud Light. It has a certain um Oh, yeah, I see. I hear what you're saying. Ok, great. Yes. So I think here's something that we've been talking about for a day and a half, right? Like the generational gap that we're facing here. So Bud Light has a situation where their, their clients or their customer is starting to age out and they need in order to grow as a company, bring in new customers, right? Um And so that's the challenge that they've been trying to navigate. Um I think Dylan is um I mean, Dylan is just a person. I, I don't know that she doesn't represent other people. If you like clothes and fashion and drinking, she represents you, you know, so I think that is a way that people justify shutting others out. Um And I think that also they are a brand for, they're Bud Light, they're a brand for all Americans and Dylan is an American too and, and and should be reflected in that, but she wasn't, I I don't know if you watched it, but she wasn't doing it as a trans person, she was doing it as a drinking person, you know, someone who enjoys the beverage. Um And I, and so I think that is used and weaponized in order to divide as opposed to bring together. Thank you so much for your question. That's we've got time for, which is frustrating because there's so much more we could talk about with you. Um But Sarah Kate, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much. Thank you.