Every June, queer people around the world recognize and celebrate Pride Month, a time for the LGBTQIA+ community to embrace who they are, celebrate their accomplishments, and reflect on their struggles — past and present.
Pride Month is also a time for allies — corporate and individual — to show up for the community, and one way to do so is with the power of social media.
For brands and small businesses, it gives them the opportunity to raise awareness, pass the mic, and cultivate impactful change.
In this blog post, creator and entrepreneur Jordan D'Amico shares actionable ways — including dos and don'ts — to celebrate Pride on social media in 2023.
What Pride is Really About
Pride is more than just a parade that happens once a year.
In fact, it is deeply entrenched in the queer liberation movement — one of the most famous events being the Stonewall Riots back in June 1969.
Fed up with police persecution and demanding to live openly and freely as their true selves, members of the queer community began to demonstrate at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in New York City.
The Stonewall Riots weren’t the first demonstration, however.
The fight for queer liberation has been a long one that continues even today, with earlier acts of protest and resistance led by Black and Brown trans women.
Pride marks an occasion to remind everyone of the violence and struggles queer people have endured over the years (even more so for those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color).
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What Does LGBTQIA+ Mean?
LGBTQIA+ is an initialism that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual.
The “plus” denotes other members of the queer community whose identity isn’t necessarily reflected with these letters.
Other variations do exist, however.
In Canada, it’s common to use 2SLGBTQ+, taking into consideration Indigenous two-spirit people.
Social Media for Pride in 2023: Dos and Don’ts
When building out your content calendar for Pride this year (or creating content targeting the queer community in general), keep this checklist in mind:
Do:
Educate yourself and your team on the significance of Pride so your allyship isn’t performative.
Understand and use the correct pronouns (and if you don’t know them, ask).
Ensure content is intersectional and showcases a spectrum of the diversity existing within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Use the Progress Pride Flag, which includes additional colors to denote and represent marginalized communities of color and trans folks.
Demonstrate a commitment to authentic allyship throughout the year.
Pass the mic to members of the community.
Don’t:
Solely change your brand’s social media icons/logo to a rainbow.
Back down in the face of adversity or hateful comments. LGBTQIA+ people aren’t given that luxury in their everyday lives.
Use stereotypes of the community. This only panders to negative rhetoric about LGBTQIA+ people.
Use the month solely as an opportunity to sell a product.
In the End
Celebrating Pride Month on social media is about doing more than a singular post in June.
It starts with your internal practices, and extends to how you choose to include, portray, and partner with the LGBTQIA+ community in your marketing efforts.
Their insights and voices are unique and invaluable — and reflect a spectrum of lived experiences that should be heard year-round.
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Editor’s Note: This author recognizes the land this article was written on is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation and he is here because this land was occupied. This author acknowledges his responsibility to decolonize himself as a settler and protect, honor, and sustain this land that has been a site of human activity for thousands of years.