Outvertising tells brands: Stand your ground this Pride Month

Outvertising remains resolute in continuing our pursuit to make marketing and advertising completely LGBTQIA+ inclusive. With Pride Month upon us, we invite the industry to join us in that pursuit.

Anti-LGBTQIA+ groups are relentlessly attacking brands that demonstrate allyship with our community.

As part of their efforts to halt and roll back LGBTQIA+ inclusion in society at large, these fringe groups are attempting to erase our community in the media, including in the ads people see.

The Trans+ community are weathering the brunt of this targeted campaign of hate and they must be protected. But this hate is not limited to our Trans+ friends – the whole LGBTQIA+ community are feeling the effects.

There’s no room for performative gestures or empty commitments in 2023: love is love, but money talks.

Our message this Pride Month, and every month, is clear:

The LGBTQIA+ community will not be silenced, and we will not be erased. 

Our community will remain visible. LGBTQIA+ people belong in ads. Trans+ people belong in ads. 

How to stand your ground:

• Brands with Pride ads: Run them.

• Brands working with LGBTQIA+ talent: Protect them.

• Brands with Pride event plans: Keep them.

• Brands with Pride products: Display them.

• Brands with rainbow logos: Back up this declaration with meaningful actions.

• Brands that come under attack: Brave the backlash.

• Brands with media spend: Invest in media that match your values. Divest from media that spread disinformation.

This is a time that calls for commitment and courage.

If your brand’s allyship comes under attack this Pride Month, we advise you not to waver in your resolve because of a hateful few. Your action can be made in the sound knowledge that you have the majority behind you. 2 in 3 under 60s (66%) think it’s important to fight discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.*

Stand your ground. 

You can find more advice on how to confidently stand your ground in the Outvertising Guide, in The Media Guide and in the Employer Guidance on the resources section of our website.

*Portland - Generation A - Z report

Organisations calling on all brands to stand their ground this Pride Month:

Advocacy group

Bloom UK

Brixton Finishing School

Media for All

WACL

Agency

Across the Pond

BCW

Born Social

Bountiful Cow

Carat

dentsu X

distillery

EssenceMediacom

EssenceMediacomX

Grey

LondonHarvard PR

Hill + Knowlton Strategies

Lightboat Media

Mindshare

mSix & Partners

Ogilvy

RAPP

SHARE Creative

Teamspirit

The&Partnership

the7stars

TransMission PR

VMLY&R

Wavemaker

Mullen Lowe

Havas London

The Social Element

Pocc

Landor & Fitch

iPROSPECT

Propeller Group

CMI Media Group

Barkley

OMG UK (including agencies OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, MG OMD, DRUM and Fuse)

Media Bounty

Weirdo

Be The Fox

D&AD

CLICKON

adam&eveDDB

Gaybors Agency

The 3% Movement

David&Goliath

We Are Rosie

TMW Unlimited

Media.Monks

We Are Social

Weber Shandwick UK

Association

Advertising Association

Conscious Advertising Network

DMA - Data and Marketing Association

IAB

UKISBA

The Alliance of Independent Agencies

The Marketing Society

The World Federation of Advertisers

Charities

Mermaids

NABS

Not A Phase

Stonewall

The Film and TV Charity

#TransPeopleAreLoved Campaign

Switchboard LGBTQ+ Helpline

Community Groups

Global Butterflies

InterMedia UK

Intersex

Equality Rights UK

Queer Britain

Trans In The City

Trans+ Adland Community

TransActual

GLAAD

DEI Consultancy

Indigo Inclusion

Creative Equals

Do the WeRQ

Diversity Role Models

The Unmistakables

ERG

MRSpride

OPEN Pride UK (The Omnicom LGBTQ+ ERG)

Publicis Groupe Egalité UK

TruePride Alliance at McCann Worldgroup UK

WPP Unite

Havas Pride

Holding Group

dentsu

OOH Specialist

Kinetic

Pride

Medway Pride CIC

Pride in London

Rainbows Over Medway

Platform

Queer AF

Medway Pride Radio

Good-Loop

Union

Creative Communications Workers

Publications

WARC

Diva

Gay Times

Media Owner

Clear Channel UK

Supporters

Interpride

European Pride Organisers Association

Galop

Asians in Advertising

Recruitment

Major Players

Production Studio (OOH)

DOOH.com

Specialist Research Agency

The Diversity Standards Collective

If you are interested in endorsing/supporting please drop us an email.

Outvertising Welcomes a New Director

Cassius Naylor (he/him/they/them) - Advocacy Co-Director

Cassius is an independent D&I advisor and freelance software engineer, with a diverse client-facing career history spanning journalism and publishing, communications, consultancy and enterprise technology. Most recently he was global communications coordinator at the Financial Times, where he also led the organisation's award-winning LGBTQ+ employee network Proud FT. He served on the steering committee of Intermedia UK in this capacity, and has advised media, advertising and technology sector decision-makers on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace throughout. He has been working with Outvertising in various capacities since 2018, including having helped launch the second edition of the Outvertising Guide in 2019.

“Outvertising has always, to me, been an organisation with two aspects. One points inwards, towards the community and the membership, and forms the beating heart of our group. The other points outwards, towards the industry and the public, and represents our ability to guide the sector towards an inclusive future. We are entering a new phase in corporate D.E.I. strategy, where the expectations of the community towards business are more robust. Love is love, but money talks, and an ever greater population of consumers are becoming wise to that. The advocacy team exists to help leaders and allies in brands, agencies, adtech and media to disempower bigotry in the advertising supply chain, and I’m thrilled to be leading this critical work alongside Ant Jackson.”

— Cassius Naylor

Outvertising Welcomes 5 New Directors

After saying goodbye to several longstanding directors we are happy to welcome 5 new directors across various work streams.

Nikky Lyle (she/her) - Community & Culture Co-Director

Nikky Lyle is a Creative Recruiter with conscience and a decade of creative recruitment experience. 

She’s also founder of Graphic Design Jobs UK, Vice President of Hope at Post Quarantine, TEDx  Speaker, The Dots list of 100+ Rising Stars, past D&AD Judge, Side Hustle Cheerleader and Domestika Teacher. 

“I’m super excited to join Outvertising as Community & Culture Co-Director. I marched with the team for London Pride last year and found everyone I met so friendly and supportive. My experience as an Outvertising mentor last year also cemented my admiration for the organisation. I’m looking forward to helping to grow the community and spread our mission. ”

— Nikky Lyle

Luke Millican (he/him) - Commercial Co-Director

Luke has been an agency side digital leader at Dentsu and GroupM. He is now a Client Partner at Meta where he works with FMCG business across EMEA. He’s passionate about developing future generations of LGBTQIA+ talent in the industry and spends time mentoring and supporting their development.

““I felt inspired to join Outvertising having witnessed first-hand the powerful work and advocacy the the team has delivered over the past few years”

“I’m passionate about helping businesses not only make their marketing fully LGBTQIA+ inclusive because it’s the right thing to do but also proving the business value that it delivers””

— Luke Millican

Dr Rodney Collins (he/him) - Intelligence Co-Director

Dr. Rodney Collins is the Global Head of Human Sciences at McCann Worldgroup. As a professional anthropologist, Rodney believes in the urgency of culture to drive meaningful action, whether that is in a protest march or a board room. He is committed to partnering with leaders to architect models for cultural and social change. 

Daniel Sinclair (he/him) - Commercial Co-Director

As an Advertising Sales Manager at WeTransfer, Daniel collaborates with brands and agencies to deliver outstanding digital campaigns. He has a wealth of experience in various roles within the advertising world that require a commercial mindset. He’s also had the pleasure of being a mentor through the Outvertising mentorship scheme and has a passion for all things automotive in his spare time.

“I’m very pleased to be joining the Outvertising board of directors, having been inspired by and exposed to the brilliant work being undertaken, through the likes of Outvertising Live and other events. I’ve been in the industry for the last eight years and there’s been some positive change, but there’s still much further we need to go. I believe that Outvertising is a great vehicle in which to contribute towards that change. Advertising feeds into many parts of our everyday lives and we need to ensure that that it’s being used to positively influence attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ community. I look forward to helping drive success in all of Outvertising’s aims.”

— Daniel Sinclair

Naresh Subhash (he/him) - Creative Co-Director

Naresh is a Deputy Creative Director at MadeBrave - a global brand and creative agency based in Glasgow and London. He was also a mentor for DnAD shift, a contributing writer at Creative Moment as well as a judge across several creative awards across the industry. He works closely with clients and agency to elevate diversity and equity in brand and creative work ensuring that together they authentically represent people and communities. 

“I joined Outvertising to help drive true inclusion in the creative departments and increase visibility for POC queer creatives across our industry.”

— Naresh Subhash