you
ain't gonna let nobody houses are so
important every voice is valid every
voice has a story let's listen it's been
probably within the last five years that
there's been an active focus on
advertising with LGBTQ community the
representation of gay folks GLBTQ folks
it's a tricky job it's it's very
difficult because everyone is different
we're all complex people and I think
that without a more deliberate
representation of people within the
LGBTQ community we risk being seen as
these kind of paper cutouts or these
caricatures of personality without
understanding the the depth of the
humanity for a brand in order to come
off authentic they need to be authentic
which means that they need to do their
homework
[Music]
we started actually flipping through
some of the ads as we were going through
part of our LGBTQ history and started to
see that there are some interesting
themes that were coming out mm-hmm you
start thinking this looks pretty
suggestive Gary so we're a my imposing
something that I'm seeing as somebody
that's living in in like modern-day on
something that I'm looking at that was
over a hundred years ago or is this
really suggestive it is suggestive Brent
Miller the global LGBTQ equality leader
at P&G I think for me being part of a
community that's been traditionally
underrepresented visibility is
everything you know P&G is an Ohio based
company I like that because it actually
puts us kind of in the heartland of the
u.s. we wanted to talk to those people
in our own backyard
because it's in that discovery process
that you uncover some really really
incredible things talking with the
advertising historians really important
because you begin to understand what a
hidden world the LGBTQ community was for
such a long time so this particular
illustrator was known to most likely
very may be 99% sure that he was gay I
mean some of these are from you know
like the 1880s clearly coded clearly
it's out there but it's hidden like this
is a time where if if you were you know
gay this would be a way that you could
maybe express yourself because they're
not able to have a full identity in
public because it's not known or
accepted or embraced what are the
implications for the way people are
presented in advertising today who you
choose to cast to put in an ad has more
consequences and you might think you
can't be what you can't see
you would see the stereotypes you would
see the hairdresser or the florist yeah
you see that that was it hard to hear
the word and when you did it was not
obvious very very negative and I had
been together before it'll be 39 years
in November 12th of this of this year
this is our actual legal marriage
certificate from Washington DC now it
was nice - it was nice to make it legal
yes between my mother and my father my
father was far more supportive my mother
had a horrible time she called me up at
work one day said you know Joe it's a
terrible thing to say but I'm sorry I
ever became pregnant with you
and the next year she said you know
you're like a rattlesnake around my neck
and I have trouble saying I love you
when you were growing up you didn't have
people with a lived experience that were
role modeling that no there was no that
I thought I was the only one in the
world I mean I knew I was my god happy I
felt alone yeah well we were alone and
who could who could and that was part of
the who could you talk to when you are
hidden like that or you are trying to
find yourselves or you are coded it
demonstrates that there's something
wrong with you and so we need to get
away from that there is nothing wrong
with LGBTQ people you know I think about
the 12 or 13 year old kid seeing life
represented visibly would have a
profound effect I think on me because
people need models people need to see
gay people who are happy going on with
their lives people in relationships
[Music]
how we were young I know that was San
Francisco I know I had a black beard
black hair yeah
just to see gay people represent it I am
amazed at the pace of change the natural
aspect of being human is you want to
know your own tribe if your tribe isn't
portrayed in advertising isn't portrayed
within the companies or the institutions
around you who are you when I was
growing up I never saw myself I didn't
even know I existed quite honestly
advertising absolutely has the power to
shift perceptions to start conversations
knowing makes it less different I think
it makes it approachable
it makes people realize it's always been
part of the fabric it was just hidden
away because of bias since the 90s we've
seen an explosion of these
representations but some are sort of
critical of that they could they would
say it was business and not politics and
so now we're in a moment where there's
more emphasis or concern about the
authenticity and is it political or is
it just a business motive some well
Columbus is the first and only LGBTQ
community center in central Ohio I think
all of us within the lgbtq+ community
are wrestling in our own ways with how
do we bridge the divides how can
corporations continue to partner with
LGBTQ organizations so they're not there
just to wave a banner in the parade that
made of thought being people don't want
companies or I think they're taking
advantage of the community by being
there yep we were called to you know
express what was going on with our
chorus as a vehicle to talk about the
trans community and we're really excited
about that yeah you don't get to see
these stories a lot you don't hear these
stories enough we had some choristers
that were like great let's do it and we
did have a few people that were like
well are we being tokenized are we just
being used as a great philanthropic
product placement you know with that's
the packaging that we're putting out
there
and I like to say well it depends on
what you want to use your activism for
you don't always see a trans person
doing something you don't always see a
gender non-conforming gender non-binary
person doing something is it is it
pandering using lbgtq representations to
sell products we need to be careful of
just writing it off completely
co-optation does exist we can see it
when it's bad but we we also need
visibility the very fact that it's
impact is somebody to say you know I
don't like that now why are they doing
this has introduced a whole heck of a
lot of discussions we never had before I
can't explain why parents reject their
children some kind of disappointment
some sense of failure on their own parts
you know we we have a thing here at
Stonewall we say every pride is
somebody's first pride and every
commercial could be somebody's first
opportunity to see themselves reflected
positively on television it could be
some mother's first opportunity to see
that my child's not the only child
that's wrestling with these kinds of
questions and we're seeing more and more
younger people coming out earlier and I
think that visibility has led to that
my name is Regan Swan I live in Mason
Ohio and I'm 15 years old
I would definitely had thoughts about
you know I'm not like everybody else you
know I don't feel right in this body if
I like it was right person is wrong body
[Music]
for seventh grade started I had a group
of friends that I spoke to before school
started until them you know my name is
Riggins now I go by he/him pronouns and
that's it and they were like okay there
was never a conversation that you know
I'm transgender there's never that I
know I never had really a coming-out
thing because it was always a always
kind of there a lot of people are scared
of the unknown of what they don't know
and definitely things that are different
because they have no idea what it is you
mentioned that your grandma still gets a
little messed up on them your name
sometimes and things like that she's
she's an older woman so it's it's her
excuse so it's okay but she means well
right yeah absolutely that's really
making us chocolate cream pie so yeah I
mean I've had people tell me that
they've changed their minds about how
they feel about transgender people
listening to our story knowing us
knowing Riggins and it really
personalizes it as a parent when you see
like a advertisement that has the
transgender community portrayed how do
you how do you react to that how does
that make you feel we've based on your
own experience I love it I think it's
amazing I asked you a English um if the
actors in the PNG commercial where the
transgender boy is shaving for the first
time I asked you is that really a
transgender man is that really his dad
and you said yeah and I was like that's
amazing just that they're so comfortable
with themselves to be out there and that
like Riggins can see something like that
and it feels more normalized
she's like a best friend she she doesn't
like me to call her my best friend but
she is we work very very well together
okay sometimes too well what do you say
to people that don't quite get it or do
you ever run into people that are like
deported no just kidding Wow okay
there's always going to be naysayers
there's always going to be people who
pose your point of view naysayers I've
seen that was the word haters gonna hate
you know we're the world's largest
advertiser our images affect how people
see the world our images affect how
people see themselves even if people if
it didn't move the needle from a
business standpoint would we support
LGBTQ visibility yes because it's about
humanity I was asked to go to one of
these organizations there was opposing
the LGBTQ community advertising and just
any anything that we were doing in terms
of shows or Pride Parade or whatever the
case may be they said what you're doing
by your contributions to Pride and other
things is that you're supporting the
other side and I said hmm we don't
define families love defines families we
serve we serve all people we have
employees who are gay we have consumers
who are gay we're going to continue to
serve them and we walked out
I don't think they have this much
trouble today I think that goes back
Harvey Harvey Milk's admonition right
you need to come out you know they need
to see you they you need to be visible
you need to be out that changes things
there has to be something that drives
the need to discuss to think about to
feel about to dream about and it's that
place change is made