3 Things: Pride Month edition
What wellness pros need to know this week.
Welcome to a new weekly feature brought to you by the team at Workplace Wellness Insider. It’s called “3 Things,” and it’s intended to highlight three must-know items each week, all organized around a particular theme. It might be return-to-work, or vaccination another. It might be around mental health, physical fitness, financial well-being, benefits, DE&I, and lots more.
“3 Things” will always be timely and newsworthy, bringing you, our readers, the context and perspective you need as well-being professionals and their allies in communications, HR and elsewhere in the organization to do your jobs more effectively.
Our inaugural “3 Things” column centers, naturally enough, on Pride Month, which celebrates and affirms the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.
Backlash Against a Bakery. When a bakery in the East Texas city of Lufkin, located about 115 miles northeast of Houston, announced it would be selling rainbow cookies for Pride Month, it faced a sudden backlash. The shop, called Confections, reported on social media that it was receiving hate messages and cancelled orders. “Today has been hard. Really hard,” a Facebook post from June 3rd read. “We lost a significant amount of followers because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted. We received a very hateful message on our business page canceling a large order (5dz) of summer themed cookies for tomorrow morning (that we just finished decorating) because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted.” But just as suddenly, there was a backlash to the backlash, and support started pouring in. Within days, there were lines around the block to visit the shop and inventory sold out repeatedly.
Visible Leaders Needed. The Association for International Life Offices, which serves the cross-border life insurance markets in Europe and elsewhere, is shining a spotlight on the need for more visibility among LGBTQ+ executives. Mark McLane, a member of Ailo’s diversity and inclusion committee, said: “Visible leaders create a path for others to follow. During Pride month, it’s important to reflect on the power of visibility. Within a generation, due in part to increased visibility, attitudes towards those who identify as LGBT+ have transformed. But acceptance isn’t yet universal. While many organisations have made considerable strides in supporting LGBT+ employees, more work needs to be done to improve equality and inclusion within the workplace and society.” Ailo adds that change has to come “from the top down,” where leaders need to take the initiative and be accountable to drive “change from within.”
Brands Step Up. Pride Month isn’t a marketing moment for brands that want to sell stuff, notes NBC News. Truly sincere organizations donate to and uplift the LGBTQ community. The network identified 15 brands that actually walk the walk and spelled out how and why. They include:
- LEGO
- Old Navy
- Skittles
- Disney
- Ugg
- Mattel
- Petsmart
- Dr. Martens
- Balenciaga
- Vans
- NYX Professional Makeup
- EFFEN Vodka
- Happy Socks
- Levi’s
- TGI Fridays
COMMENT
Comments are closed.
