The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking a record number of bills—491 and rising—in states across the U.S. that attack LGBTQ+ rights. These proposals attempt to make members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender youth, second-class citizens—targeting their self-identification, civil rights, freedom of speech and expression, as well as access to health care, public accommodations, education and other basic liberties.

The good news? Exposure and visibility into a community can help alleviate all of the above. By shining a light on the positivity, love and normalcy of the LGBTQ+ community, the marketing industry can enlighten and engage with those who are either ill-informed or misguided.

Besides, marketers shouldn’t claim to stand for all consumers and not put those words into action.

Three challenges marketers identify in attempting to be more LGBTQ+-inclusive are fear of getting it wrong, budget limitations and pushback from consumers, according to the ANA. But if those concerns can be dispelled for the greater good, we should be able to collectively move beyond them.

Concern No. 1: Getting it wrong

Nothing comes off worse than a feigned attempt at sincerity, which consumers can sniff out like hogs on a truffle hunt. So, it’s understandable that marketers trying to “do good” can be hesitant to try anything at all.

How can messaging and intent hit the mark, when advertising teams are still mostly white, straight and cisgendered? The answer is by talking to and listening to the deep, diverse LGBTQ+ community itself.

Intentionally build your internal team of diverse talent and include members of the LGBTQ+ community. Don’t have any in-house? There are external partners you can tap to lend guidance and support, as well as several resources that can help support you and ultimately steer you in the right direction when you have questions around cultural and community sensitivities. In other words, seek out experts’ expertise.

Concern No 2: Budget limitations

Every advertiser dreams about a budget-less brief, but it’s exactly that—a dream. Adding this layer of financial complexity to doing good is always something that needs to be managed. You may not have the funds for a particular project to hire those external partners—but simply casting LGBTQ+ talent is the least that can be done while living within the budget.

It’s a matter of doing the due diligence throughout the process to authentically include representation that matters. It can create a significant return on your investments.

Related: A celebration of LGBTQ+ creative excellence

According to LGBT Capital, the community at large has a combined $3.6 trillion in spending power globally ($1 trillion in the U.S. alone). But that’s not all. When you think about the LGBTQ+ community, you must also factor in another group that outnumbers them by far: their allies. This group is anyone who’s integral in these LGBTQ+ members' lives.

“For every LGBTQ+ person, there is an exponentially greater number of straight and/or cisgender parents, grandparents, siblings, best friends, co-workers and neighbors who love them and want to see them reflected in advertising,” said Matt Tumminello, CEO and founder of Target 10, a New York City LGBTQ+ marketing agency.

Your budget isn’t just targeting one particular group, but an ecosystem that surrounds it.

Concern No 3: Consumer resistance

Let’s talk about the “get woke, go broke” fallacy. There are countless examples of brands, movies, TV shows and celebrities taking a stand on moral issues that are deemed “woke” or even “too woke.” And yet they’re still making money and going strong. Coincidence? Nope.

One of the biggest global brands to get called out time and again is Disney. The media conglomerate seems to always come under fire for being too inclusive and standing up for what it believes in: Renovating rides to be less racist. Expanding diversity in movie casting. Opposing anti-LGBTQ+ laws such as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

All of the theatrics are just that, as none of them has diminished Disney’s bottom line. The mouse’s gross profit grew by 27%, or more than $28 billion, from 2021 to 2022. Also in 2022, the Disney’s portfolio of streaming services rose to 221 million subscribers, edging out Netflix for the first time.

According to a recent Big Village survey, 27 percent of consumers would feel positive about a brand being singled out for being woke and 50 percent said it would have no impact on their purchase intent for that brand.

In the end, being authentic by supporting and elevating LGBTQ+ voices matters, as does making a concerted effort to improve representation.

The LGBTQ+ community is strong and growing. When you intentionally demonstrate real diversity and inclusion in your content and proactively lift this community up year-round, that’s when you prove allyship. That’s also when and how you inform, normalize and celebrate all that makes us beautifully different.  

Mainstream acceptance of this community will diminish senseless acts of prejudice in the form of bills and anti-LGBTQ+ laws—it’s just a matter of when. It cannot come a day too soon.