Trans People Are Loved

That is it; that is the message. Full stop. What can the business and finance community do to help? Here are five calls to action.

The #TransPeopleAreLoved campaign reports that the platforming of anti-trans media is directly fuelling transphobic discrimination. There was a 56% increase in anti-trans hate crime recorded in England & Wales in 2022. In one year. The simmering tone and threat of violence to your person is a hostile environment in which to live. 88% of young trans people in the UK have had suicidal thoughts.

A rise in anti-trans sentiment is sadly global. Anti-trans bills are sweeping across USA in all but five states. Gender-affirming health care is being withdrawn without consultation, research or impact analysis. Whilst most UK residents support trans people and most Americans oppose the anti-trans bills in the US, this support has waned significantly over the past few years.

In Brazil, the average life expectancy of a transgender person was reported as only 30 years old in 2015. Brazil remains the most violent country in the world for trans hatred. Trans violence is intersectionally compounded; 80% of Brazilian victims are Black women, in a country where fewer than 10% of the population are Black. Amnesty International have been ringing the alarm bells for many years regarding the worldwide indifference to trans people. The trans community urgently need us to up our collective game but the current “debate” is just creating a wedge where there could be natural allyship with racial justice, feminism and more.

It’s LGBTQ+ Pride month and since Bill Clinton officially recognized the campaign in 1999, corporate advertising has been instrumental in bringing acceptance into the mainstream. Now is the time to dig deep, dig in and hold steady. Forbes have already reported the joint statement of solidarity for Pride, the rainbow flag and the importance of symbolising safety from the advertising industry. This is not a nice to have, feel good campaign; we are facing an existential threat to transgender lives.

Matt Foster, ED&I Director of Ogilvy commented:

“Ogilvy UK was delighted to host Jude Guaitamacchi at our offices last week to talk to us about #TransPeopleAreLoved and how we can support the campaign. At a time when the environment for LGBTQIA+ people, particularly the trans community, is so hostile, it is so heartening to see a campaign that is rooted in love and seeks to cut through the negative messages of hate and transphobia with a simple fact that nobody with any humanity can argue with: trans people are indeed loved, and that is an irrefutable fact shared by the majority. The campaign shows that love has the power to transform where hate can only stagnate. We look forward to seeing how we can take our support of the campaign further.”

My research exploring the workplace experience of neurodivergent employees has repeatedly shown that trans and non-binary people are faring worse that their cisgendered peers on all measures. In 2023 we found that non-binary people reported significantly lower levels of wellbeing than their peers. In 2022 we reported that transpeople were masking at work 11% more than cisgendered people. This is not benign – masking leads to burnout and career derailment. Your trans community are not okay. Workplaces are part of society; it is where most of us spend a large number of waking hours. Now is the time to tell your trans and non-binary colleagues that they are valued and loved.

A lot of diversity strategy is given to training. I have listened to a lot of people make ableist, sexist, racist comments during workshops I have led personally. I have held a safe space for people to grow and learn. I have refrained from judgement while exposure to new information and alternative views works its magic on attitudes. The majority of what I have heard is misinformed, maybe even well-intentioned, for example when people thought “I do not see colour” was a helpful approach to anti-racism. I have learned myself about microaggressions in racial justice, what modern antisemitism looks like in practice. Training can be helpful when people are curious and committed.

But we need to draw a line between this and hate speech. When the rights of a minority to even exist are “debated” by a majority, this is more than oppression, it is organised abandonment. If you are wondering how to tell the difference between a teachable moment and a breach of professional conduct, replace “trans” or “non-binary” with any other minoritized group and consider how it sounds. Would you accept it? If no, then the same goes.

Research in the diversity field shows that management accountability moves the dial much more than training. Train your leaders, sure, but then make sure they are answerable to the newly agreed clear boundaries. You cannot make our workplaces more inclusive when managers are brushing prejudice under the rug.

Social media feeds us content that will keep us watching our phones. The business model is dependent on our screen time and outrage psychologically engages us thanks to our prehistoric brains. Every time we go online, the apps are measuring what we hover over, what we like, repost, comment and finding us something else like that to hook us. As a white woman presenting as cishet, every time I post something with a feminist theme, I get anti-trans content in my feed. My teenage boy who likes sports cars gets Andrew Tate. A friend’s daughter ran a high school survey project in which she discovered that 95% of her year group had been exposed to seductive, extremist hate speech content – but that it was tailored to their demographic and the aspect least likely to spook them. There is a good reason Tech Execs won’t let their kids have smartphones.

Marty Davies, Joint CEO of Outvertising commented: “Advertisers are too removed from the impact of their adspend. Many are unknowingly funding the largest coordinated anti-trans campaign we have ever seen. As a collective force, business has substantial power to promote social good with values-driven investment, and to render fear- and hate-mongering unprofitable in the same way: we know that 50% of news publisher revenue comes from this investment.

Sensationalist headlines drive clicks. The inflammatory language and bigoted narratives drive attention, and then that attention is sold to advertisers. That ongoing campaign is incredibly effective. If something is repeated often enough people begin to believe it – and so it is no surprise that YouGov revealed that attitudes toward Trans+ people have eroded in recent years.

The campaign continues to grow. We have witnessed a 217% increase in stories about the Trans+ community in the UK news media over the past 5 years. And over a nearly identical time-period we have seen a 156% increase in hate crime based on Transgender identity. Advertisers must wake up to their complicity and help fix the broken ecosystem.”

You can intentionally follow positive content, refrain from engaging with hate speech, even when it makes you fume. You can switch it off and talk to actual people. You can intentionally follow people who you do not understand to learn more, before you make judgments, for example the Gender Reveal podcast is a great place to start. And if you work in / invest in advertising, media tech, if you pay for reach on socials, you can play your part in reversing the reductive spiral by posting love.

Jude Guaitamacchi (they/them) from TransPeopleAreLoved says: “Our campaign has no political affiliation. We are not here to debate where people can urinate or their participation in sport. We are here to offer one clear and simple message, that – trans people are loved – because we believe that they really need to hear it right now.”