PrideAM, advertising’s LGBT+ network, today described as shameful, the lack of creative and media agencies in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index top 100 employers.
“Despite the industry’s attempts to drive diversity it seems no progress has been made in proving that the creative workplace is an inclusive space for the LGBT+ community” says PrideAM spokesperson Lara Kingsbeer.
“We recognise that some agencies have started to make efforts and are working with Stonewall, but the advertising sector has been too slow to respond to the LGBT+ community. We are certainly many years behind other professional services like law and accounting, and a long way behind the public sector. LGBT+ inclusion must be one important pillar in every agency’s broader diversity and inclusion strategy” said Lara.
“We call on every agency in the UK to make positive steps to LGBT+ inclusion. They include publicly stating zero tolerance of any LGBT+ prejudice, offering gender neutral bathrooms, supporting LGBT+ role models, having a formal transitioning policy, and for larger companies, encouraging the establishment of LGBT+ networks in the workplace to consult on more personalised diversity and inclusion strategies.
“I hope we’re all striving to create an inclusive and prejudice-free working environment, because only when our workplaces truly represent the world outside, can we hope to communicate effectively with that world. And with trust in advertising at an all-time low, we must make changes now. We certainly agree that diverse teams are much more likely to generate better creativity, quicker.”
