Tag: lgbtqia

Between the Legal Lines — Jessica Pfisterer [PODCAST]

With big dreams of helping people, Jessica Pfisterer began her career in public interest law, though she soon realized she wasn’t going to see the change she hoped for at the pace she wanted. Where Jessica truly found her passion was in People Operations and HR, thanks to her GC at the time. In this episode of Between the Legal Lines, Jessica shares with Andrea Bricca the story of how that pivotal role shaped the future of her career and what she has learned as a human resources leader who is also a trained lawyer.

Jessica Pfisterer is an HR leader and dancer, with a background in civil rights law and social justice work. She currently heads the People team at Lively, and dances with Duniya Dance and Drum Company. She is also on the board of TurnOut, a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ organizations, support for LGBTQ+ organizations, ensuring they are positioned to succeed and to continue serving the community. She is a Bay Area local and spends her free time traveling and exploring the great outdoors.

Between the Legal Lines · An Interview with Jessica Pfisterer
©2022 Major, Lindsey & Africa, an Allegis Group Company. All rights reserved.

Why ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bills are Antithetical to an Equitable and Inclusive Education

According to a 2019 GLSEN national survey of LGBTQ+ students, nearly 60% of surveyed students reported they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 43% because of their gender expression. Within the same survey, nearly all (98.8%) LGBTQ+ students reported hearing “gay” used in a negative way at school, 95% heard other homophobic remarks, and 87% heard transphobic remarks.

When I was an educator, it was essential to my practice that all my students felt safe. If I were to hear any negative remarks about a student or become aware one of my students felt unsafe due to their identity, it would be my ethical, and moral, obligation to do something to create a safer and more inclusive learning environment; a core part of my role as an educator was to teach empathy and compassion in my students. This could be as simple as having a classroom discussion about the choices of language and how using words such as “gay” with a negative connotation can be hurtful to their classmates. This could also mean sharing my own identity as a queer man so my LGBTQ+ students knew they had someone they could turn to for support, and to normalize queer identities for all my students and their families. Either of these actions would require I discuss the importance of accepting all sexual orientations and gender identities.

In other words, I would have to say “gay.” But in six states — as of now — I would not have been able to do this.

The state of Florida attracted national attention earlier this year with the adoption of H.B. 1557, the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, more commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The bill, which has since been signed into law, dictates classroom instruction by “school staff” on “sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” Five other states, according to the Movement Advancement Project, have similar laws enacted and several more have bills pending in their state legislatures. Some proponents of these bills argue the legislation is necessary to ensure parents have greater say when, if, and how LGBTQ+ issues are discussed with their children.

Yet these laws are designed to ensure only some parents have greater say, as the parents of LGBTQ+ children are certainly not reflected in these efforts.

At a time when youth mental health is reaching a crisis, state legislatures are advancing bills that would perpetuate, and arguably exacerbate, harmful school-based experiences for LGBTQ+ youth and worsen their well-being. A 2022 survey by the Trevor Project found 45% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, and over half of transgender and nonbinary youth considered suicide. The 2019 GLSEN survey also found LGBTQ+ students who experienced forms of victimization based on their sexual orientation or gender identity (e.g., being bullied, hearing homophobic or transphobic remarks, etc.) had lower levels of self-esteem, higher levels of depression, and were less likely to say they belonged in school.

Some may argue “Don’t Say Gay” bills would not preclude educators from addressing instances of homophobia or transphobia in their classrooms and try to suggest that prohibitions on such actions are not the intent of the bills. However, regardless of intent, these bills often have the insidious impact to “chill” educators’ actions out of fear they may run afoul of the law and open themselves to reprimands, including being terminated.

All students deserve to have a safe, supportive, and affirming learning environment. All educators should be empowered to protect their students, and not feel afraid to step in when they notice a student being bullied because of their identity. And every parent should have the resources to be a partner in their child’s education. Unfortunately, state laws such as the “Don’t Say Gay” bills will only stand in way of these notions from becoming realities.

It is impossible to support all students when LGBTQ+ children continue to be targeted merely because of their identities.

Article By Sean A. Worley of Nelson Mullins

For more legislative legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

Copyright ©2022 Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

How to Create an Impactful and Authentic Pride Month Social Media Campaign for Your Company

June is Pride Month, which offers companies of all kinds a unique opportunity to celebrate, show support and raise awareness for LGBTQIA+ rights on their social media channels.

Businesses of all kinds and sizes can get involved, raise awareness and give back for Pride Month regardless of their budget or reach.

While Pride is most definitely a celebration, an impactful Pride campaign should include education, awareness, and center around people.

Celebrating Pride and showing your support for the LGBTQIA+ community is not a trend— and it shouldn’t be treated as such.

Here’s how to create and implement an impactful and genuine Pride Month social media campaign at your company.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Pride Month social media planning

Before you dive head-first into planning your corporate Pride initiatives, it’s important to get a wide range of employees involved in the planning process.

If your company has an LGBTQIA+ affinity group or diversity committee, collaborate with them or if you don’t have a group, consider convening a committee of employee volunteers of diverse backgrounds to serve as a sounding board and provide their input as your plans begin to take shape.

Please note: these volunteers should be compensated for their time and efforts in some meaningful way (vacation time, bonuses, gift cards, etc.). While it may be too late to do this for this year’s campaign, activate or assemble the group now for your 2023 initiative.

Don’t: Exploit social initiatives and conversations as a means to reach business goals.

Celebrating Pride and showing your support for the LGBTQIA+ community is not a trend— and it shouldn’t be treated as such.

If you’re simply posting rainbow-branded imagery (rainbow washing) during the month or posting about your commitment to the cause without having any real initiatives or actions to back it up, you’re just paying lip service to and perhaps exploiting yet another social initiative. Make sure your company can really walk the walk before you talk the talk. Performative allyship can backfire, alienating your employees, your clients, recruits, and others.

Remember that everyone (employees, clients, and the general public) is watching what you post online, even if they don’t actually like or comment on it.

Do: Ask yourself why you’re supporting this initiative and have a clear purpose.

Before publishing Pride-related content, ask yourself, are we actually adding value to this conversation? What are we hoping to gain from inserting ourselves into this conversation? What are our motivations? Is our company an actual safe space or inclusive environment that includes active and engaged allies?

Remember, Pride Month should not be about your business goals. You also don’t have to have accomplished all of your LGBTQIA+ related inclusion goals to commemorate Pride, but your efforts should be more than surface level.

Do: Support LGBTQIA+ initiatives year-round.

If you don’t already take steps to support the LGBTQIA+ community year-round, take the opportunity to discuss doing so with management and staff before Pride. June is only one month out of the year, a month where it’s arguably the “most acceptable” to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community. To be a true ally, it’s important to show this level of support year-round. Work to ensure that your company’s policies and practices are inclusive and address the needs of your LGBTQIA+ employees.

In addition to internally focused actions, consider how your true commitment can be reflected externally. There are many organizations to which you can donate and volunteer. Solicit voluntary feedback from your LGBTQIA+ employees and clients to ensure that they feel involved and included in the process.

Do: Educate yourself and those around you on the origins and history of Pride Month.

Pride Month has a rich, political history that companies often fail to understand and recognize as they participate in Pride Month. Pride Month is celebrated in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan — a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.

Not only is Pride a time to recognize the progress that’s been made since the Stonewall Riots, but it’s just as important to acknowledge how far we still must go as a society, particularly considering recent efforts to overturn or narrow the progress that has been made. A successful Pride campaign should have education and awareness at its core.

Do: Make education and awareness the core of your campaign.

Ideas for content for your Pride Campaign can include educating your followers on the meaning behind the Pride flag, using posts to tell the history of the Pride flag, and what Pride means to your employees, and run their answers in Q&A posts.

Another idea is to create posts to help followers better understand Pride Month and provide resources to help people better educate themselves on the cause and support those of the LGBTQIA+ community.

In addition, spotlighting members of the LGBTQIA+ community is a helpful way to educate your followers and amplify the contributions of individuals.

No matter what you choose, create a campaign that is rooted in improving awareness and education amongst your community.

Do: Let inclusivity be at the core of your all campaigns.

Inclusivity should be an active mission as part of your Pride campaign, and for your future marketing efforts too. Aim to have better representation on social media for your community — that means including people of all marginalized or otherwise underrepresented voices.

If you really want to reach, represent, and support your diverse community, it’s time to make active shifts towards better inclusive marketing year-round. It’s less about what you need to do for Pride today and instead, how are you supporting LGBTQIA+ folks year-round?

Do: Put your money (and time) where your mouth is.

Instead of treating Pride like a marketing campaign, put your efforts toward an activity that will positively impact the LGBTQIA+ community.

While monetary donations can be helpful, volunteering at community events or spending time with LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations can be more impactful for your employees.

Consider hosting or taking part in LGBTQIA+ programming and donating to local charities doing work in your community to support LGBTQIA+ initiatives.

Do: Use the right hashtags to be discovered

  • #lgbtqia
  • #lgbtqpride
  • #lgbtqhumanrights
  • #equality
  • #pridemonth
  • #loveislove
  • #pride

Every organization that wants to support Pride on social media can find a way to do so, we challenge you to do it in a way that is authentic, genuine, and impactful to your brand and most importantly, to your employees and your clients. The world is watching you, so challenge yourself by doing the right thing.

This article was authored by Stefanie Marrone of Stefanie Marrone Consulting, and Paula T. Edgar, Esq, the CEO of PGE Consulting Group LLC, a firm that provides training and education solutions at the intersection of professional development and diversity, equity and inclusion. 

For more legal marketing and law office management news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

Copyright © 2022, Stefanie M. Marrone. All Rights Reserved.