A 2018 Stonewall report found that 92% of LGBT+ leaders believe being ‘out’ improved their work relationships, and a 2011 report from Harvard Business Review found that those who are ‘out’ stand a better chance of being promoted compared to their closeted peers. After all, studies show that being open at work can actually improve your career. Our hope is for Queer Ad Folk to not only improve visibility for others but to encourage more openness by empowering LGBT+ people to be their full, unedited self in the workplace. In fact, as many as 41% of them do so, according to Out Now’s 2018 report. That’s the importance of visible representation – no matter what it is about yourself that isn’t deemed ‘the norm’.Īnd that lack of representation likely plays a significant role in young LGBT+ people returning to the closet when they enter the workforce. The result can be anything from a feeling of isolation to a fear that someone like you might not ‘make it’ in this business, given the lack of role models to follow. What’s more likely is that the queer people dotted about were instinctively keeping that side of themselves hidden or muted – something most of us learn from a young age in order to protect ourselves. We both came into the industry with no LGBT+ peers that we knew of. To be honest, even just being aware of openly queer agency people, in general, would’ve helped. LGBT+-phobia, after all, is very much still an issue and it tends to be easier to discuss it with someone who already ‘gets’ it, rather than someone you have to educate in the process. We met through the Outvertising mentorship scheme, and after swapping our stories it became clear that we’d both have benefited from seeing – and knowing – queer leaders to aspire to. The project was created by myself, John Osborne, senior creative at Creature, and Oli Rimoldi, creative director at Mother.
To be more accurate, QAF will be a bit more subtle with a series of profiles exploring people’s thoughts and experiences of being LGBT+ in adland. We’ll be hanging giant, glittering arrows above LGBT+ people who are thriving in the industry to act as beacons for up-and-comers. Queer Ad Folk wants to put an end to all that. And when you’re an invisible minority, like the LGBT+ community are, it can be difficult to spot someone like yourself out there in the boardrooms and beyond. When people ask #WhatWillYouDo, you can point them to Saturday, March 24 To the march you participated in, the money you donated, or the messages you spread across the globe with social media.As the adage goes – it’s hard to be something you can’t see.
Make sure to tag your posts with #NeverAgain so everyone can see your support. They’re a collaboration between Tumblr Creatrs ( and our friends at Kanvas. We even have stickers to add to your photos, if you want. You can show your support that day by posting your illustrations, your poems, your promises-anyway you want to express yourself. Donate to March For Our Lives, if you can.There’s going to be an dashboard takeover with original art sourced from the Tumblr community and Sign the petition and make your voice heard.The livestream will be at the top of every dashboard on every phone, computer, and tablet that uses Tumblr that day. Join us this Saturday as we livestream the March For Our Lives starting at 12 p.m.That’s why we’re creating a virtual space with optional ways for everyone to participate:
Your voice matters, even if you can’t be there in person. We understand that not everyone can attend a march, so we want to make it easy for everyone to participate. This is global, and chances are there is one near you. There are 828 sibling marches planned in conjunction with the main march in Washington DC. It’s time we say #NeverAgain and end gun violence.
If you stand with the students and activists of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the 30,000 people killed by guns every year, we’re asking you to turn out for the March For Our Lives. This Saturday, March 24, we March For Our Lives