For Pride month, we turned to the Equality Institute for advice on making events inclusive to LGBTQ attendees.
Here are 5 best practices for LGBTQ-inclusive meetings and events:
Train your front line employees to understand the fluidity of gender, remove gendered language from greetings, and serve guests whose presentation might not match their ID. For some specific tips, check out A Person Walks into a Store…
Include pronoun identification as part of the event registration process and show pronouns on name badges, or offer as stickers at the registration desk. Singular pronouns are no longer just he or she. Many people are identifying with the pronoun, “they.” Read this for more specific tips on using “they.”
Update your forms to include ‘Other’ as a third gender option, and gender neutral honorifics (such as Mx). Many companies are now understanding that great customer service starts with great policies that provide diverse gender options on forms. Here are more specifics on how to do this.
Allow guests to choose the restroom of their actual gender identity and create at least one gender- neutral restroom in the event space. This could mean re-branding multi-stall or single stall restrooms as gender neutral. Some creative options here.
Promote your event as an LGBTQ-welcoming space by including the community in marketing images, and using inclusive language. This means showing real life photos of real life LGBTQ folks in marketing, not just cheesy stock photos. This also means showing the diversity of the LGBTQ community in imagery, not just gay men or lesbians.
The bottom line is to lead with inclusivity and brand loyalty and repeat attendees will follow!
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