Despite these clear benefits, leaders may still feel unsure how to future-proof their commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion in a hostile social and political environment. The answer lies in rooting their actions in their organization’s purpose, value proposition, and values, to embed pro-LGBTQ+ support in their organization’s identity for the long run.
To lock these efforts in, you’ll need to reframe them in terms of your organization’s deeply held mission, purpose, and values. If your organization is deeply committed to dignity, you can frame LGBTQ+ inclusion as part and parcel to protecting the dignity of all your customers and employees. If your organization is deeply committed to bravery, you can frame LGBTQ+ inclusion as recognizing bravery against persecution and being brave enough yourselves as an organization to speak.
Of course, it’s possible for organizations to still get things wrong and retract their initiatives with an apology. But if they do, it’s because they made a mistake somewhere along the process of aligning with their purpose, value proposition, and values, understanding their constituents, and meeting their needs — not because they were pressured into it by threats of violence.