Introduction to the Guide for including trans and gender diverse talent in your campaigns

What, or who, we see in a campaign reflects our community and our values. Because of this, it’s important that campaigns represent our rich diversity. This includes diversity of culture, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and age. It shows people that they are seen, heard and valued.

Trans and gender diverse people make up an important part of our communities, however they are often excluded, misrepresented or portrayed negatively in the media. This can be because of:

a lack of understanding and awareness of LGBTIQA+ communities
discriminatory attitudes and behaviours.

When you include trans and gender diverse talent in your campaign, you can help combat this misrepresentation. It is a great way to show your brand’s authentic commitment to inclusion.

And the research says it makes great business sense too.

Over 45 per cent of consumers under 34 say they are more likely to do repeat business with an LGBTQ+ friendly company according to a study by Google [1].
Ads perceived as progressive are 47 per cent more likely to be effective in both the long and short term when it comes to campaign performance [2].
LGBTQ+ ads, and progressive ads in general, are likely to outperform generic ads when it comes to brand recall and positive engagement from consumers [3].

Producing inclusive campaigns with diverse talent also means you are likely to attract diverse talent to your teams. Diverse teams lead to better campaigns, consumer insight and innovation.

This guide focuses on trans and gender diverse people, who often face significant challenges and discrimination even within broader LGBTIQA+ communities. The average Australian is exposed to many ads every day while outdoors, taking public transport, on social media, on Google and in their homes. It’s important that the ads they see accurately represent the intersectionality and diversity in our communities.

Why we created this guide

Victoria is a proud leader in celebrating and embracing our state’s diversity. Every Victorian, without exception, deserves to be safe, supported and equal. We can all work together to minimise the harm and stereotypes that trans and gender diverse people face in our community.

We wrote this guide in consultation with LGBTIQA+ organisations, networks and advocates in Victoria. It has been designed for use by people in both the public and private sectors, to impact change in a wide range of industries. This includes marketing, campaigns, and communications.

Resources like this guide will help us meet the objectives of Pride in our future: Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ strategy 2022-2032. The strategy is a roadmap to ensure all Victorians feel safe, have equal rights and live wholly and freely.

Why trans and gender diverse people?

LGBTIQA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual, and others. It represents diverse communities, each with unique experiences, challenges, and needs.

While the term LGBTIQA+ brings these groups together, it is important to know that each community faces distinct issues and has different advocacy needs.

In this guide, we focus on trans and gender diverse people. This is because these communities often face significant challenges and discrimination in the media, and even within broader LGBTIQA+ communities. This is sometimes referred to as transphobia. Transgender women and feminine presenting people can also experience an intersection of transphobia, sexism and misogyny.

By highlighting the value of their inclusion in campaigns, we hope to acknowledge broader LGBTIQA+ communities’ importance and value.

Please note: The terms we use in this guide are from the LGBTIQA+ inclusive language guide. Trans and transgender are generally accepted, and interchangeable terms used in the community.

We use the term gender diverse to include people who are genderfluid, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, agender, bi-gender and non-binary. When you can, it is best to be specific.

How to use this guide

This guide can help you include and empower trans and gender diverse talent in every stage of your campaign, including:

campaign development
campaign production
campaign in market

A checklist for both small and large campaigns is at Appendix 1 – Checklists.

Who is this guide for?

This guide is for you if you work in:

marketing
campaigns or advertising
media
media buying
social media
film and TV
public relations and talent agencies
communications
community engagement
government
not-for-profit.

Trans and gender diverse people can be in any campaign

Trans and gender diverse people are part of our community and live rich and diverse lives.

There is still no official data on the exact number of trans and gender diverse people in Australia. But we know that the number of people who publicly identify as trans or gender diverse is increasing. Unfortunately, 3 out of 4 trans and gender diverse people have been treated unfairly because of their gender identity.

Like all of us, trans and gender diverse people work, have families, access essential services, buy products and contribute to life in our community. They can work in emergency services, healthcare, and customer service. They are teachers, accountants, lawyers, CEOs and many other professions.

This means we can include trans and gender diverse people in any campaign. We can show them taking public transport, spending time with their friends, playing sport and shopping online. This can profoundly impact the way we see trans and gender diverse people. It emphasises they are mainstream, valued and essential members of our community.

A note on intersectionality

Intersectionality can help us understand how common systems in our society either include or exclude people depending on their identity. For most people, it describes how they experience the world and the advantages or disadvantages they have. When you experience multiple disadvantages based on your identity, it can create compounding challenges in your life.

When we work with talent, and when speaking to our audience, we should recognise that not everyone in LGBTIQA+ communities are the same. When we do, it helps widen the reach of our campaign even further and demonstrates to the community that people are not just one ‘thing’. Each person has unique experiences, challenges, and needs.

For example, a trans person might also identify as being bisexual or have a disability. Trans women and feminine presenting people can experience intersections of transphobia, sexism and misogyny. Like cisgendered women, they can be seen as a direct threat to societies that put men and maleness at the centre. Trans and gender diverse people are also up to six times more likely to be autistic than cisgendered people [4].

An intersectional approach challenges the ideas and structures that create discrimination. Your campaign can do this by including trans and gender diverse people of different ages and backgrounds. You could make sure your campaign is accessible, so everyone has a way of engaging with it regardless of their abilities.