{"id":2697,"date":"2023-06-29T08:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/glaad-ceo-when-leaders-look-at-lgbtq-rights-as-a-human-issue-not-a-political-one-thats-when-they-win\/"},"modified":"2023-06-29T08:50:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T08:50:00","slug":"glaad-ceo-when-leaders-look-at-lgbtq-rights-as-a-human-issue-not-a-political-one-thats-when-they-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=2697","title":{"rendered":"GLAAD CEO: When leaders look at LGBTQ rights as a human issue, not a political one, that\u2019s when they win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On this week\u2019s episode of\u00a0Fortune\u2018s\u00a0<em>Leadership Next<\/em>\u00a0podcast, co-hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram talk with GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis about the benefits of staying true to your company\u2019s values; what happens when companies waffle on their commitment to Pride and the LGBTQ community; and why companies need to play both the short and long games.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Listen to the episode or read the full transcript below.<\/p>\n<p><iframe frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=FMC7805480548\" style=\"border:none\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr class=\"sc-fa0656e5-0 fORWXd\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcript<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Alan Murray:<\/strong><em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Leadership Next<\/em>\u00a0is powered by the folks at\u00a0Deloitte, who, like me, are exploring the changing rules of business leadership and how CEOs are navigating this change.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to\u00a0<em>Leadership Next<\/em>, the podcast about the changing rules of business leadership. I\u2019m Alan Murray.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michal Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>And I\u2019m Michal Lev-Ram.\u00a0Alan, today\u2019s episode is a bit different from what we typically do here at <em>Leadership Next <\/em>in our usual interviews. We\u2019re focusing on a social and political issue that has really challenged business over the past few weeks and months in particular, and that\u2019s how companies choose to celebrate Pride Month and address the LGBTQ rights topic overall. You know, really looking at whether they\u2019re going to stick to these celebrations this month, in particular, in the face of quite a bit of pushback.<\/p>\n<p><strong>From a TV news report:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTarget is pulling some LGBTQ+ merchandise from stores that had rolled out for Pride month after confrontations with some customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>From a TV news report:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWorkers out a Columbus Starbucks are accusing the company of banning workers from installing decorations celebrating Pride Month. Starbucks Workers United alleges the company is directing locations in Ohio and other states to remove Pride displays.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>From a TV news report:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201c\u2018I got some Bud Lights for us.\u2019 An ad with a transgender woman back in April prompted a conservative backlash online. Now analysts say Bud Light lost its top spot in U S. retail beer sales.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>From a TV news report:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cNobody likes spilling a drink, but pints of beer are going down the drain in Greenwich Village to send a message. In front of the famed Stonewall Inn, the site of the gay liberation movement, LGBTQ advocates poured cases of Anheuser-Busch beer into the gutter and they will ban it during Pride celebrations as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>So these clips reflect just a few of the situations where companies have faced backlash for celebrating Pride.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah and, Michal, I see that as part of a bigger story that\u2019s been playing out over the last decade. You know, if you go back 15 to 20 years or so, companies never spoke out on controversial social or political issues. They just didn\u2019t talk about it at all. And we saw a dramatic change that really started around 2015 when Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff openly protested Indiana\u2019s passage of a religious freedom law that was viewed as discriminatory against the LGBTQ community. And that was the beginning of really, geez, over the next few years an explosion of CEOs speaking out on on issues, and many of them supporting the rights of the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>And right-wing activists have been really quick and really loud with their protests of these celebrations. You know, it\u2019s hard to know how many are in this very vocal, you know, I think, minority, but one of them even was saying that they want to make Pride toxic for brands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>We\u2019ve been watching how toxic these conversations have been for brands on the financial front, both Target and AB InBev saw their stocks downgraded earlier this month. Analysts say that\u2019s partly because of the Pride controversy. Sales of Bud Light, as I said, are down pretty dramatically since early April when Bud first featured transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in some of its ads and boycotts ensued. But, Michal, what\u2019s fascinating about these boycotts is that it\u2019s hard to tell who is doing the boycotting. It seems like both ultraconservatives and the LGBTQ community are upset about what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, I guess when you\u2019ve pissed off everyone\u2014well, in the media, you sometimes you feel like you did something right\u2014but I don\u2019t think that the same can be said here. You know, there, there has been some some flip-flopping, which tends to just, again, make everybody upset. You know, these companies had to make really quick decisions on how to respond. That\u2019s not easy. And those responses have definitely varied. Bud Light is using a rebate program to try and win back customers now. Target pulled Pride-related merchandise from its stores. But then there are other brands like Cracker Barrel and North Face, and they\u2019ve chosen to just double down in the face of this backlash, and they\u2019ve continued their Pride celebrations and their ad campaigns just as planned.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Speaking of Target, Michal, we interviewed Brian Cornell, the CEO of Target, on May 1, and the episode aired May 16, a little over a week before Target made the decision to pull its Pride merchandise. We did ask him about his thoughts on the general pushback on woke capitalism. Obviously, we didn\u2019t know what was coming on the Pride merchandise. And he didn\u2019t speak specifically about that. But he did speak more broadly about how the company viewed its obligations to society.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah and it was interesting, because we did not ask him specifically about that. We didn\u2019t even know about the merchandise and this kind of like brewing, you know, issue, I guess. But it\u2019s amazing how it\u2019s still sort of, you know, our podcast episode was tied to some of the news. This stuff just spirals online and obviously, and, you know, in people\u2019s minds. Going back to what you\u2019re saying, Alan, about how hard it is telling who\u2019s boycotting\u2014at this point, both sides are kind of angry here. It\u2019s also hard to tell\u2014I mean, there are statistics out there, we know sort of where Americans are at in terms of LGBTQ rights today, as we\u2019ll get into is an overwhelming majority. This stuff doesn\u2019t seem like it should be controversial at this point. And yet, you know, it is.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>So, this, of course, is one of the reasons why we started <em>Leadership Next <\/em>three years ago. We were really interested in the changing way that leaders were thinking about their social responsibilities, their expectations, their leadership role in broader society beyond the pure financial outlines of their business, and it\u2019s why it\u2019s something that we want to keep a very close eye on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah and obviously, you know, you and I can riff on this for all eternity, Alan. We both talk to a lot of business leaders, but we really wanted to invite an expert on this episode to talk to us about why this year\u2019s Pride celebrations have been particularly radioactive for companies and some thoughts on how these companies have responded and how they could respond. So in this episode, we are welcoming Sarah Kate Ellis, the CEO of GLAAD.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Sarah Kate\u2019s a former media executive. She comes from Time Inc. as we do, Michal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>Back in the day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Those were the days. She took over as CEO of GLAAD in 2014. She\u2019s led a major transformation of the organization from media watchdog group to a more powerful advocacy organization. And part of what GLAAD does now is advise companies on how best to support the LGBTQ community. In fact, one of the things they did recently was get a bunch of companies to sign on to a statement of support and include some really big household names like Cisco, Dow, Eli Lilly, HP, Intel, McKesson, etc. So it\u2019s really rallying corporate support behind the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0 <\/strong>So without further ado, I think we\u2019ve talked enough. Here\u2019s our interview with Sarah Kate Ellis.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[Music. Interview begins.] Sarah Kate, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. I want to start out just asking you, as someone on the outside looking in, Pride has felt different this time around. There\u2019s a backlash we\u2019re seeing, obviously, to corporate Pride initiatives. It\u2019s been pretty fierce and pretty public. But I want to just start out by asking you from where you sit, does it feel different? And how so?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sarah Kate Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>Well, thank you for having me. I\u2019m thrilled to be here. And yeah, it\u2019s a different year for Pride than we\u2019ve seen in the past. And it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise. We\u2019ve seen the build-up to this. And we\u2019ve seen the politicization of the LGBTQ community in the past year really be amped up by politicians. And so when you look at the landscape and what we\u2019ve been dealing with as an LGBTQ community, we\u2019ve seen over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed this year. It\u2019s an extraordinary number. Extraordinary. We\u2019ve seen a good percentage of those pass through and become law, everything from banning books that include LGBTQ people to banning drag artist performance, and everything in between. And I think that when we look at the culture that\u2019s being created right now, especially just by a handful of folks, it\u2019s really bleeding into Pride. And so what used to be a moment of celebration and a moment to support our community has become another battleground. I think what\u2019s really important here is because what we\u2019re all drawn to, of course, are the headlines. That\u2019s what we see. So everybody\u2019s seeing the Anheuser-Busch headlines, and the Target headlines, but the real headlines here, in my opinion, are all the companies that are involved in Pride and who have stood up, who have not backed down and business has gone on as usual. So I feel as though oftentimes the headline really is, is that if you don\u2019t go in 100% aligned with your values, and you leave room, and you back down to bullies and extremists, that\u2019s going to hurt your business. So it\u2019s a fascinating moment in time right now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray: <\/strong>Sarah Kate, thank you so much for being here. It is an interesting moment. But let\u2019s just dig in a little bit to the AB InBev case, because I think that one\u2019s kind of stunning. Yes, it is a group of politicians and a small number of people who are making the noise, but AB InBev saw a 25% reduction in Bud Light sales after this issue came up. What does that tell you? What\u2019s going on there? Twenty-five percent drop in sales.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis: <\/strong>So, let\u2019s step back for a second. What they did was they worked with an influencer, a transgender influencer, Dylan, who they sent a can to and who then posted on her site about Bud Light. That was met then with Kid Rock, using a gun to shoot But Light cans. Super extremist, and sending a very serious message. I\u2019m curious, and what we\u2019re looking at now is, where did that drop come from? Because I think it\u2019s actually even on both sides. I think it\u2019s from the LGBTQ community and our allies, just as much as it is from the opposition. Why? Because nobody\u2019s happy with what Anheuser-Busch did. They lost across the board. They\u2019ve lost their red audience. They\u2019ve lost their progressive audience. And they\u2019ve lost market share. And so companies like Nike, who actually did do a campaign with Dylan as well, and started to see this opposition come at them, they said no way, don\u2019t do this. We are kind to each other. We treat people with respect. And that was the end of it. People need leaders. People want leaders. And when you fluctuate, they see an opening.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>So, how do you advise companies work with companies on this front? I mean, we\u2019ve definitely\u2014like you\u2019re saying, it\u2019s hard to know from the numbers now, you know, it\u2019s not getting into the detail of like, where\u2019s that backlash coming from? Or the boycotts, right? We\u2019ve seen this kind of backtracking messaging from from a number of other companies, too. Target as well. So what what do you what do you say to them?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>So we have actually, like you, started off with saying that this year is different than it has been in the past. We actually started a corporate Pride task force so that we could help with crisis comms, that we could help them stand their ground, honestly. Because the way I\u2019m advising it is that there\u2019s a short game and a long game, and you can win both, actually, but you have to stick with your values. And if you have been saying this is important to you, you value these marginalized communities, you\u2019re putting your money and your marketing behind these communities, then when the going gets tough, you need to stand up and not back down. And if you stand up, you win. We saw it with North Face. We saw it with Nike. We\u2019re seeing it Sesame Street. Like you can\u2019t find a company, a consumer-facing company, really, that isn\u2019t participating in Pride this year. But that\u2019s not the headline. Those who back down to extremists and threats of violence are the ones who are making the headlines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>And that\u2019s a really good point, Sarah Kate, and we talk about this a lot on <em>Leadership Next<\/em>. Because it\u2019s, as you know, it\u2019s not just LGBTQ rights. It\u2019s also happening on the environment and on other issues. I think our sense, most of the people we\u2019ve had on the show, they stick to their values. They want to make sure they create tolerant work places, but they\u2019re really, really, really eager to stay out of the political debate. I noticed this morning there was a story about Starbucks. Apparently, store by store, you have a lot of them not displaying Pride banners this year unlike they have in the past, because they just don\u2019t want to get caught up in the controversy. As you said, it\u2019s a long game and a short game. How do you\u2014and it\u2019s understandable, particularly if you look at AB InBev, that you don\u2019t want to get caught in the crossfire\u2014how do you advise them to deal with that? To stand by their values, but keep their head low, is kind of what I hear people say.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>And, and by the way, Sarah Kate, we should point out, you know, you\u2019ve seen a lot of different surveys, polling Americans, you know, across the political spectrum, and both members of the LGBTQ community and not, and love to hear some of the stats from you. But you know, they do show that there is overwhelming majority support for gay rights, for being comfortable, for example, seeing LGBTQ people, couples in advertisements. So just to put another, you know, layer here, there is majority support for this.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray: <\/strong>There is majority support, but you know, if you\u2019re Starbucks or you\u2019re Walmart, you\u2019re not playing to the majority, you want to play to everybody. And if you can sort of keep out of controversy. So I think that\u2019s the dilemma that all these companies are wrestling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>Well, so, I think there\u2019s a lot here. You\u2019re right, about three-quarters of Americans, over 70%, say they actually want to see companies supporting the LGBTQ community. Makes them feel better about the companies buying their products, they think they treat their employees better and their customers better. Ninety-four percent of Americans believe LGBTQ folks should be equal and should have equal rights in this country. So, it is a majority, it\u2019s a super majority, honestly. And what we\u2019re finding, though, is that there is a small minority with an outsize voice at this moment in time, and I think companies and their obligation\u2014the landscape for companies have changed, right? We can all agree that we talk about stakeholders versus just shareholders, and this is where that\u2019s really getting tested for the first time in a public space. And we\u2019re seeing who\u2019s standing up to this theory of being there for stakeholders versus just shareholders. And if you are, you\u2019ll win. Here\u2019s why. And this is why I didn\u2019t, you know, we talked about this being a long game. When you look at Gen Z, 20% of Gen Z are LGBTQ. And we know that\u2019s on the low end, that\u2019s on the low end, we\u2019ve polled this ourselves, we\u2019ve seen that number actually as high as 40%. Think of that, and then add allies to that, and you are talking about a super majority. And those are the future employees and the future consumers of your business. So I think that\u2019s the trap that AB got caught in, right? They have this older generation that\u2019s going to phase out of their product, and they\u2019re trying to attract a younger generation, and they\u2019re seeing this generational clash happen in real time. It is so simple. It honestly is. I mean, everybody tries to make it this complex conversation. It\u2019s the same thing that happens on the schoolyard. If you back down to a bully, a bully comes at you more. But if you stand your ground and you say you\u2019re not going to be bullied, and sorry that person feels that way, but we\u2019re all going to be nice to each other, we\u2019re all going to be kind, then you see that they back down and they move on. And you\u2019ve seen it across companies. One other thing that we\u2019re doing, I wanted to get in there was that we\u2019ve gone out to companies to sign a simple statement, just saying that you stand with LGBTQ folks, and we\u2019ve had over 50 companies sign this. But you know, companies like Dow, Gilead, Pfizer, HP, Levi\u2019s, they\u2019re all saying, we\u2019re standing with the LGBTQ community. And I think that, you know, this is the long game.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Just to follow up on that Sarah Kate, generally speaking, you find large companies are in the right place, even if tactically they misplay it?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>Absolutely. They, you know, look, it\u2019s it\u2019s an interesting thing that\u2019s been happening over the past couple of years that I\u2019ve seen is that when a crisis breaks around the LGBTQ community at these companies, used to be the C-suite that was calling us. Now it\u2019s the C -suite and the ERG, the employee resource group, the LGBTQ employee resource group. So we\u2019re now in a position of negotiating between these two, because they\u2019re getting pressure from inside too from the LGBTQ community and their allies.<\/p>\n<p>[Music starts]\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Jason Girzadas, the CEO of Deloitte US is the sponsor of this podcast and joins me today. Welcome, Jason.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jason Girzadas:\u00a0<\/strong>Thank you, Alan. It\u2019s great to be here.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Jason, everyone in business is talking about A.I. It clearly has the potential to dramatically disrupt almost every industry, but a lot of companies are struggling. What are some of the barriers that companies are facing in creating business value with A.I.?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Girzadas:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, Alan, I think A.I. is on every client\u2019s agenda. I think every CEO and board interaction and conversation that I\u2019m a part of proves the fact that the promise of A.I. is widely held, and the hope is far and deep that it creates business value. But there are challenges to be sure. What we\u2019ve seen is that the probability of success increases dramatically with strong executive sponsorship and leadership. There has to be a portfolio of investments around A.I., as well as to link the business ownership with technology leadership to see the value of A.I.-related investments. Over time, we\u2019re optimistic and confident that the value will result, but it will be a portfolio where either short-term opportunities for automation improvements around productivity and cost takeout and then longer-term, medium-term opportunities for business model innovation that are truly transformational. So this is a classic case where it won\u2019t be a single approach that realizes value for A.I.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>It sounds like you take it a step at a time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Girzadas:\u00a0<\/strong>I think it\u2019s definitely time, and also a portfolio recognizing that some investments will have short-term benefit where you can see immediate use cases creating financial and business impact, but longer-term opportunities to really invent different customer experiences, different business models, and ultimately create a longer-term benefit that we can\u2019t even fully appreciate at this point in time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Jason, thanks for your perspective. And thanks for sponsoring <em>Leadership Next<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Girzadas:\u00a0<\/strong>Thank you.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[Music ends]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram: <\/strong>And I was just going to ask real quick, just take taking a step back, you know, for some historical context. I mean, in the past, what has been the role of corporations in LGBTQ rights? In normalizing you know, representation?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s such a great question. So, we wouldn\u2019t be where we are today without corporate involvement, without our allies coming to the forefront and speaking up and using their leverage. Whether it be political leverage or economic leverage, to help build acceptance and help move policy forward for the LGBTQ community, everything from signing amicus briefs around marriage equality to using their marketing platforms to showcase LGBTQ folks. So it\u2019s been really important. You know, we did a Trust Barometer with Edelman that looked specifically at LGBTQ in the workplace and what employees expect. And what\u2019s fascinating is that the Edelman Trust Barometer already says that employees trust their CEOs and their companies more than they trust government, and sometimes more than they trust media. So they really look to this leadership and they expect more from them, right? They expect them to stand up and speak out for the LGBTQ community, and utilize and use their leverage, their points of leverage, whether it be economic, social, across the board. And I think that\u2019s a really important point, because that\u2019s only going to continue to grow. As we see these younger, you know, Alpha, our Generation Alpha and our Gen Z, they expect even more.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah. And they do it because their employees want them to and their employees are where they get value in today\u2019s economy. We should talk a little bit about the Disney example, because that\u2019s such a fascinating one where the CEO, Bob Chapek, for two weeks, doesn\u2019t say anything about the law in Florida which was viewed as discriminatory towards the LGBTQ community. Then he comes out and criticizes it. Then Florida attacks him. Then he loses his job, and now you have Bob Iger going back to the fight and saying, we\u2019re not going to back down. We\u2019re going to take you on. You must be encouraged by what Iger is doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis: <\/strong>You know, I point to Iger as a real example of leadership, of CEO leadership. And I think, you know, we have been at any every intersection of that since the beginning of the Disney not standing up and speaking out on behalf of the LGBTQ community, yet speaking very highly of how supportive of the LGBTQ community they are. But then when, again, when the rubber hits the road, not using their leverage, especially their political power. I think when you look at this example, this is going to be taught for years in business schools, right? Because you could see where all of the missteps happened right at the front, and then you finally get the right CEO in who knows how to lead. And not only leads, but sets a path that is, you know, really changes the conversation at a level where this isn\u2019t an attack on American values, because it\u2019s an attack on American businesses. And I think that\u2019s really important in all of this conversation that we\u2019re having here is that I think this is an attack on free enterprise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray: <\/strong>Yeah, that\u2019s so, so well put, Sarah, and if I can just build on that a little bit. It\u2019s not because Disney is trying to play politics, as governor DeSantis says. It\u2019s because of the way Disney as a business creates value. I mean, what Bob Chapek found out was the creative community that makes the magic at Disney, they make the movies, they make the things that make Disney Disney, that they felt so strongly about this, that he didn\u2019t have a choice. He didn\u2019t have a choice but to respond to their concerns. You know, he met with them, and all of them had stories about how they were treated or bullied or mistreated when they were in school, and have deeply felt this whole question of restricting discussions of this in schools was by that creative community. And again, it\u2019s not ultimately about politics. It\u2019s about what Disney is as a business and how it creates value.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>And by the way, we hear this over and over. I mean, Alan, we, you know, talk to Ed Bastian from Delta. Different issue, voting rights, but it came from his employee base, right? And I just wonder, Sarah, Kate, like, are you talking to companies about how to also amplify, communicate that to the public that this is coming from,you know\u2014it\u2019s not politics. A lot of it is driven by their employee base. And they need to, especially with this generational divide in the workforce, they need to listen to those voices. Does that factor into conversations today?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis: <\/strong>I do think that when CEOs look at it as a human issue, and address it that way, and come at it from that perspective, that\u2019s when they win. When they fall into the politics of this and they start firing or, you know, suspending marketing folks and distancing themselves from people that their company was sending product to or engaging with, that\u2019s when they get into hot water, because they\u2019re entering the political conversation and not keeping it a human conversation. And I think that\u2019s what Chapek was doing. He was playing politics versus really listening to what people were saying in his company and outside what all of his consumers were saying. And that\u2019s where, that\u2019s when you win, right? Like, that\u2019s when you really get to the essence of this, and they are humanizing it and not trying to not trying to appeal to either side, but to the human side. And that really matters. For us, the LGBTQ community, it is an issue of safety. And this is a really important, it is political for us, because we\u2019ve been politicized, not because we feel political. But when you have over 500 bills proposed against you as a community, that takes a toll on you. And if you notice, in the past, a lot of CEOs used to stand up and say no to those bills. It\u2019s been pretty quiet. So I\u2019m not actually surprised by it all erupting now over this Pride season, because these companies who talk about supporting the LGBTQ community had been pretty silent over the past six months around all of these anti-LGBTQ bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Right. So, I would love your advice. I mean, here\u2019s what I hear pretty consistently from CEOs which is, you are political, you can\u2019t avoid being political. Their view is, hey, we want to stand by our values and we want to stand by our people, but we don\u2019t want to get caught up in politics. Is that an impossible equation to solve? Or would you have advice to companies that feel that?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>I think it\u2019s business. I think these bills, if passed, create problems for these companies. People need to move out of state. We see people fleeing Texas and Florida because they can\u2019t raise their families, because they are being managed by the government now. And so I don\u2019t, I think that it\u2019s their job to control the narrative and not react to what the narrative is. If you\u2019re reacting to the what the narrative is, you\u2019ve already lost. But if you are creating the narrative and saying, this is about my employees, this is about my consumers, I need to make sure that they have the safest environment\u2014whether it\u2019s a retail environment, whether it\u2019s a workplace environment, that they can raise their families in peace and freedom without being without having these restrictive laws put against them. So I think that it is, it is human, it is personal, and it is business. And you have to take it out of that political conversation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray: <\/strong>Any other companies you point to who are doing that really well?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, I think there are a lot of companies that are doing it really well. I think P&amp;G is doing it really well. I, you know, I think Disney is doing it really well now. Nike has always been doing it really well. I mean, Nike leans into the personal, right? In really incredible political crosshairs and they always come out on top, because they show what it is to be human in all of it. And there are a lot of companies. Salesforce is always, Mark [Benioff] has always been at the forefront of this. You know who has been great too is Walmart. I mean, talk about everybody\u2019s front door. I mean, that is America, right there. Walmart.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:\u00a0<\/strong>Yep, absolutely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>Before we go, Sarah Kate, I\u2019d love to also hear from you, you know, things have evolved, obviously, over the last few years in regards to the political climate, corporate climate that we see, but but GLAAD has evolved as well under your leadership. Talk a little bit about your background and how representation in media advertising, you know, how this has become such a focus, and why that matters?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:<\/strong> Well, thank you for asking that. When I was brought into GLAAD it was really about modernizing it, because as you all know, the media landscape has changed so dramatically. And where GLAAD used to see ourselves as, you know, working with Hollywood exclusively and journalism exclusively, because those were the main shapers of culture in the past, that\u2019s changed dramatically. Now CEOs have platforms, right? There\u2019s Silicon Valley now that is social media, and that\u2019s creating culture. Even D.C. and the Beltway is more of a cultural creator than it ever has been before. And so we\u2019ve moved into all of those spaces. And the way I see it is that it\u2019s really important for us as the LGBTQ organization for representation, that we provide representation in all of those spaces. So now we have a social media safety index, where we measure the top five social media companies on how they provide safety and an inclusive environment on their platforms for the LGBTQ community. We are going to Cannes, and we\u2019ll be releasing our advertising index, where we\u2019re measuring the top 10 advertisers by spend on how inclusive they are. And the headline is, out of all of their ads, only 3% include LGBTQ folks. So we have a lot of room for improvement there. So as you said, I have a background in media. I was at Time Inc. for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray: <\/strong>We\u2019ve heard of that company.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>Remember that company? I miss that company. I loved it there. I was at Conde Nast. Didn\u2019t love it as much, but got a lot of great world experience there.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram:\u00a0<\/strong>We\u2019ll leave it at that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>But that helps inform. And you know, now we\u2019re at Davos. I see you all at Davos, you know, we\u2019re at Davos because that\u2019s where the decisions are being made. That\u2019s where the conversation is being had. And that\u2019s where the culture is being set globally. And we want to make sure that the LGBTQ voice is at that table.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lev-Ram: <\/strong>Sarah Kate, thank you so much for coming and sharing all of these insights. I know this is not the Pride month that I\u2019m sure you wanted it to be. It\u2019s a really tough time. But we really appreciate you being here and talking about this very, very important topic with us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ellis:\u00a0<\/strong>Thank you. I really appreciate it. Anytime. I\u2019m honored to be here. So thank you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Murray:<\/strong>\u00a0Leadership Next\u00a0<em>is edited and produced by Alexis Haut. Our theme is by Jason Snell. Our executive producer is Megan Arnold.\u00a0<\/em>Leadership Next\u00a0<em>is a product of\u00a0Fortune Media.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Leadership Next\u00a0<em>episodes are produced by Fortune\u2018s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of\u00a0Deloitte\u00a0or its personnel. Nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2023\/06\/28\/glaad-ceo-sarah-kate-ellis-interview-lgbtq-pride-business-leaders-companies-stand-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this week\u2019s episode of\u00a0Fortune\u2018s\u00a0Leadership Next\u00a0podcast, co-hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram talk with GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis about the benefits of staying true to your company\u2019s values; what happens when companies waffle on their commitment to Pride and the LGBTQ community; and why companies need to play both the short and long games. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>GLAAD CEO: When leaders look at LGBTQ rights as a human issue, not a political one, that\u2019s when they win | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On this week\u2019s episode of\u00a0Fortune\u2018s\u00a0Leadership Next\u00a0podcast, co-hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram talk with GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis about the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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