How The Tech Industry Can Be More Inclusive To The LGBT+ Community

An open roundtable discussion with some of the PPC Protect team

It’s Pride Month which means companies worldwide are posting positive messages and adding rainbow flags to their social media profiles.

Pride Month has become a bandwagon for brands to jump on and promptly jump back off after the 30th. We spoke to some of the PPC Protect team who are part of the LGBT+ community, and they discussed how fake support makes them feel and how the technology industry can do more right now.

Do you think the tech industry could be more inclusive? If so, how?

Matthew: In general, the tech world is a straight, white male industry, and there’s no reason for it to be. Everyone says they have a diverse hiring system, but the reality can often be very different.

Neil: I don’t think inclusivity in tech is bad, but I wouldn’t say it was great either — the bar is very low. It’s difficult only being part of one bit of the community to judge whether it’s inclusive or not. But, if you compare it to other industries, such as retail, we could be doing a lot more.

Macauley: I think that’s why the onboarding at PPC Protect of “everyone’s the same, everyone’s equal” feels so welcoming because you don’t get that elsewhere. It makes you think if such a small company can do it, then others can too.

What does the word ‘inclusive’ make you think of?

Neil: Can you say less white and male? Because that’s what immediately comes to mind.

If you look at the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, he’s a gay man. But, if he was a transgender man, there’s no chance he’d reach that position. There’s a lot of variation inside the LGBT+ community. A lot of people (wrongly) assume that because it’s one umbrella, everyone believes the same things.

But, the reality is very different. Some of the most intense hatred of trans people comes from within the LGBT+ community, for example.

Macauley: Yes, there are definitely different levels of discrimination amongst different communities. Lesbian and gay people are more accepted in the industry, but we shouldn’t just be focusing on one part of inclusivity.

Matthew: There’s a double layer of discrimination too because people within subjugated groups are turning on each other.

To me, inclusivity in tech is all about representation. When you attend an event, you want to see different people speaking from different communities, not just all one type of person.

Are there any LGBT+ influencers in the tech industry you particularly admire?

*No one sprung to mind for anyone.*

Macauley: The fact none of us can think of anyone is problematic in itself.

Neil: Yeah, if you google LGBT+ influencers, you’ll just see people like the Founder of Grindr — that’s the level we’re currently operating at. I can’t think of anyone that stands out, but equally, if you asked me to name leading black voice in the industry, I couldn’t think of anyone either.

Matthew: The problem is that there are no references. The Founder of Facebook is a gay man, but that bit didn’t make it into the movie.

Macauley: We need more diverse leadership to show people what change looks like.

Do you think companies are guilty of using Pride to market their products without actively doing anything to benefit the lives of LGBT+ people?

Neil: Yes, times five million.

Matthew: I’ve actually seen people calling out online accounts for doing nothing other than changing their logos. When they ask “what else do you do to support the lives of LGBT+ people?” it means the Social Media Manager has a very awkward day.

Neil: You see double standards with bigger companies all the time too. Disney removed a gay character from their movie because it might upset the Chinese government, but still change all their socials to pride flags.

Another example is Bethesda, a games company that changes its social profiles to pride flags in every country except in the Middle East. Why? Because it would hurt their profits. They don’t care, it’s all about money.

Macauley: I noticed that with Converse the other day. All the other profiles for each country had pride flags, except Russia. If you’re restricting who’s going to see it, then you’re not supporting Pride for the right reasons.

Neil: You can bet they’re making money off some nice rainbow shoes that they’ll be selling though.

What do you think the impact of tech being dominated by white, straight males is?

Matthew: It’s about controlling the narrative. If straight, white males are controlling it, you aren’t going to get inclusivity. The best parallel I can draw is between footballers taking the knee for racial equality.

This was a move that was designed to start a conversation but it quickly became a conversation about whether it was the right thing to be doing. The conversation was being controlled by the wrong people.

Macauley: Not sharing the power is damaging to everyone involved. It stops minorities from getting to senior levels and so the prejudices of one demographic influence decisions that affect everyone.

Neil: On the actual tech side, you miss out on a lot of innovation. When founders and CEOs are all from the same communities and backgrounds you aren’t getting the different ideas into a product.

If you have more people from a range of backgrounds contributing, you not only get a more rounded perspective on things, but you can help more people.

The tech industry is supposed to be about building innovative things and if everyone building them is from the same background then it begs the question: where’s the innovation?

Have you ever felt discriminated against in the workplace because of your sexuality?

Macauley: After telling a colleague at an old job that I was gay, they left religious extracts on my desk telling me that I was living in sin and should be ashamed of myself for three weeks afterwards. They were fired.

Matthew: I went on a work trip to Germany and mentioned my boyfriend to the Head of Marketing. He told me “he was fine with it” but that I “shouldn’t mention it to the higher-ups.”

Macauley: You also find that straight men like to justify themselves with phrases such as “I don’t mind that you’re gay” or “it’s okay, you can sit there” — you wouldn’t say that to a straight person or a woman, so why are you saying it to me?

When I was researching a job I’d applied for, I found that the CEO donated heavily to a group that aimed to stop equal marriage rights. I’m glad I knew to swerve it there and then.

Neil: The guy who invented javascript invests a lot of money against transpeople; he’s not a nice person. When there are people like that, it’s hard to see the tech industry as an inclusive space.

What advice would you give to your colleagues about how to be more inclusive?

Neil: Don’t be a dick, in short.

Macauley: Just think before you speak — a lot of it comes down to lack of education and people who haven’t had a work relationship or friendship with a person who is LGBT+.

It was nice in the office when someone asked “who’s your better half?” rather than assuming I had a girlfriend. If they ask that I’ll just say “no” and move on, so it cuts the conversation short. You can really open up more conversations by not making assumptions.

Matthew: A good place to start is using non-gender-specific language. Keeping things neutral and using “they” rather than “he/she” makes everyone a lot more comfortable. If you try and get things a little wrong that’s okay, as long as you’re trying — people don’t expect you to be perfect.

Neil: It then becomes a lot more natural; using the word ‘partner’ has become normalized for a lot of people now, for example.

Are there any bugbears that you think straight people need to know?

Matthew: It frustrates me when people defend homophobic behavior by saying “they’re probably struggling with their own sexuality” because that makes it a gay problem. It’s nothing to do with our community, it’s them being a dick and they should be called out for it.

Neil: People that sit back and don’t call that sort of behavior out are just as bad. Excuses such as “I don’t want to get involved” are really common, but by not saying anything, you’re letting the perpetrator get away with it. You should always stand up for what you think is right.

Matthew: It’s important for straight people to understand that you have to come out hundreds of times as a gay person, it’s not just once and it’s over with. There are millions of micro-decisions you have to make about whether you’re going to mention it — it’s incredibly draining.

Neil: I definitely agree. A lot of people don’t realize that when someone comes out it’s not one big thing and that’s it — it’s every day. The worst thing people can say is, “oh but you look like you’re normal!” They don’t mean it in a bad way, but it’s hurtful all the same.

In your opinion, is social media more of a positive or negative addition to the conversation?

Macauley: Social media is fuel for hate and misinformation but it can allow people to connect with like-minded people that they otherwise may not have met, so it’s a balancing act.

It can provide that much-needed safe space for people that feel like they’re going through something alone, and it can also be a great educational platform for those who want to try and understand more.

Matt: It spreads happiness and joy but also facilitates hatred. Connecting like-minded people isn’t always a good thing when they believe things such as crazy conspiracy theories.

Neil: I hate everything about social media: I genuinely think the world would be a better place without it. I think a lot of the social platforms are dangerous because they’re not held as accountable as they should be for what goes on on them.

It’s in Facebook’s favor to promote negative behavior when it makes them money and drives their business. But who’s safeguarding vulnerable individuals?

What would you like the future to look like for the LGBT+ community and others?

Matthew: More glitter, obviously. (laughs)

Neil: It’s a big question. In an ideal world, there wouldn’t be a need for the LGBT+ community anymore because being lesbian, gay, trans, etc. would be normal. I don’t mean to imply the community doesn’t do great things, only in the same way that we don’t have a need for a community for people with blonde hair.

But, I worry that we’re actually going backward for the transgender community, so we need people to stand up for them, particularly those who are actually in that community and are persecuting them.

Macauley: For me, I’d like to create equality in no longer having to ‘come out’ and announce your sexuality. Straight people don’t have to — why does there have to be an assumed default?

Matthew: We also need to stop pigeonholing things as a ‘tech problem’ or an industry-specific issue because it needs addressing on a much wider scale. By doing this, we’re allowing everyone outside of that industry to say “it’s not our problem” when in fact, it is.

It’s everyone’s problem.