amoldar

Mind your

BUSINE$$

Queer Culture & Corporate Interest

&

NOT A
DEI REPORT

(a DEI report *and more*)

Hundreds of queers.
Thousands of questions.

Vacation, a strategy & creative shop with a queer agenda, in partnership with Okay Human, an ethnographic insights company, surveyed LGBTQ+ adults of all ages all across America.

Together, we’ve captured the cold reads & hot takes that brands and the people who shape them need to hear.

Say gay at hello@vacationtheagency.com and commission your own study hello@okayhuman.com

The White House is literally trying to erase my existence.... But I believe an opportunity like this [survey] for our voices to be heard is a great start.

– Phoenix, Transgender, Millennial,
She/Her, Illinois

“Marketers are accustomed to the POV of a gay male coastal minority. But queer people are no monolith. That’s why we took this digital road trip around the states to speak with folks from all walks. Church-going Mid Americans, Boomers freshly uncloseted, Gen Z lesbians in the South… we’re all here.”


Andrew Mellen, Co-Founder, Vacation 

Mind your what now?

Hmm, turns out the US currency has not always had the phrase “In God we Trust” on it.

The first coin to circulate the US said, “Mind your business.” Themes of commerce, independence and individuality have always been intertwined.

$1.4 TRILLION

That’s the annual purchasing power of the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. This amount is comparable to the total GDP of countries like Spain or Australia.

- Source: Merrill Lynch

30%

of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+

Source: Public Religion Research Institute

I’m really inspired by the younger generation. They are brave now.

- Pamela, Lesbian, Gen X, She/Her, Texas

In a study like this where we go from talking about your experience on a topic to then talking about brands – the normal feel of the study is that people have clear thoughts about their own lives but when we get to talking about brands they don’t have a lot to say. In this study, it’s the opposite. 

This audience, more than anyone I’ve ever seen, has got tons to say about brands.

Sam Myers, Head of Research, Okay Human

PART 1

MIND THE GAP

Backlash & culture clash

CRACKS IN THE DANCEFLOOR

The ACLU is tracking 588 Anti-LGBTQ bills 
in the U.S. in the 2025 legislative session.

A wave of anti-queer legislation sweeps through statehouses, aiming to erase visibility and threaten livelihoods under the guise of “protection.” Decades-old moral panics have resurfaced as extremists falsely label LGBTQ+ people a threat to society. 

The proposed 2026 federal budget includes $2.67 billion in cuts to programs supporting LGBTQ+ communities, affecting health research, HIV/AIDS services, and mental health support.

LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations have been instructed to remove terms like "transgender" and "queer" from their materials to maintain federal funding. This policy affects organizations such as the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Source: Public Religion Research Institute

There is so much turmoil going on in the United States and all around the world. It seems like a lot of hate is being brought forward when I thought we had finally found a place that we could all coexist. 

- Jonathan, Other, Millennial, He/Him

THE Slur
IS COMING FROM
INSIDE THE HOUSE

External pressure has led to internal fracturing. The community is more divided than ever.

Internalized transphobia suffocates queer unity, with some LGBTQ+ people are blaming/excluding trans folks to maintain proximity to power.

I voted for Trump and don't give a fuck about who it offends.

- Gary, Bisexual, He/Him

The queer white community seem to be the only ones in the spotlight and causing folks not to understand we are not all the same.

- Joshua, Gay, He/Him

I feel like my generation worked very hard to gain respect and representation for gay and lesbian rights. I feel the woke active [sic] is damaging all the hard work we did to prove we could be a valuable part of society. The woke protests… have tainted the gay and lesbian community.

- Mike, Gay, He/Him

All the radical liberals and their blatant attack on common sense [make] us rational members of the LGBTQ group look bad and frankly stupid.

- Will, Gay, He/Him

BACKLASH

WHIPLASH

As a result of the shifting plates, the vibes are way off. A sense of security in the community is scarce.

It feels dangerous to be myself in 2025... I wish I didn't have to mute myself to be safe.

- F3rn13, Other, Gen Z, They/Them

I'm young and I still have to grow but I guess this isn't the world for me cause I get so many comments for me being queer.

- Alex, Gay, Gen Z, They/Them

Stress about losing medications, wondering if I'll be able to get surgeries, and genuinely thinking about leaving the country

- Warumono, Intersex, Millennial, He/Him, California

It’s just generally terrifying. I’m scared for what may happen to my trans friends.

- Ivy, Bisexual & Pansexual, Gen Z, She/Her, North Carolina

REVOKED

Individuals suffer under the recent restrictions on queer expression. So do the arts.

Marketers who give a damn about the power of creativity and storytelling, watch closely how things are playing out.

  • Trump’s slashing of millions in National Endowment for the Arts has most affected non-profits centering Black, brown and LGBTQ+ communities. Needless to say, creative marketing is nothing without the arts.
  • President Trump named himself chairman of the Kennedy Center, leading to the cancellation of LGBTQ+ themed performances. No queer stories on stage is bound to mean fewer of our narratives on screen, too.
  • Trans musicians are canceling US tour dates due to Trump’s Gender ID Rules. This means American music becomes less open to global influences, the lifeblood of all the best bops.
  • Sources: The Guardian, Vox, Wired

The ultimate recognition, celebration, and activist tentpole of the LGBTQ+ community and all its allies is - you guessed right - Pride.

The uncontested greatest source of funding? Right again: corporations with big brand names.

Why are they abandoning us?

WE JUST DON’T SEE THE VALUE IN IT ANYMORE.

After 30 years of participating in Pride, Anheuser-Bush pulled out of their local pride, and took hundreds of thousands of dollars with them.

Source: Forbes

CORPORATE
GHOSTS (Boo)

Millions of dollars in brand funding is being withdrawn from queer gatherings and philanthropic donations.

  • Anheuser-Busch
  • Target 
  • Comcast
  • Citi
  • Diageo
  • La Crema
  • Nissan
  • PepsiCo
  • ….and more have pulled out of Pride

I quit going to Target and returned to Costco for the first time since I was 
about 16-17.

- Martin, Gay, Gen Z, He/Him, Minnesota

If defunding Pride is any indication, we’re reluctantly bracing ourselves for a big-picture backpedaling of investment in the very communities that, for many a brand, supercharged their business ventures.  

The support brands have shown the queer community doesn’t just start and end at Pride. 

Many of the world’s most influential brands have toted queers at their big table (Apple, Dior, PepsiCo, Loewe, Qantas, Burberry, the list goes on), investing in big-name entertainment ventures created by queers (MIke White, Ryan Murphy, Lena Waithe) and running multi-million dollar ad campaigns with queer talent (like Hunter Shaefer for Prada and Troye Sivan for Gap). 

Sure, there are still brands that are walking the walk in supporting the community. But there are too many others that are simply… walking away.

FLEXING MUSCLE MEMORY

Despite corporate waffling and societal attacks, queer communities persist with resilience and creativity.

We celebrate the defiant spirit carrying the movement forward. With protests, mutual aid networks, queer-owned small business, grassroots campaigns and pop culture as a beacon.

Brands may retreat, but the community’s fight for dignity and equality is relentless. Fighting back is our resting state.

We’ve been here since the beginning of humanity and aren’t going anywhere.

- Damien, Gay, Millennial, He/Him

The attitude of taking no crap from anyone. The gay community stands up for its own and helps their own... no matter what happens we are strong and courageous.

-Colleen, Lesbian, Baby Boomer, She/Her

I like it when celebrities or people of power come out as queer.

-Taylor, Bisexual, Millennial, She/Her, Wisconsin

It feels that the church is coming around and welcoming us in as we should have been from the beginning.

- Daniel, Gay, He/Him

It's not gonna be an easy journey. But follow your heart. Do what makes you, you.

- Sharon, Lesbian, She/Her

PART 2

MIND OVER MATTER

Queer eye for the brand landscape

HOW DID WE GET HERE ?

1890s
Coining Queer

It’s widely regarded that the word “queer” was first used as a slur against Oscar Wilde when he was on trial for homosexuality in 1895, which was gleefully circulated by the press at the time. It was later reclaimed during the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, with placards emblazoned with the slogan “We’re here, we’re queer.” Now it’s an umbrella or shorthand term for numerous LGBTQ+ identities.



Source: Grindr

1970s - 1980s
Activism Not Advertising

Pride began as a protest — commemorating the Stonewall Riots of 1969, a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ resistance. Early Pride events were grassroots and politically charged, with little to no corporate presence. Brands largely avoided LGBTQ+ visibility due to stigma and fear of backlash.

2000s
Mainstream Visibility

As LGBTQ+ acceptance grew, Pride became more commercial. Major corporations (e.g., AT&T, American Airlines, Wells Fargo) began sponsoring Pride parades. This was the birth of the “Rainbow Logo Era,” where companies changed their branding for June.

2020s
Reckoning and Retraction

In the wake of cancel culture, DEI backlash, and increased political polarization, some brands retracted or softened Pride participation. There’s now a divide: companies either double down with authenticity or retreat from controversy. Queer consumers are more vocal in demanding real accountability, not just performative gestures.

Source: Library of Congress

Responsive Triangle Image

WE ARE PISSED

In 2020, we made Pride a protest again. 
We kicked out the cops & the corporations – and we marched with meaning.

In 2025, the same corporations pulled their support from Pride in the wake of shifting political winds.  

WE ARE PISSED

There are two ways of looking at this pissed-if-you-do, bummed-if-you-don’t situation.

One is to see ourselves as living in a vicious cycle, a snake eating its own tail without progress. 

A healthier and more accurate view acknowledges progress isn’t one dimensional. Viewed from all angles, the queer agenda is on the up and up.  

Woke ain’t broke.

52% would urge others to boycott the company, including posting negative company reviews and sharing their concerns on social media.

If you don't accept us, then we won't accept you. And if we don't accept you, no one will. - Clam, Pansexual, He/Him
I can’t say that I can support a company that, even for a moment, stopped supporting me. - Billy, Gay, He/Him

80% LGBTQ+ adults would boycott a company that rolled back DEI initiatives, including stopping shopping at, utilizing, and/or purchasing its services.

Target lost nearly 5 million store visits in a four-week period after its DEI reversal indicating a brand loyalty breach among consumers increasingly valuing inclusive corporate behavior.

For the brand strats in the chat, this means keeping an eye on the long-game of your brand love metrics.

The dip queer-delinquent brands feel today is bound to linger and seep into peripheral performance metrics, too.

On the flip, the brands who stay loyal are bound to see love grow cumulatively over time.

A 2024 ANA report found marketers increasingly citing higher brand loyalty and word-of-mouth as benefits of LGBTQ-inclusive campaigns. Sources: emarketer, Association of National Advertisers

WTF

do we even want from brands?

Brands are looking at gay people wondering if they’re too risky an investment.

And gay people are looking at brands wondering if there’s anyone on the other side.

WHY BOTHER ?

Gentle suggestion that we all size the prize here and, respectfully, don’t fucking give up.

    • Ever heard of counter-programming, honey? Ever since Pride’s gone “quiet,” even a whisper of support is bound to stand out tenfold. So see that media spend stretch further than ever and get promoted for doin’ more with every dollar.
    • Culture’s a pendulum and it will swing back into gay favor. And when it swings back toward an inclusive society, there’s a surefire subset of queers who won’t clap for you when you re-enter the scene seeking profits.
    • Oh, speaking of seeking. There’s an implied kinship among underserved and sidelined segments of society. So, a rude dismissal of the LGBTQ+ today is one that has other marginalized intersectional identities (women, racial minorities, etc.) stiff-arming your brand, too.

If you’re going to pass us up, who else are you going to pass up? It’s not just about the queer community, it’s about friends who are marginalized in any way. [...] What values do you have that are steadfast, that don’t get changed or wavered based on a current fad?

- Billy, Gay, Millennial, He/Him, Florida

First off, our money is no different from anybody else’s. Second, you want to be on the right side of history. Look at how they used to do this kind of stuff to black people.

- Jesse, Gay, Millennial, He/Him, Tennessee

PART 3

MIND OVER MANNERS

Tips for brandtenders

SOMEWHAT OVER THE RAINBOW

You better have teeth behind those veeneers

Our survey respondents are rather split on this prismatic flag of ours. Many of our respondents urged brands to continue activating around the rainbow even if just with a sticker or vanity merch, but a good number of them also verbalized more genuine, meaningful and monetary investment as going a longer way than any rainbow-washing (aka. pink washing) ever could.

By only putting rainbows out and highlighting your employees, your queer employees during Pride Month, you're not a supporter. You're doing it for the clout and for the positive attention. If you were to give health insurance for IVF for queer couples, gender affirming care for trans folks, that would show your true support.

If you were to donate to queer organizations and speak publicly about your support for the queer community, besides, despite getting backlash, that would show your support.

What you are doing by hanging rainbows for the month of June and then taking them down before July even hits, you're not a supporter.

- Emmett, Lesbian, Gen Z, They/Them, Michigan

Donations are more genuine. More genuine than having a rainbow shirt for sale in June and changing their profile picture rainbow.

- Jesse, Gay, Millennial, He/Him, Tennessee

I think if a brand truly cares about the gay community and they would [say so] on their website [with] rainbow or stickers or signs that say “We support the gay community” or a picture of a rainbow... Basically that shows pride instead of hate.

- Rick, Gay, Baby Boomer, He/Him, Iowa

WE LOVE A COSTUME.

WE ARE NOT A COSTUME.

Depictions of queer life require greater degrees of context, explanation, interpretation

Perhaps one of our pitfalls in what is inherently a culture-shifting movement toward inclusion is that we assumed the mainstream understood queerness, implicitly and in its many complexities. But that’s just it, isn’t it? There is no singular shorthand for a community this big. The “+” means something to us, and perhaps brands have taken too flat and lazy a view of our community. Noted. Now what?

  • Research the community and its many subcultures. The only way to get at this is to practice what this very study preaches: do some deep listening before you speak. Work with a partner like Okay Human, where memes, music and YouTube clips are invited responses to questions where words alone hardly suffice.

  • :06-second spots are popular these days, but so is long-form. Take your time with these fantastic yet fragile stories: unpack them over minutes and mini-novels, art shows and captivating experiential stunts. It’s not about your production budgets and media plans, it’s about planning patiently for a moment of connection for which your brand can be rewarded for years to come.

HANKY CODE YOUR BRAND CUES

Plenty of ways to say gay

LGBTQ+ communities have had to woodwork to survive: shrinking themselves in rooms they didn’t fit into while finding a ways to remain expressive and connected to each other. Brands today could take a clue or two from our coping mechanisms, but do it in a way that increases visibility and community instead of suppressing it.

Queers have always found ways to sneak their tea and the internet has acted as a gorgeous megaphone that even the most homophobic hardly realize they’re endorsing. From social memes to snappy sayings, your brand is destined to draw inspo from feeds and increase visibility with virality as a perfect cover. Hop on this trojan horse, will you?
Let’s hear it for allies, people. Brand teams might have a hard time selling through a gay celebrity for their campaign this year but there’s always room for another cisfluencer. Point your brands toward straight people who have earned their place in culture as gay icons. Lend them a mic and trust they’ll do the rest.

Drag them

THROUGH DATA

THROUGH DATA

Boardrooms got you down? Research got your back, baby

“It’s just business” and don’t we know it. So get yourself equipped with stats and facts because they’re bound to leave your audience absolutely gagged. Get this, for example:

Let’s pretend you’re a gaming brand. What’s gaming got to do with gay, they say. You say:

One in every five gamers identifies as LGBTQ. The estimated global revenue of gaming is estimated to surpass that of Filmed Entertainment and Record Music combined.

There’s a massive business case and brand opportunity here. Despite the prevalence of gaymers, LGBTQ+ representation within video games remains limited. Less than 2% of games on major consoles and PC platforms include LGBTQ+ characters or storylines, highlighting a significant gap between the diversity of the gaming audience and the content available to them.

Source: GLAAD

Target's market value has plummeted by over $12.4 billion following its rollback of DEI initiatives and the ensuing consumer backlash.

Store traffic dropped nearly 10% after the company’s move to conclude its diversity-related goals and initiatives.

Source: Fortune

Target is bleeding both short-term earnings and long-term brand value because of a failure of conviction...

Meanwhile, Costco quietly continues to outperform. No culture wars, no PR spin — just consistency, trust, and long-term value creation. That’s the difference: one is reacting to fear, the other is built for resilience.

- Jill Miller, Founder & CEO of Lunum

PAPA DON’T PREACH

Bring more than words to the function.

Not a single respondent stated a need for a manifesto, platform or fancy pedestal for your message. The movement is grassroots in 2025, showing up with what you’ve got – money, goods, experiences - is a good start.

You make a probiotic sparkling beverage? Cool, hand it out to passerby at Pride. Sell socks? Share a pair at Pride. Feeling like SaaS got nothing to do with it? Throw a concert. Partner with a volunteer org. Host a fund-raiser. Do something worthwhile and you’ll have something worthwhile to say.

I'd make my event free.

- Timothy, Gay, millennial, He/Him, Tennessee

Research is key... I would set up programs aiming at what the community needs most. For instance, grants for LGBTQIA+ small business startups.

- Jason, Pansexual, He/ Him

If their [brand] policies show that they're inclusive I'll pay more attention to them.

- Raven, Transgender, She/ Her

Generosity of spirit is a queer principal. And one that gets our attention. So, while we’re over here fighting for basic freedoms, be good to us and we’ll be good to you.

Get the point? Good. Let's dance.

Written & designed by

Survey research by

This report has been created for educational purposes, with the intent of furthering discourse.