How Your Business Can Support Queer & Trans Youth
LGBTQIA+ youth are among one of the most at-risk groups in our country today––40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQIA+, and queer and trans kids are 50% more likely than their peers to be verbally harassed at school.
It’s up to our communities to improve our queer and trans kids’ chances of living happier and more fulfilled lives, and businesses can play a key role in effecting massive change. We’ve identified a few ways that businesses can help, and we hope you’ll consider how you can make a difference:
Share your resources
Advocate for more inclusive policy
Create a culture of inclusion
Hire more young queer folks
Share Your Resources
One of the biggest issues that queer and trans youth face is lack of resources––not only monetary resources but also practical, everyday resources like food, medical supplies, and clothing. Organizations like Youth OUTright have programs to help distribute those resources to the youth who need them, but the reality is that the level of need far surpasses the resources that organizations have available.
If your business has the resources to spare, consider donating to Youth OUTright, and if a financial donation is not feasible, here are some of their concrete needs:
Medical Supplies: First aid supplies, gloves, masks, hand sanitizer
Food: Shelf-stable snacks and food
Your Expertise: Share your professional expertise with Youth OUTright (legal, financial, social media, web design, and marketing)
Gift Cards & Vouchers: Donate gift cards and vouchers for food, gas, hotel stays, and other necessities to support at-risk queer youth
Your Time: Volunteer your time with Youth OUTright to support its programming including discussion groups, fundraisers, and GSA support
Email Jordan.Perry@youthoutright.org to get started
Advocate for More Inclusive Policy
While distributing resources helps to address the immediate need of keeping queer & trans kids safe and healthy, it’s important also to consider how we can address the larger systemic issues that are putting LGBTQIA+ youth at risk in the first place.
Local, state, and federal policy all have a long way to go until they’re no longer harming LGBTQIA+ youth, especially those with black and brown bodies. Getting policymakers to listen to already marginalized groups may be difficult, but when those of us with more social and economic capital speak up, they tend to listen. As business owners, we inherently have that extra capital, and here are two ways that we can leverage it:
Host a Phone Bank: Use your business’s space to host a phone bank for calling legislators and advocating for comprehensive non-discrimination policy. Organizations like Youth OUTright, EqualityNC, or Campaign for Southern Equality can plug you into existing efforts.
Take a Stand: The act of publicly taking a stand around non-discrimination policy can go a long way not only in making your voice heard among legislators but also in influencing your employees and customers to also consider the issues at hand. (It’s not bad for business, either––customers love values.)
Create a Culture of Inclusion
While your business has influence beyond the four walls of its establishment––in sharing resources and influencing policy––it’s also important to consider how your business can create a welcoming and inclusive culture in its day to day operations:
Your Employees: Cultural competency is key not just in creating a more welcoming space for customers but also in creating a healthier work environment. Several studies have shown that cultural competency is one of the biggest influencers of employee retention. Organizations like Youth OUTright, for example, offer cultural competency training that helps create a more inclusive environment for customers and employees while also minimizing liability and improving employee retention. Contact Adrian at Youth OUTright to find out more.
Physical Environment: When I was 15 years old, yet to come out, a simple signal that I people like me were welcome in a place made all the difference in the world. This could be a rainbow flag decal in your window, implementing gender-neutral restrooms, or anything else that communicates your business’s commitment to inclusivity. Experiment with ways that you can signal to marginalized groups that they’re welcome in your business.
Your Marketing: A key way that you can demonstrate an inclusive environment is through making sure that your marketing materials––particularly your email marketing, Facebook Ads, and website language––use inclusive language. An easy language adjustment you can make is to use more gender-neutral language where it makes sense, such as using “partner” rather than “husband” or “wife.”
Hire Queer Young People
LGBTQIA+ youth tend to have dramatically fewer resources than their heterosexual and cisgender peers, which means that they run into several stumbling blocks when it comes to getting a job:
Interview Clothes: They might not have access to gender-affirming clothes to wear to an interview, which, when interviewing, makes it significantly more difficult for them to turn an interview into a job offer
Coaching & Guidance: Whether they’re missing it from their parents or teachers, it’s likelier for queer kids to lack the basic job search coaching that so many of us take for granted––how to write a resumé, answer interview questions, or follow up with the hiring manager
Connections: Queer kids who have tenuous or nonexistent relationships with their families are less likely to benefit from familial connections that can go so far when getting one’s first job. This disadvantage alone makes the job search process significantly more difficult.
Here are a few simple things you can do to include more queer kids in your hiring process:
Post your job listings in queer groups and forums to get your job listings in front of LGBTQIA+ youth while also signaling to the wider community that you’re a queer and trans-friendly employer and business
Send your job listing to local organizations such as Youth OUTright or Tranzmission. Ask them to pass it along to any youth who might be interested in the position
Live into your values of creating a welcoming and friendly company culture by creating an affirming and equitable environment for staff and customers.
Whether it's by donating to and attending a fundraiser for a local organization, supporting the local queer-owned businesses and festivals, or showing your own queer pride out in the community your presence and visibility sends a clear message to queer youth about your company culture.
Our Community Needs You
Supporting queer and trans youth can look like so many different things, and no matter what it looks like for you, we need your support––LGBTQIA+ kids need your support. Try out several different ways to support queer youth, and experiment to see what has the greatest impact and meshes the best with your business.
Jacob Ratliff (he/him) is the founder and director of ashevilleMARKETER, a local digital marketing consulting firm dedicated to helping businesses increase revenue by growing their audience and converting more customers. He also helps businesses discover how a community-oriented mindset is better for everyone––for businesses, employees, customers, and the wider community.