Despite brands coming a long way in leveraging LGBTQIA+ creators, there's less parity

The month of June is also the time for the Pride month, and we have seen several brands approaching creators from the LGBTQIA+ community this time. While some share the notion that this happens as a result of moment marketing, others call it out as rainbow washing to suit their interest.

BuzzInContent.com reached out to some prominent names from the LGBTQIA+ community who are content creators to get more clarity on their brand deals, inclusion tokenism, remuneration, challenges etc. in today’s day and age.

Sushant Divgikar

aka Rani KoHEnur

According to Sushant Divgikar aka Rani KoHEnur, a performing artiste and transgender rights activist, it was because of the democratic social media platforms that she was able to tell her entire story to the world and collaborate with creators and artists not just from India but across the globe, without having faced any discriminatory practices.

“I’ve never seen my gender or my orientation as a barrier in my art no matter wherever I go. Because I expect people to not have any preconceived notions about me, I never go into a show or a location with preconceived notions myself. I don’t have any expectations as such but only try to give my best and let my art speak more than my gender and what’s between my legs, because an artist is only successful when the audience truly transcends all the barriers and becomes one with the art,” she said.

Moreover, Divgikar also pointed out that not every brand understands the concept of the community and there are several players who still indulge in tokenism of the highest order by attaching gender to not just brands but also everyday commodities. For example, coffee is coffee, it’s not different when it comes to heterosexuals, transgenders, or even homosexuals and just remains to be coffee for everyone, irrespective of the consumer’s gender or orientation.

Niranjan Mondal

aka laughtersane

In the opinion of Niranjan Mondal aka laughtersane too there is no link between someone’s orientation and their professional growth as both are poles apart, but the reality is such that the society makes a taboo out of sexual orientation and tries to differentiate.

“In the beginning of my career, I did have some homophobic people around making comments and trolling, but also there was so much love from the other side so I focused on them only. In fact, when I came out, I had some insecurities about how my audience would react, but to my surprise, my audience gave me so much love and respect, which brought more optimism to both- my life and career. Now I feel it's not about ‘belonging to the community’, it is about your work and passion and how you please your audience,” he said.

Mondal also went on to add that because brands are there on social media for sheer business and not to judge or differentiate, in terms of the promotional aspect, they’ll keep coming back to the creator if at all the output they got from the particular creator was good and therefore, sexual orientation is not really a hindrance during collaborations. 

“I believe that brands are also changing with time and do not keep any kind of restrictions when promoting their products or services because at the end of the day, every brand wants to reach a larger audience and keeping any kind of inhibitions will only affect them further. It is in fact a real delight to see so many brands do campaigns which talk about breaking taboos and ‘societal norms’ today,” he stated.

Anusmita Dutta

aka Miss Dutta

Striking a similar tone, Anusmita Dutta aka Miss Dutta, stated that there has been a positive trend of more and more brands coming up with campaigns around the Pride month, which wasn’t the case earlier. Depending on the pitch or the brief shared by the brand in alignment with their motto, the creators from the communities are also being encouraged to come out and share their stories during the period.

“In my case, the average monthly remuneration over the year is the same as the one clocked in through the branded deals taking place during the Pride month. Also, the closing of such deals also depend on the forte or niche of the creator as not everyone can mould themselves for the presented briefs,” she said.

Moreover, she also shared that, in her opinion, it’s easier to express the concept of the spectrum or the community’s belief through genres such as makeup, fashion, dance, etc. However, the an individual’s sexual identity doesn’t impact or become a differentiation point on the number or kinds of branded deals being offered. 

“I came out publicly two years back and since then, both hate and love have become a part and parcel of my career as a creator. If I got 90% love from my audience, there were 10% people who engaged in hate and some even unfollowed me on my official handle. And I don’t blame them because I think that this is something that has to do with the upbringing of the people which makes the understanding of such concepts difficult. Having said that, people in our generation, especially on Instagram, seem to be more open and accepting as compared to Facebook,” she said.

Divesh Tolani and

Atulan Purohit

On the other hand, Divesh Tolani and Atulan Purohit, a queer couple who go by the name of Honey.Imm.Home, stated that living in India can be challenging for folks identifying on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum and thereby being a queer couple unapologetically residing in Mumbai can be viewed as an act of courage, simply owing to the kind of hatred the community is subjected to on a daily basis.

“Highlighting our travel journeys across the world is a hard pill to swallow for some. In fact we naturally became a new target for trolls and haters owing to our identity. Initially, we just saw it as people being angry at themselves and excreting that anger all over our page, which we were okay with. It was content engagement for us, and that’s all. However, recently, it's been a bit more flustering and that has indirectly also affected us and made us feel helpless,” they said.

Additionally, the couple also shared the view that minorities are often treated differently in every industry. When it comes to Tolani’s sales executive job, he prefers being in the closet until someone brings up the topic, but when it comes to Purohit who is a fitness trainer, the crowd is more open-minded and thus he owns up to his identity.

“But when it comes to content creation, we're often just seen inside the bubble of our personality being defined as just ‘gay’ and that being said, we're extremely proud of it and belonging to this community, in fact, we think it's the coolest thing ever! But, there is also more to us because until we change that mindset, the brand deals will not come in regardless of our numbers, reach, or even engagement,” they said.

Ketan

aka TheSanskariGay

Sharing a similar experience was Ketan, who along with his partner runs the handle TheSanskariGay, who stated that as a gay couple in the creative industry, their journey has been filled with unique challenges and experiences - albeit in terms of their encounters with homophobic comments, hate messages, and discriminatory behaviour from some individuals, who at times, even made the couple question whether the root cause behind such negativity was their LGBTQ+ identity.

“In terms of brand collaborations, we have faced occasional resistance from companies or sponsors who may not fully embrace LGBTQ+ content. This can limit opportunities and partnerships. It is disheartening to witness a sudden surge in brands being inclusive only during Pride month, while the rest of the year it feels less supportive,” he said.

He also added that it's important to acknowledge that the obstacles that they face are not exclusive to their LGBTQ+ identity, however, being part of the spectrum does add an extra layer of complexity due to ongoing biases and discrimination in society.

Commenting on the kind of remuneration or creative freedom that they are being offered by the brands as queer creators and whether the same matches with that of other creators, the couple behind Honey.Imm.Home (Atulan and Divesh) stated that while the creators in the industry are very hush-hush about their relationships and challenges they face with a brand because of the numerous agreements that they sign, it's very hard to compare whether the same creative freedom is being given to them or not.

“But yes, we've often seen that for the same collab project, we were restricted to a certain guideline, whereas someone was allowed to go through with their idea,” they added.

With that being said, the couple also pointed out that while there has been a change in the way brand teams go about remuneration and actually understanding the point of why the pride month is celebrated, we’re yet a long way from where we should be as an industry.

“It’s not just the brands to blame, but lots of creators and agencies too for they often don't realise the importance of speaking about such details (how the company/brand is actively helping the community, etc) before closing deals,” they said.

Backing this up was Rani KoHEnur, who emphasised that despite having a higher reach and engagement as compared to multiple creators doing the same job, she isn’t paid at par with male or a female creators when it comes to branded deals.

“At times I’m like am I losing my eyesight or a couple of zeros or what’s happening, but it is what it is and sometimes, the brands are shameless about it and they say it out loud that this is what the pay is and ask me to do what has to be done in the same amount or they’ll find someone else to do the job,” she shared.

Sharing another recent example, Ketan said, “One personal experience that stands out to us is when we had conversations with brands about their inclusive policies and products. We wanted to ensure that their values aligned with our own before considering any collaborations. However, we were met with scepticism and hesitance from some brands. They claimed that the audience wouldn't resonate with non-binary representation and themes, making us question their commitment to inclusivity. But instead of compromising our beliefs, we made the choice to reject the proposals.”

“This experience taught us that while there may be limited beats and genres readily available for the LGBTQIA+ community, it's essential for creators like us to push boundaries and challenge stereotypes. By creating content that authentically represents our diverse experiences, we can help shift the shallow approach of some audience members and foster a more inclusive and accepting culture,” he added.