Chris Dunne is Head of Marketing, Thinkbox and CEO, Outvertising. Outvertising is the marketing and advertising industry’s not-for-profit, volunteer-run LGBTQIA+ advocacy organisation. Chris’s career spans two decades, he was named in The Media Leader’s inaugural Future 100 list, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the UK Accessible Advertising Alliance, and the IPA’s Effectiveness Leadership Group.
All in all, he is one of our industry’s total heroes.
What is the biggest challenge for members of the LGBTQIA+ community in our industry and how is it being overcome?
The biggest challenge for all queer people is the wave of anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment and policy that’s emerging here and around the world. The annual Rainbow Map, which rates European countries on legal and political justice for LGBTQIA+ people, has just shown the UK drop from 16 to 22 – we were number 1 in 2014.
Sadly our industry is part of the issue, from Meta allowing more hate speech that targets the LGBTQIA+ community to the sharp increase in media articles that single out the Trans+ community. We’re also seeing a rise in transphobic and homophobic hate crime in this climate of hostility towards the Trans+ and wider queer community.
And as the recent All In Census tells us, queer people in our industry are more likely to be affected by stress and mental health conditions than the average, and are far more likely to leave the industry due to a lack of inclusion.
So we’re in danger of losing a significant chunk of talent, people that bring unique perspectives and lived experiences that help make our industry the dynamic and creative environment it is.
What things could employers do to make the industry better for the LGBTQIA+ community?
Every employer is at a different stage in their LGBTQIA+ inclusion journey, so no one solution fits all. That’s why we created the Outvertising Advocacy Playbook with our friends at the Conscious Advertising Network. It’s essentially a how-to guide for building LGBTQIA+ equity in the workplace and also into our advertising and marketing outputs.
We all have a role to play in driving inclusion, and it’s not just in the hands of leadership and HR. Regardless of your role or seniority, you’ll be able to work through the Playbook and come up with your own to-do list to make your workplace more equitable for LGBTQIA+ folk.
Right now, I’d expect every organisation in our industry to be looking specifically at their polices and practices and how they include or exclude the Trans+ community. Do you have a Transitioning at Work Policy, for example? If you provide private healthcare as a benefit, does it include transitioning or gender-affirming care?
The answer to both of these questions right now might be ‘no’, but if the questions have yet to be asked then how can anything change?
What impact can a more inclusive approach to LGBTQIA+ communities in our industry have on society as a whole?
We shouldn’t underestimate the power of advertising and marketing to shape the cultural landscape. The stuff we put out into the world can enlighten and inspire. It can help create equity and eliminate the harms related to our work, such as hateful rhetoric or unhelpful stereotyping in parts of the media.
We’ve seen research from GLAAD which shows that media exposure drives familiarity and acceptance with non-LGBTQIA+ people. And advertising is clever stuff – it gets into places that other types of content cannot reach. We need LGBTQIA+ visibility in mediums that can cut through the noise and reach consumers who wouldn’t otherwise opt into queer content and storytelling.
And I believe there’s also huge signalling power from brands featuring LGBTQIA+ people in their advertising. Consumers know thousands of people are seeing a TV ad at the same time, that a beautiful 48 sheet poster with a queer character at its heart can’t just be taken down or edited if some people cause heat online.
People understand it costs a lot of money, and it’s an investment that has to deliver business results, so it’s a commercial statement of solidarity, and that has a potency all of its own.
What support structures and organisations are most important and effective to the LGBTQIA+ community in the industry? What more is needed?
Establishing an LGBTQIA+ employee network can be hugely effective in giving queer people in our industry a voice and a space of safety to express themselves and drive change internally. But not every company has the scale or assigns the budget to support these groups, so we need our industry to do its bit to protect those that can help provide that structured network.
That’s why it’s so important for organisations like ours to exist, as well as Bloom, MEFA, NABS and others. We have no regular revenue stream at Outvertising and are completely run by volunteers, so I’m immensely proud of how much we achieve with such limited resources.
From producing guides like the Playbook, running our free Mentoring Programme, putting on an annual conference, and appearing at industry events to advocate for LGBTQIA+ equity, we do a huge amount but our impact is restricted. We cannot do it alone, that’s why it’s important to mobilise as many allies as possible from all corners of the industry to start putting that allyship into meaningful action.
What can brands, agencies and tech companies do to ensure they aren’t merely rainbow washing?
It’s about walking the walk before talking the talk. We’ve seen many organisations jump straight to the public-facing show of support and come unstuck when it’s become apparent that they haven’t got their own house in order.
So do that work first. Handily, the Playbook gives you a framework to get the basics right before you move on to being more public in your support.
The newer challenge we have now is the fear of backlash from public support of the LGBTQIA+ community. So you have inclusive companies that are doing the work internally but stopping short of anything publicly, which is particularly hard to swallow at a time when we need that public support more than ever
It was a very quiet Pride Month in terms of visible support, and where five years ago we would’ve been quite hot on brands rainbow-washing, I’d take a few rainbow logos right now. Depressingly, it’s something of a radical thing to do in 2025.
How effective are trade bodies, industry awards, and the industry press at supporting and promoting LGBTQIA+ inclusivity?
From where I’m sat, I think we’re ahead of many industries, but we can always do better. We’re fortunate that the Advertising Association, IPA and ISBA came together to form the All In Census, which gives us a regular measure of how our talent is faring and how we’re tracking on creating an industry that’s inclusive for all.
Our trade press have always been supportive in covering the big issues, but fear and miseducation are the biggest barriers to progress so we need to keep that regular drumbeat of coverage to maintain and grow awareness of the issues.
We need to do more to educate and build up the confidence of those people in our industry who want to do more but are hesitant, perhaps fearful of saying the wrong thing, using the wrong language, or being called out for not doing enough.
In terms of industry awards, we see plenty of categories recognising campaigns or initiatives ‘for good’, but everything tends to get put into the same bucket. You’ve got inclusive work competing with climate action campaigns and any other purpose-driven activity, so it’s rare that LGBTQIA+ work gets its moment to shine.
The day that we get a Rainbow Lion in Cannes will be a very good one indeed.
