Adults' favorability of brands hiring LGBTQ spokespeople in the U.S. 2023

During an April 2023 online survey in the United States, little more than half (or 52 percent) of responding adults reported being either very or somewhat favorable of brands hiring LGBTQ spokespeople. The acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning persons. Over one-quarter (27 percent) of respondents said they were unfavorable of that rebranding move, while one-fifth said they did not know or had no opinion. The same study showed that over two-thirds of U.S. consumers favored brands hiring spokespeople who looked like them.

Missing colors in the rainbow

According to that survey, Americans do not extend the same level of approval to all members of the LGBTQ community. For instance, slightly less than half of the interviewees stated they supported companies hiring transgender spokespersons. The survey detected a very similar decline toward another gender-diverse group. U.S. adults' favorability of brands hiring nonbinary spokespeople also stood at 47 percent.

Consumer perception of corporations' role in promoting diversity

Nearly seven in 10 responding consumers reported deeming brands with a large target audience responsible for promoting diversity and inclusion. That opinion prevailed regardless of the respondents' age group, with over 60 percent of the interviewees agreeing partially or totally with that statement. The odd ones out were the millennials, which the source defined as Americans born between 1981 and 1996. Three out of four members of Generation Y agreed that corporations were accountable for a more inclusive society.