LGBTQI+ Community

“You can’t improve the user experience for your LGBTQI+ users until you understand where they’re coming from,”

- Jaymie Strecker (DreamHost 2021)

Importance of LGBTQI+
Inclusive Social Media

Ensuring your social media content is both accessible and inclusive for LGBTQI+ people not only benefits this community but improves the user experience for everyone.

Jaymie Strecker (2021) maintains “To provide the best user experience, you have to understand how that facet of their lives intersects with your site. Why would you want to alienate a significant percentage of your users?”

Strecker points out that some people hesitate when they hear the word “inclusive” because they equate it with “politically correct” and are afraid it will take away their creative freedom in crafting content for the site.

We all want to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of who we are or where we come from. LGBTQI+ visitors deserve the same consideration given to other users. Setting aside the very important issue of human rights, it just makes good business sense to make this diverse group feel at home when they visit every corner of the web.

How to Create LGBTQI+ Inclusive Content

Using Gender Neutral Terms

Being inclusive when it comes to pronouns on social media is crucial, especially in formats such as drop-down options. Gender forms should contain more than just binary options and it's important to cater for the diversity of gender in which individuals identify with. In addition to male and female, be sure to include ‘non-binary’ or ‘other’ as an option. A text field is the most accessible option as it will provide options that cover all of your users and provides individuals with agency over what they want their gender to be. Furthermore, there should be a level of consideration when assessing the value of collecting gender data altogether, especially if the data isn't purposeful within the context of its use.

Include LGBTQI+ Images

To actively foster the LGBTQI+ Use pictures and graphics that represent individuals and couples from the LGBTQI community. Though there aren’t many LGBTQI+ inclusive options on popular stock photo sites that you can buy, there are sites that offer inclusive content that reflect the diversity of the audience, such as TetraImages.com, the LGBTQI section at Getty Images Lean In Collection, and Canva’s Natural Woman Collection.

Use SEO to Promote Your Site

When you have an LGBTQI+-inclusive site, you want to ensure the community finds it — and there are tricks for making that happen. Building external links and partnerships from LGBTQI+-community websites and blogs will diversify and improve a site’s SEO backlink profile (DreamHost 2021).

It is important to emphasise the value of a meta-tag to drive an audience. Essentially, a meta-tag is how people find a website. When you go online and input search terms in a search engine, those very words are meta-tags. In a nutshell, to attract the LBTQI+ community to a website, meta-tag it by repeatedly mentioning the terms along with the matching product or service organically within the website.

The keyword opportunities are limitless- If your site covers healthcare topics, include an article about ‘transgender healthcare (ibid).

“You can’t improve the user experience for your LGBTQI+ users until you understand where they’re coming from…
This is an ongoing process. There are many ways to do it.”

- Jaymie Strecker

Attend or sponsor events for LGBT people and allies in tech
Follow blogs of LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations.
Get involved with local LGBTQI+ advocacy groups.
Support policies that promote diversity in the workplace.
Make LGBTQI+ resources available for employees.
If you have an LGBTQI+ person on your team, get their feedback.

Educate yourself about LGBTQI+ Issues and Terminology

The LGBTQI+ community is an incredibly diverse group with many communities and different points of view, consisting of people of all races, ethnicities, and nationalities.

Different LGBTQI+ people talk about their identities in very different ways so ensure to consult with the LGBTQI+ community for different aspects of your website.

Where possible, include LGBTQI+ representation in the website design, development, testing process, hiring, and vendor selection.

Consider Language

When writing the content for your site be mindful of non-binary terms. Gender fluid people are not confused, and you must be mindful of that. All LGBTQI+ people want is to be respected and acknowledged for who they are. When asking for a user’s sexual orientation, there are so many possibilities — it’s not just lesbian, gay, or bisexual — so your best bet is to provide a text field, Strecker advises. When asking for a user’s title, in addition to the usual “Ms.”, “Mr.”, and so on, include the gender-neutral title “Mx.” and make the field optional.

Protect User's from Harassment

“More and more online communities are instituting community agreements that protect users from harassment and hate speech,” Strecker says (DreamHost 2021).

To make sure users understand your expectations, your community agreement should list some of the kinds of harassment that are banned, for example, “on the basis of race, ethnicity, disability.” This list should also include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

Additionally, have a plan for how to respond to homophobic and transphobic comments. This may include deleting the comment, speaking to the user, and/or suspending the user’s account. Empower users to protect themselves. Many sites let users flag inappropriate comments to bring them to the attention of a moderator (who should be knowledgeable about LGBTQI+ issues). If your site has private messaging, enable users to block other users.

Support a Cause

Finally, if you’re a social enterprise make sure to showcase it on your site by showing exactly how you’re giving back to the LGBTQI+ community.

Whatever you decide to support, show how you’re helping on your website.

“The more you educate yourself about LGBTQ+ terminology and issues, the more you develop a sense of what is and is not appropriate to say.

DreamHost 2021, How to Design an LGBTQ-Inclusive Website, accessed 23 October 2021, <https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/how-to-design-lgbtq-inclusive-website/>