WeddingIQ Retrospective: Why Gender Neutrality Matters, Revisited
(Editor's Note: As explained in Monday's post, throughout the month of April, as we prepare for an exciting announcement next month, we'll be looking back at some of the most popular, talked-about, or personally significant posts we've ever written, with a fresh perspective on our mindset today. Up first? Jen's May 2012 post, "Why Gender Neutrality Matters.")
I can't kick off this post without first saying how glad I am that so many wedding business owners have embraced gender-neutral language in their marketing since I first wrote about the topic almost four years ago. Back then, while I knew many wedding pros who privately supported marriage equality and warmly welcomed LGBTQ couples as clients, but were very hesitant to restrict the heteronormative language found throughout their marketing, let alone write marketing copy directly to non-straight couples (or feature images of them).
When I decided to write about gender neutrality, I wanted to frame my post in such a way as to provide tangible advice for wedding vendors seeking to adapt their marketing copy to be more inclusive of LGBTQ couples. I explained how my own DJ company had successfully done this, and to this day, I maintain that our very public commitment to marriage equality has benefited our business in countless ways (as well as just being the right thing to do). We've had many clients, including plenty of heterosexual couples, thank us for being so inclusive. This, I think, is one of the best reasons to be forthcoming with the things you believe in: it helps your people to find you, and to feel even better about including you in their wedding.
So what's changed since I wrote that post? Well, nothing, with regards to my personal views, or my DJ company's directly marketing to LGBTQ couples. Otherwise, here are a few updates:
- A few months ago, I debuted my DJ company's first website redesign in many years; you can view the new version here. As with any major marketing overhaul, we tweaked lots of things, including some of our LGBTQ-centered marketing. Our new site includes LGBTQ weddings included among the banner images throughout our site, as well as throughout our galleries; an LGBTQ-specific page affirming our entire team's commitment to marriage equality; and. of course, LGBTQ weddings featured regularly in our blog.
- As part of my redesign, I left the term "same-sex weddings" out of our new LGBTQ page, and a colleague actually went out of his way to thank me for not using that term. I had no idea it wasn't favored anymore (and I realize I'm assuming here that it ever was in favor), but after hearing that remark, I ensured it didn't appear anywhere else on our site, either. I think this is a good example of how we may not always anticipate how preferred language changes over time, and we may not understand why, but neither of those things matter - we can always evolve to become more and more inclusive.
- Finally, in the years since I first ran the gender neutrality post, industry expert Bernadette Smith (whom I referred to in the post itself) has generously offered WeddingIQ readers an exclusive discount on her Gay Wedding Institute certification and online store! You can read more details on that fantastic offer here.
eady to check out my original gender neutrality post that got the inclusivity ball rolling here on WeddingIQ? Here it is:
Why Gender Neutrality Matters
We'll be back on Friday with another look over our shoulders!
