Now it’s no longer June, the majority of big companies don’t seem to care about LGBTQ+ anymore.
Pride month is fantastic. Let’s establish that from the off. “Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place.” (Captain Holt, Brooklyn 99).
Dedicating a month purely to celebrate every single person, who at one-time has been victimised and discriminated against, is a beautifully uplifting thing. Despite this, companies, (big companies, you know the ones) use it as a way to boost their sales and their public image. Which would be great, if they actually followed up with these views for the other 11 months of the year.
So, what can pirates teach these rainbow-washing-profit-grabbing corporations. (Rainbow-washing by the way is when companies plaster the Pride flag on their logo or websites only in Pride Month to appear “woke” and like they “care”.)
Pirates did not care about the gender or sexual orientation of their employees. And we don’t mean that in a negative way. As long as you were good at your job, and were successful in gaining a lot of gold, then pirates didn’t care whether you were cis, trans, non-binary, straight, gay, bisexual and/or pansexual etc.
You would not be treated differently, spoken down to, stereotyped, mocked, bullied, or made to feel excluded. You were part of the crew and treated with the same respect as everyone else on the ship.
But, it goes even farther than that. Same sex civil unions, known as Matelotage, was a common practice amongst Pirate Crews.
Pirates, regardless of their gender would unite in Matelotage, in which they would essentially be partners. If one of the parties was killed then all of their belongings would go to the ‘widowed’ party. Two famous Pirates from the Caribbean c.1600, Robert Culliford & John Swann, were in a Matelotage and even ended up living together after retiring from Ship Life. (Just a reminder, same-sex unions have only been made legal in general society in the last few years with Civil Partnerships in 2005 in the UK and Same-sex Marriage in 2014, but pirates are the real “bad guys”.)
Your gender or sexual orientation would not stop you moving up the ranks. Bartholomew Roberts, a Pirate Captain who famously drafted the Pirates Code, was a highly respected Buccaneer in his time, with many revering him as the most successful Pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy (1650–1730). Roberts was also openly gay.
He had a male partner who lived aboard his ship with him, despite not being a pirate himself. This man was the CEO of his ship, living with his partner, and was still known as one of the greats.
Enough about men. Let’s talk of Mary Read and Anne Bonny, two female Pirates who were incredible in their respective careers.
When both women eventually met, they entered into a relationship, potentially the first Lesbian Pirates in history. This isn’t even where their glass-ceiling busting ends. Both women also met, and fell in love with, Captain John Rackham and entered into a Polyamorous relationship.
And if that’s not enough reason to start to change your mindset on pirates- Did you know that the Spanish, French, and British Navies were regularly selling women into prostitution or slavery? And I bet you didn’t know those darned Pirates would purchase (or free) these women and add them into their Matelotage.
Now, Pirates didn’t get everything right. That’s very clear to see from A LOT of their doings. There are no records of any non-binary pirates, or any transgender buccaneers either. This isn’t a great look, but perhaps it is simply because there were no non-binary or transgender pirates. AND THAT’S FINE. Why? Because if you’ve read this far then it’s plain to see that any pirates belonging to these groups wouldn’t have been held back because of it. As long as they delivered gold and didn’t finish the rum, then they would have been accepted.
But enough of the pirate history, let’s get to the point- companies need learn to adopt a more pirate attitude, rather than Rainbow-washing for one month of the year. And here’s how:
MAKE CELEBRATING PRIDE AN ONGOING COMMITMENT
First of all, companies (and people) need to realise that using the rainbow in June isn’t allyship. It’s marketing. Pirates were not allowing Matelotage for one month of each year, it was an ongoing commitment. If one is truly an ally, then it needs to be a year-long commitment to helping the LGBTQ+ community.
STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT (AND DO IT CORRECTLY)
Many leading industry executives say they still see risk in including LGBTQ+ people and scenarios in advertising. For some, it’s a fear of public backlash for including the community at all. For others, it’s a different fear: That presenting the community inauthentically would lead to a larger backlash than not including them at all. If you fear the backlash for including the community, then you are the navy, putting profits over people. The pirates knew that by standing up for what is right, by being brave and going against the established way of doing things, they would actually have riches and a lifestyle far better than that of when they were in the navy.
If you are worried about presenting the community inauthentically, then maybe your team needs to be more diverse, or you should consider diversity and inclusion training to help you understand how to be authentic.
We recommend
https://www.diversematters.co.uk/our-services/equality-diversity-and-inclusion-training
BETTER REPRESENTATION
Perhaps there needs to be a bigger change. With only 3 openly LGBTQ+ CEOs in the FTSE 500, there is a great deal of underrepresentation. As you read in our history lesson above, pirates like Bartholomew Roberts would lead from the front. If this were to change then perhaps the whole approach to these communities could change for the better.
PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR RAINBOW IS
M&S came under a lot of fire for releasing a twist on the classic BLT and turning it into an LGBT (Lettuce, Guacamole, Bacon, Tomato). Now, ignoring the fact that guac in a BLT simply does not work, many in the LGBTQ+ community were offended in being reduced to a mere sandwich. However, one thing M&S did achieve was donating £10,000 to AKT, a charity to help with LGBTQ+ homelessness, and €1000 to Belong to Youth services, helping LGBTI+ in Ireland. This is one of the better ways to go about it. Despite rainbow-washing, at least they are donating money to actually help the people they are profiting from. True pirate behaviour in focusing on action instead of empty talk.
Some companies donate to LGBTQ+ charities without disclosing how much they are donating. Do not do this. If you’re going to donate to these (or any charities) that’s brilliant! So don’t be shady about it. Not disclosing how much you’re donating looks a little bit like you’re giving them spare change in exchange for a shout out.
STOP JUMPING ON THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BANDWAGON JUST TO APPEAR RELEVANT
BLM, Pride, Voter restrictions. If you care about this, then care. Do something. Don’t just act like it so you appear to be better than you are. That is worse than doing nothing. Support these causes ALL THE TIME.
HAVE A CODE, AND STICK BY IT
Pirates were known for having a clear, strict code, and punishing any who didn’t abide by it. If any members of your staff engage in anti-LGBTQ+ behaviour, don’t brush it under the carpet or class it as ‘just a joke’, lead by example by calling out this behaviour and having clear punishments in place.
FOCUS LESS ON ADVERTISING, MORE ON PROPERLY SUPPORTING YOUR STAFF
The most important change, is supporting your LGBTQ+ members of staff properly. If this is done then the real issues slowly start to go away. This is the best way to help the community and to stop simply rainbow-washing without actual effect. After suffering the brutal conditions of being in the Navy, Pirates knew the importance of looking after their crews. This wasn’t because they were holy as thou and wanted to make the world a better place, but because they knew that if your crew is happy and functioning, then stress is reduced, and profits are increased.
And that’s that. How to not be a rainbow washer during pride month, and how you can be more pirate. Speaking of which, if you would like to learn how to be more pirate, check out https://www.bemorepirate.com/ and give their books a read.
If there’s anything you think we have missed, do let us know in the comments below
