Marty Davies – How brands can stand with trans+ communities

From Bud Light to Costa Coffee, trans+ representation has consistently hit the headlines this year following several cases of backlash. In the second episode of our new season of The Speakeasier, we speak to campaigner and industry thought leader Marty Davies about the state of trans+ inclusion in advertising.

Marty is the Joint CEO of Outvertising, the advertising industry’s LGBTQIA+ advocacy group and is co-founder of the grassroots community Trans+ Adland. Witnessing a coordinated backlash against trans+ talent in ads, Marty led Outvertising’s call for brands to stand their ground during Pride Month 2023. More than 120 organisations (The Unmistakables included) endorsed the intervention and the top 10 media agencies committed to divesting ad spend from disinformation in the media. Marty is also Campaign’s first transgender columnist and writes extensively about LGBTQIA+ experiences in advertising in her column, A Queer View.

In our conversation, Marty gives her take on what businesses and advertisers can do to support trans+ communities and how organisations must become allies without putting the burden on trans+ colleagues. She also shares how an industry-wide fear of getting things wrong holds back inclusion and the importance of getting comfortable with the reality of our ignorance. 

Time stamps

(03:42) - Marty and Outvertising’s origin story

(07:12) - Advocacy and community exhaustion

(12:12) - Bud Light backlash reaction

(15:49) - What is allyship in advertising?

(20:26) - Learning from ignorance

(24:08) - Trans+ representation in advertising

(30:06) - Retention and mental health

(32:12) - Ad spend funding trans hate

(38:27) - How to respectfully support trans+ talent

This episode was hosted by The Unmistakables’ Founder and CEO, Asad Dhunna, and Managing Director, Simone Marquis.

This episode is available to watch along with full subtitles on YouTube.