Diversity Digest: Celebrating Pride Month

Welcome to the Pride edition of the WBD Diversity Digest. Pride Month gives us an opportunity to shine a light on the LGBTQ+ community’s history, culture, and many achievements; raise awareness about LGBTQ+ inclusion; and demonstrate allyship through our enduring commitment to fostering a welcoming and equitable workplace for all. Take a look below as we recap Pride Month highlights from across the WBD portfolio.

Feel Your Pride with Max

Max was “The One to Watch to Feel Your Pride” during Pride Month as they showcased an array of queer content (some of which can be seen in Max’s Pride Month spot here), from the recently released “Gaga Chromatica Ball” to the journeys of “We’re Here,” “Fantasmas,” “Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home,” and “Am I OK?”. Throughout the month, Max updated its in-app LGBTQ+ Voices page with fresh, new curations including “Presenting with Pride,” “Pride in Every Story,” “Beyond the Binary,” and “Queer Film Club,” custom artwork, and more.

Max also hosted and participated in various events throughout the month. Max’s Human By Orientation platform hosted a “House of Drag” viewing party on the premiere night of the second season of the HBO Original drama series “House of the Dragon” on June 16 in Brooklyn, NY. Hosted by Priyanka from the fourth season of “We’re Here,” the sold-out event featured a "Battle for the Iron Throne” that rallied the queer fandom of “House of the Dragon” alongside the larger community for a special Pride event featuring fan experiences and more. Max also collaborated with NewFest during its annual Pride Festival (May 30 - June 3), activating both virtual and in-person community screenings of LGBTQ+ titles. Max, in collaboration with NewFest Pride, Rooftop Films, and the Meatpacking District, also hosted an outdoor screening of the HBO Original concert special “Gaga Chromatica Ball” on June 3 in New York.

LGBTQ+ Talent Shine on WBD’s US Nets

WBD’s US Networks highlighted LGBTQ+ talent and stories throughout Pride Month, through featured programming marathons, new and returning series, and other mediums, including:

TCM published a book called ‘Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film.’ The book, available now, was written by renowned film critic Alonso Duralde. During Pride Month, Duralde, alongside TCM host Dave Karger, also hosted a two-part Hollywood Pride marathon on June 21 and June 28 on TCM. The marathon featured titles such as “Sylvia Scarlett” (1935), “Caged” (1950), “A Taste of Honey” (1961), and “Gay USA” (1977).

TBS aired Pride Month marathons, including a movie marathon on June 15 that featured “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), and “Pitch Perfect,” as well as a curated “Modern Family” marathon on June 22.

Food Network created and ran in-program messages celebrating LGBTQ+ inventors and innovators in the food space that ran within June's programming stacks. Food Network’s digital and social accounts also celebrated Pride by highlighting content from digital contributors, showcasing rainbow recipes, and uplifting food-related nonprofits supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

HGTV got the royal treatment with glamorous drag queen and star of discovery+ series “Trixie Motel,” Trixie Mattel. Mattel, along with partner and motel co-owner David Silver, joined the HGTV family with new renovation project “Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home.” The couple take the leap into home ownership and cohabitation with the purchase of their dream home in Los Angeles, but it needs revamping to make it fit for a queen. The series streamed on Max with a weekly release throughout the month of June. HGTV also aired its series, “Bargain Block,” in June and beyond, which sees partners Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas buy run-down and abandoned properties in Detroit and transform them into affordable, stylish starter homes for first-time homebuyers.

In June, TLC aired "90 Day Fiancé: Love in Paradise" featuring Shawn and Alliya who vulnerably share their journey as a couple navigating Alliya’s transition, while also exploring the intricacies of their international love story. Shawn and Alliya conducted multiple press interviews in support of the LGBTQ+ community with outlets such as Pride.com, Advocate, Distractify, and more.

CNN Delves into LGBTQ+ Journeys

THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER
“The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper,” a CNN Original, returned during Pride Month with two immersive stories. The first, titled “Drag War,” premiered June 9 and offered a colorful examination of how the art of drag performance has become a major target for the political right through the lens of local drag queens based in Florida. CNN National Correspondent Randi Kaye reported from Tampa to Tallahassee, Florida, speaking with state politicians on both sides of the issue and local drag queens fighting for their right to perform. Featuring insight from winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Fulbright Scholar Sasha Velour, “Drag War” explored the history of drag and the cycles of acceptance and backlash that have repeated throughout history.

The second, titled “The Playing Field: The Battle Over Transgender Athletes,” premiered June 11 and featured reporting on transgender student athletes, a community finding themselves at the center of a culture war. At least 24 states in the US have already passed some form of ban on trans student athletes, and this episode takes a deep look at the stories of those targeted by this legislation, following them for more than a year.

AS EQUALS
“Beyond The Binary” is a series from CNN As Equals that explores what life is like for transgender and non-binary people in different parts of the Global South. Through written features and video, the award-winning team captured the stories of a range of characters with in-depth reporting.

A Rainbow of Celebrations

During the month of June, WBD curated and participated in various events to celebrate Pride. WBD employees marched in Pride parades in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle; and in Atlanta, WBD’s Pride Business Resource Group hosted an event at our Techwood campus to unveil the WBD panel contribution to the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The event featured remarks from key leaders addressing HIV/AIDS. WBD Corporate Social Responsibility also served as the signature sponsor of the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (also known as Frameline48). The festival also hosted a Juneteenth block party featuring a screening of the HBO Original documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.”

Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) also got in on the Pride celebrations. In conjunction with SaMo Pride on the Promenade in Santa Monica, CA, WBTVG brought a branded coffee truck to the street fair, partnering with Auntie's LA, a Black and Queer owned coffee brand, to hand out free coffee with branded sleeves, heart fans, and t-shirts to passersby. WBTVG also brought a screening of “Pretty Little Liars: Summer School” (episode 6) to ATX TV Festival in Austin, TX. The screening preceded a panel with the producers and cast that discussed transphobia and homophobia as the episode’s storyline follows the characters’ decision to arrange an unofficial Pride party.

Always Proud.

While we celebrate the LGBTQ+ members of our WBD family all year long, Pride Month gives us an extra opportunity to shine a light on the employees, talent, and other stakeholders who make up the fabric of our company. WBD’s Diversity Outreach and Employer Branding teams partnered together on a social media and talent community campaign to celebrate and champion some of our trailblazing LGBTQ+ employees and allies, leveraging WBD’s “Always Proud” Pride Month theme. See spotlights here and here. In June, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank also showcased costumes and characters that have represented the LGBTQ+ community in film and television through their Stage 48: From Script to Screen exhibit.

During Pride Month, we recognized some of the LGBTQ+-owned suppliers that are proud partners of WBD. Digital Media Management (DMM) is a LGBTQ+-founded and led social media agency that has worked with WBD for over 12 years. Last year, DMM worked with Warner Bros. Pictures on the social media campaign for the summer blockbuster, “Barbie,” and is currently working with HBO on the social campaign for “House of the Dragon” season 2. Seismic Productions is a pioneering LGBTQ+-owned and operated creative advertising agency that has partnered with Warner Bros. Pictures on creative campaigns for films such as “Barbie,” “Aquaman,” and “Wonka.”

In June, the Critics Choice Association debuted their inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television event in Los Angeles. WBD was thrilled to have multiple honorees acknowledged during the first-ever awards event, including:

• Actor Carl Clemons-Hopkins received the Supporting Performance Award for Television (Series) for their role in the Max Original “Hacks.”
• Actor Chris Perfetti received the Breakthrough Performance Award for Television (Series) for his role as Jacob Hill in Warner Bros. Television’s “Abbott Elementary.”
• Co-creators Johnnie Ingram and Stephen Warren, along with showrunner/director Peter LoGreco, and drag queens Sasha Velour, Priyanka, Jaida Essence Hall, and Latrice Royale received the Reality TV Award on behalf of the Emmy Award-winning HBO Original series “We’re Here.”