Past the Post: Moving Pride and Juneteenth From Solidarity to Policy

Posted on Jun. 29, 2026  /  Diversity & Inclusion, News  /  Subscribe 0

As a progressive politico, I love good policy. Good policy is grounded in ethics and a moral compass, built with two areas in mind: the law and the public. We saw this in action with the New York City Hall opening the legislative chamber for a Pride Ball. With performances by LGBTQIA+ artists and proclamations honoring activists, the celebration was tethered to the Council's ongoing work to advance LGBTQ+ policy. Ballroom culture is a testament to people who created their own families and safety when institutions would not. By hosting this culture inside the seat of government, the city asserted that these communities belong where decisions are made.

Days earlier, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office opened Pride by launching a "Trans Rights Are Human Rights" campaign. A public-awareness push pointing New Yorkers to specific, enforceable protections under the city's Human Rights Law, it was launched on data showing a rise in gender-identity discrimination complaints and backed by a standing Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs and budgeted care. 

Research + policy + message = good public relations, rooted in RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation) on a city's letterhead.

Our credentials define public relations not as mere message and tactical production, but as a management function. We are the counsel an organization leans on to navigate the law and the public. Our job is to sit in the room where the organization decides what policies it will implement to affect the publics we want to reach. For those of us doing this work, the lesson is clear: anchor the message to something real.

I propose we stop helping clients say the right thing and start helping them do it. Here is how:

1. Audit before you advocate.
Before you greenlight a rainbow logo or a Juneteenth graphic, run the research. Do the organization's policies survive a second look? Check for inclusive healthcare, equitable leave, transparent pay, supplier diversity, and real protections in the employee handbook. If the post says one thing and the policy says another, you have built exposure, not a campaign.

2. Claim the seat.
Stop apologizing for having an opinion about the business. Walk into leadership with more than a content calendar. Bring a recommendation: identify where the organization’s reputation is exposed, what the public needs, and the policy required to address it. That is the job description.

3. Trade the gesture for the guarantee.
A 30-day campaign is a gesture; a benefits policy is a guarantee. A Juneteenth sale is a gesture; a paid holiday paired with a standing investment in Black-owned suppliers is a guarantee. Counsel your clients to spend where it is structural, not just seasonal.

4. Build the backbone.
When a position is a graphic, a boycott threat can erase it. When a position is a policy your leadership has pressure-tested and committed to, you have something to defend. Do the issues-management work now—decide what is non-negotiable—so that fear does not dictate your client's values.

5. Listen louder than you broadcast.
Two-way symmetrical communication is a discipline. Don't speak for the community—build the channels to hear it. Bring employee resource groups and stakeholders into the room before the campaign starts. The best counsel is often the question you ask the right people first.

6. Make it measurable.
Solidarity that disappears on July 1 is not a strategy. Set objectives that track outcomes: policy adopted, partnerships funded year-round, and retention rates. If you cannot measure whether anything actually changed, you ran a decoration, not a campaign.

This June, and in the future, let's do the harder, better work of counseling our clients toward something real. We are not just the messengers; we are the counsel. It is time to act like it.

Kirstin L. Cheers, M.A.
DEI Chair, PRSA Memphis

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