Working with trans and gender diverse creators? Here is what you need to know

We’ve seen a boom of brands working with trans and gender diverse creators in the last two years. Brands are beginning to do their due diligence in representing the world as it stands and not how it’s previously been portrayed in more conservative decades. But when trans people have historically been chronically underrepresented in marketing and influencer campaigns, how do we know that we’re getting working with trans creators right?

I’m Rudy Jean Rigg, award winning trans and autistic creator, writer and host. I co-create Rainbow History Class, the queer and trans history you don’t get in school, and have hosted and co-written a Screen Australia funded TikTok exclusive docuseries TransAthletica. I enjoy long walks on the beach, dogs AND cats, but most of all I enjoy making the world a more inclusive place. 

First and foremost, an almost non-negotiable facet of working with trans and LGBTQ+ creators at large is to ensure you have engaged in a workshop run by an organisation such as Minus18 or Queer Town, who are able to run through the A-Z of how to be a more inclusive workplace. 

But while you’re making that fit into your heinously busy google calendar, instead of learning from your own mistakes let me take you through some simple things I’ve (unfortunately) experienced as a trans creator working with brands, agencies, production companies and beyond, and what you can do instead. 

• Brief every member of your team. Properly. 

Problem: Call sheets and decks often include pronouns, which is a great start, but there is nothing worse than turning up to a shoot or jumping on a briefing call only to be misgendered because not everyone has read them or taken the time to digest the content. 

Solution: In addition to keeping pronouns in your written communications, have everyone introduce themselves with their pronouns. An example would be, “Hiya, my name is Rudy, pronouns they/them”. It’s quick and efficient. Can’t get any easier than that.

• Consider the diversity of trans bodies when styling them AND make sure we’re comfortable.

Look, I’m 5”1’ and when it comes to looking masculine without also looking like a 14 year old boy, there is a level of styling knowledge that’s required. Mens clothing just doesn’t sit on me the same way it would on Ryan Gosling.

Problem: Stylists don’t generally consider body diversity (in particular height, hip measurement and shoulder broadness) closely enough to ensure clothes fit our bodies in an affirming – and stylish! – way. 

Solution: Ensure stylists have all measurements required to make educated styling decisions for trans creators and stress the importance of knowing and understanding how visual expression can play a key role in affirming trans people’s identities.

Cringy anecdote for your learning benefit – I’ve had stylists misgender me based on photos in a briefing deck provided to them and ended up at fittings where there has been awkward conversations between myself, the stylist, producers AND the client as to whether it’s “too late” to get a more appropriate wardrobe for me.

•  We use bathrooms, too! 

Problem: Using a venue that only has male and female bathroom access leaves trans people pressured to choose when they may not be comfortable, or to use the accessible toilet.

Solution: When at events or on set with trans creators, pop up amended signs on the bathrooms that state “all gender bathroom with urinals” and “all gender bathroom with stalls” to delineate the difference.

• Did you know trans people exist outside of Mardi Gras and pride month? 

Problem: There is an….unusual phenomenon where trans and gender diverse creators suddenly become hot property during queer tentpole moments of every company’s calender but by the time mid July rolls around it’s as if it’s our time to crawl back into the hole from whence we came. 

Solution: Incorporate trans and gender diverse creators as part of your overall brand strategy and sentiment to make the world a better place. Got an idea for a campaign that lifts up the LGBTQ+ community but it’s September? Send us an email, I promise you (pinky swear) we exist outside of February, March and June. It makes all the difference. 

The future of working with trans creators is built on respect, understanding and a genuine desire to represent a group of people who have had hundreds of years of systematic oppression placed upon them with little to no help getting back up. 

Taking into account these quick considerations is the perfect starting point to forming those relationships with trans and gender diverse creators as well as being positive changemakers in the industry. To me, the future of inclusion is a path that leads to a form of normalcy of trans identities and common practice when it comes to including everyone. 

It’s certainly not something anyone can achieve in a day but much like the consistency and dedication that it takes to get a brand TikTok account off the ground, when you give it love, care and attention it is absolutely possible and can be extremely rewarding. 

Rudy Jean Rigg (They/Them), content creator at Snack Drawer and co-creator of Rainbow History Class