🏳️‍🌈 Pride is Personal, Not Just Promotional — What It Means to Lead With Identity in the Influencer Space

 The most impactful influence is not manufactured, but comes from genuine identity!

I think this would be the article or quote number infinity where I keep harping on the fact of trust and authenticity. Yes, you as a brand need to invest in authenticity for 2 reasons

Either your brand lacks authenticity and you need to piggy back on the creators to do so  OR

You are authentic and so has to be your brand extension in terms of creator selection who are authentic

Coming back to the topic in hand, Pride is Personal, Lead with Identity!

Before we deep dive into the LGBTQIA++ Community, let’s look at examples of Lead with Identity and go back to where this all began and who were the front runners.

Let’s look at Riaan George, a luxury lifestyle creator who comes from the entertainment journalism space even today only looking at authentic conversations. Conversations and endorsements and brands that truly add value to his extension of brand and ensure his audience is always hooked. It’s not who has more followers, it’s about who HAS THE RIGHT INFLUENCE!

Another example, Masoom Minawala, OG luxury creator and even today revered in that space. When you think of luxury and females your brain will always make you think of Masoom Minawala first. The examples of authenticity in the creator ecosystem are far and wide. Let’s also look at the Bollywood ecosystem, Sonam will never associate herself under mass premium and over a period of time its only premium and luxury. When was the last time you saw her do an ad for LYRA Leggings or VIP Bags? You won’t! She is the face of L’oreal and now global brand ambassador for Dior!

 Now coming back to my beloved community and talking about LEAD WITH IDENTITY!

It’s a tight rope to walk in this place called the INTERNET where something you say from your POV can get you cancelled, trolled, turned into memes! But we have been through this even before the era of social media. We are a bit more thick skinned than the rest. We’ve lived the real thing, reel life doesn’t faze us.

Let’s look at this beautiful human and a friend as an example, Sushant Divgikar aka Rani Ko-HE-Nur. An unapologetically queer voice in the entertainment industry, His identity doesn’t shine through for a month starting June and then the rainbow disappears post that. It stays in every conversation, every partnership, every occasion and every minute of their life.

They show up every single day, challenging binary norms, pushing for inclusivity in mainstream music and OTT content, and embodying fluidity both on-stage and online.

When brands like Levi’s collaborate with them, the impact hits differently. Not because it’s “on theme,” but because it’s on the truth. These aren’t partnerships born from a Pride calendar slot; they’re rooted in shared values and mutual respect for voice.

Don’t dilute—amplify it is another way of life and the perfect example carving the way for the next generation is Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, India’s first trans doctor-turned-actor and activist, use their platform to speak about gender dysphoria, caste, queerness, and healthcare. They are proud, they are bold, unapologetic and living and speaking their truth. Their work, be it movies or brand deals are an extension to them, opportunities that helps amplify their voice as seen on Elle and Netflix India.

And how can one miss the name Parmesh Shahani, when you talk about lead with pride! He has been in the forefront as an author to drive the LGBTQIA+ inclusion program in India within the corporate world and is the founder of Godrej India Culture Lab. Those bold prints and choice of colors isn’t his way of wearing the pride flag, but it’s his pride that makes him embrace the colors which is an extension of his ever impressive identity and personality.

Let’s also share love and respect for our beloved community of allies who never steer away from the truth and have held their grounds for years. From writers, directors like Apurva Asrani, Onir to actors like Celina Jaitly, Sonam Kapoor who have been in the forefront of the conversations to support the community. They don’t shy away from speaking up and that’s what’s important.

But leading with Identity, has its own challenges! One being acceptability, two; educating your audience, three; not giving up as the internet can be a nasty place filled with trolls and anonymous haters who have nothing else to do but just drop mean comments as if their livelihood depends on it!

But the ones who do are the ones who have nothing to lose but gain. Of course you’ll have idiots around you stereotyping and making remarks but if this community can’t shut you up with our quick wit and a razor sharp tongue then who can?

We are proud of ourselves and who we identify as.

That’s true leadership and influence for the next generation to see and follow.