Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ research platform has found that 1 in 7 LGBTQ+ people have experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity when in a shop or department store. In response to this data, Google has developed its #OpenToEveryone campaign to help medium-sized businesses to mark their shops as LGBTQ+ friendly spaces.

Charles-Antoine de Leiris, product marketing manager at Google, says, “According to Stonewall, giving businesses the opportunity to mark themselves as a safe space for the LGBTQ community is a key tool to help combat discrimination.”

Creative agency House of Greenland developed an engaging creative that allows businesses to demonstrate visual LGBTQ+ support on its Google profile. The campaign is based around Google’s Business Profile section which allows businesses to personalise information beyond just opening times and location.

The new creative will allow businesses to highlight a range of credentials, from being women-led to being LGBTQ+ friendly. The video titled ‘A safe space that’s made to measure,’ shows Orhan London Tailoring, an independent tailoring business in East London, as the employees explains how it came to offer bespoke wedding suits for lesbian and non-binary customers.

Documenting Orhan’s journey, the film uses interview style clips alongside footage of the employees and an LGBTQ+ couple opting to wear tailored suits over a traditional wedding dress. The video then shows customers scrolling through glowing reviews before store director Orhan Kaplan, says, “Our aim is to create clothes for all women, and what we do here is we make them feel welcome.”

“Through the LGBTQ-friendly attribute, all businesses can mark themselves as a safe space, and a welcoming environment for customers regardless of their sexual identity. House of Greenland has done a great job conveying the joy customers feel and express when this all comes together,” adds de Leiris.

The short video has launched on Google's YouTube channel.