Internationally, brands like Banana Republic and Tiffany & Co have successfully featured same sex couples and LGBTQ audiences in their advertising as part of an attempt to include gay audiences. And yet South Africa, famed for our diversity, continues to represent homosexuals either as clichés or stereotypes. Wouter Lombard, head of talent at M&C Saatchi Abel, explains why this must change.

Marketing budgets need to work extra hard these days, and the LGBTQ audience is very much a niche market. Put these two facts together, and it’s understandable why so few brands have created advertising specifically targeting this market. That’s fine. I don’t expect brands to reach out to every single market segment – funds simply don’t allow for it.

What’s not fine, though, is that our ‘normal’, mainstream media is noteworthy for its lack of inclusivity. This means that gay people – especially young gay people – seldom (if ever) see anyone who they can identify with, either on screen, online or in print. Imagine how that feels. Apart from further isolating young people struggling with issues of identity, it also skews heterosexuals’ view of what it means to be gay, because they have very few references – and that only further fuels the stigmas. Read more via Mamba