MRSpride SHOW UP: a summit for LGBTQ+ insights, experiences and perspectives
18 August 2022

The MRS network for LGBTQ+ professionals and allies in the research, insight and data sector wants you to speak up, stand up and SHOW UP as their next event approaches.

REGISTER HERE

“After so long not being able to ‘show up’ for each other, due to isolation and the weary introspection of the pandemic, this is a time of reconnection and new possibilities,” says Michael Brown, founding co-chair of MRSpride and Managing Partner for Insight, Data Solutions & Marketing at UM, who will be hosting the event on 15 September at their new office in Blackfriars, The Bailey. “After a couple of years of isolation, and the general trauma of Covid’s consequences, safe offline spaces for queer and trans people, and allies, are more special and needed than ever.”

“MRSpride: SHOW UP will be a chance to catch up with old friends, and make new ones, but we also hope to see many people ‘show up’ in the most pressing sense of the term: in solidarity, and that we come together to learn and support parts of the LGBTQ+ community who need it. It falls to our community, and our allies, to act to protect and defend the parts of the LGBTQ+ community who are vulnerable, and we can only do that by understanding the challenges and realities that those communities face today.”

To that end, MRSpride have curated three contemporary case studies that demonstrate how research and insight are being used to amplify the voices of the LGBTQ+ community to decision-makers.

Case study 1: How Mustard Research helped Manchester Pride return to its protesting roots

This presentation will showcase the importance of consulting with Manchester's LGBTQ+ community to help shape the future direction of Manchester Pride and how common ground was found amongst a hugely diverse (and sometimes conflicting) group of people.

Case study 2: Yonder Consulting highlight the differences between how organisations and consumers perceive LGBTQ+ issues

While good intentions exist, a product or campaign launch during Pride month can fail to recognise the true issues facing the LGBTQ+ community. This presentation will look at best practices for brands to engage with lesser heard audiences.

Case study 3: Stonewall and Walnut explore homophobia, biphobia and transphobia through evaluating the Rainbow Laces campaign

Using Reaction Time implicit testing of attitudes towards inclusion in sport, this presentation highlights areas where further work is essential to continue to positively influence attitudes, helping inform plans for the Rainbow Laces campaign in the future.

MRSpride are also delighted to welcome two fantastic keynote speakers:

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, AKA Lady Phyll, the renowned co-founder of UK Black Pride, will be discussing the importance of research for amplifying the voices of marginalised communities to power and the We Will Be Heard report.

Renato Verdugo, a User Experience Researcher at YouTube, will be flying in from the US to discuss the importance of embracing your own lived experience in your research practice.

“Someone was once reviewing samples of my work as a researcher and said to me, you’re not a researcher, you’re an activist,” says Renato. “He meant this as a criticism. There was too much of myself in my research practice, he seemed to imply. I’ve replayed that conversation many times in my head. Reimagining what I should’ve said, instead of the overwhelming silence and hurt I reacted with at the time.”

“It’s now many years later, and I have many sassy and witty things I’ve daydreamed of having said that day; more importantly, I’ve used the lessons from this interaction to found and lead a new research team at YouTube that focuses on understanding the lived experiences of historically underrepresented communities. In this talk, I’ll share how our research practice is grounded in our researchers’ own lived experiences. Our industry seems to have developed the idea that subjectivity in research somehow clouds our ability to be truthful and accurate. For us though, our own sense of identity is the fuel that drives our inquisitive spirit, our ethnographic inquiry, and our insight dissemination process.”

MRSpride: SHOW UP will be live streamed, so whether virtually or in person, Michael and the speakers hope to welcome many LGBTQ+ people and allies who wish to better understand the culture and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people today.

REGISTER HERE

The event is free and open to all thanks to MRSpride’s Principal Sponsor YouGov and the support of UM.