Introduction

Welcome to Making your writing LGBTQ+ inclusive. A short course for writers. Whether you are a professional copywriter, blogger, or you are writing text for your website, I’m sure you will want to make your writing as inclusive as possible, making all of your readers feel comfortable with your words. 

About this course

Writing is tough, especially if you are a professional writer. You have to juggle many things – story, grammar, engagement, audience – and after many hours of research and preparation, it can be easy to forget about the impact of your words beyond what you or your client needs.

When we simply throw words on a page and forget about that impact, there is the potential to do harm. And while some editors are able to pick up edit for sensitive language, others may not and, let’s face it, we all have a responsibility.

Representation matters for LGBTQ+ people. Reading about people who have the same identities as us and reading language that is inclusive of our identities is important and helps us to realise we are not alone.

Across the globe, we are seeing LGBTQ+ rights being rolled back. We see book bans and teachers and educators being banned from talking about LGBTQ+ issues. Under threat constantly are trans folx, with attacks from all sorts on many, many issues.

And this is why it is so crucial to get writers to use language. As you will discover in this course, your words can have some powerful effects – use that power responsibly!

This course has been designed for writers who are not part of the LGBTQ+ community. It has been written to help writers craft copy that is inclusive of the whole LGBTQ+ community and does no harm.

This course is aimed primarily at copywriters. Whether you write blogs, newsletters, marketing copy or something else, I hope you’ll find something useful within this course.

This course features a brief introduction to different LGBTQ+ identities and then goes on to explain how to make your writing as inclusive as possible. There are plenty of tips and advice for writing good copy that ensures that you do no harm.

On this course, we will not go into depth. This course has not been designed to help you write about the LGBTQ+ community. It is designed to help you be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community whatever you are writing.  

Why this course?

Words matter. Careless use of words can not only exclude or isolate people, they can harm individuals.

Historically, LGBTQ+ people have been marginalised. This is because of a combination of laws, societal expectations and non-acceptance. Attitudes are changing, thankfully, and we live in a far more accepting time.

Representation matters. Everyone responds to seeing themselves, or an aspect of themselves, reflected in media, whether that’s in writing, visual media or video.

One of the ways in which LGBTQ+ people can be marginalised is by use of language. This section of the course will introduce you to LGBTQ+ identities and how you can use language to be inclusive of all.

The impact of our words can often be overlooked. When we write, we write with a focus but we don’t necessarily reflect on the impact of the words. But there is always going to be an impact. Sometimes it’s what we want; other times there are unintended consequences.

Without realising it, words can have the effect of hiding entire communities of people. By accident, writers can exclude vast audiences. That’s not good for writers looking to build a bigger readership!

Whether you are a professional writer or looking to write copy for your website or blog, this course will help you understand the impact of language and how to ensure that your written words are as inclusive as possible.

About me

I am Nick (he/him), a freelance editor and proofreader, specialising in working with LGBTQ+-focussed texts, whether that’s fiction or non-fiction. I am a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association.

As this course deals with labels and identity, I feel it appropriate to let you know that I am a cis gay man. If this (or parts of this) don’t make sense right now, by the end of the course they will!

Aims

The aim of this course is to equip you, as a writer, with the knowledge and skills to write copy that is inclusive of and does no harm to the LGBTQ+ community.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand how language can be harmful
• Understand the wide spectrum of LGBTQ+ identities
• Be equipped to write inclusive and sensitive copy.