• by Danielle Oster , August 14, 2024

The Ad Council launched the latest installment in its ongoing “Love Has No Labels” campaign, “American Dreams,” with a focus on the discrimination faced by LGBTQI+ individuals in the U.S.

One 60-second hero ad, “A Place To Call Home,” shares a series of idyllic scenes of people enjoying a backyard and quiet neighborhood, accompanied by a voiceover celebrating the common dream of finding such a home. It’s not until the end of the PSA that it addresses the issue at hand: “In over 50% of states, you could be denied housing if you are LGBTQI+.”

According to a survey conducted by the Center for American Progress (CAP) in 2022, nearly 30% of LGBTQI+ individuals faced some kind of housing discrimination or harassment over the course of the previous year -- including being prevented or discouraged from buying a home, being denied access to a shelter, and harassment from roommates or neighbors.

Other entries in the campaign focus on “The Opportunity to Work for a Better Life” and “The Freedom to Live in Safety.”

The latest initiative in the “Love Has No Labels” campaign was funded by California's BRIDGE Project Fund.

“American Dreams” will run nationwide across ad inventory donated by the media industry, including iHeartMedia, which also produced audio activations for the campaign. The Ad Council partnered with nonprofit organizations and issue experts to develop the initiative, including GLAAD, The Human Rights Campaign, the Movement Advancement Project and The Trevor Project; as well as the “Love Has No Labels” advisory committee; and longtime partner agency R/GA.

The campaign will also include custom content featuring celebrities, influencers, and other messaging partners to “meet audiences where they are” and “extend this critical message,” according to a release announcing the campaign.

A campaign page gets into more nuance about specific ways in which certain groups, such as trans people, intersex people, and LGBTQI+ people of color face distinct challenges with discrimination and harassment, along with ways to help address such discrimination.

In addition to housing discrimination, the CAP survey found that around half of LGBTQI+ people reported facing some form of workplace discrimination or harassment over the past year due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status.

"No one should face discrimination because of who they are," said Ad Council President and CEO Lisa Sherman. "There is more that unites us than divides us, and this new campaign was designed to empower individuals across the country to see the inequities impacting so many and take actions that help ensure that LGBTQI  people also have the opportunity to pursue their dreams."

That message of unity has always been central to “Love Has No Labels,” which initially launched back in 2015 with a video that went on to be one of the year’s most-watched on YouTube. Unfortunately, in the years since “Love Has No Labels” made its debut, attacks on the rights of LGBTQI+ people, and trans individuals in particular, have proliferated across many states with Republican-controlled state or local governments.