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Gather your receipts. Take notes of what happens and how was there. Use it if they push you out to ask for a larger payout.
All agencies value money and low moral clients over their people but every so often you’ll find a shop that doesn’t. Find one with a Pride Employee Resource Group. Ok luck!
I understand the need to work on things that more or less align with your values but it’s not because it “feels” a certain way that it’s like that .
That sucks. But there are plenty of places that will be more comfortable for you. Good luck finding one.
Sounds like you’re taking the steps to leave. Hang in there. A new and better opportunity will come soon. There are plenty of shops you’ll feel more comfortable in.
See if you can switch teams/brand, if they ask why just say a CPG / other team looks interesting and is better fit cause you're passionate about it, and look quietly for another job
I’ve worked with plenty of so-called progressive men in agency-land that were equally broey and unsafe. One I’ll never forget was an agency founder whose only contribution to a strategy session for a “value” food brand was to honkingly joke about how he’d never seen a SNAP card till just a few days earlier. The CCO laughed uncomfortably along w him.
Happiest career pivot of my life was walking away from that whole group. They ended up all going to a fertilizer account, poetically.
As others have said, move on till you find a team that suits you. There may wind up being some people w different political ideologies than you… or not. But there are plenty of doors to knock on at your career stage.
Wow, this sounds awful. I’m so sorry. Does your agency know you’re queer? If so then in my opinion this is straight up unethical to have you work on something like this. However leadership is often willfully ignorant until an issue is actually raised.
Have you talked to your coworkers about it? Assuming they are also at least mildly progressive (as the majority of creatives tend to be), they probably are also deeply uncomfortable working on this. Not saying you can’t speak up for yourself and your own beliefs/ethics (You can! And if you DID get pushed out for that, many people would find that admirable, but I get that it’s still not ideal), BUT, there is also definitely strength in numbers. Talk to peers you trust. If everyone feels the same way, or even just one other person, you can agree to raise the issue together. They’re much less likely to fire or push out a banded team of people, especially for standing up for something that is objectively morally wrong.
I’ve faced this to much smaller degrees (gay male here), working for brands with right-wing leadership that donated to their campaigns, and LOTS of brands that are uncomfortable with anything Pride or queer-adjacent whatsoever (i.e. literally all of them). It sucks. Unfortunately with advertising you have to choose your battles. We all have, do, or will work on brands that we don’t align with. Most of the time I push through it, however your situation is much darker and closer to home. It’s up to you what you want to do. We all have our own boundaries and it is okay to just not feel comfortable working on something.
If I were in your specific situation I would definitely find peers who agree and raise the issue immediately, FWIW.
Sending hugs