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A message from our partners at Miller Lite:
Miller Lite Launched a New Program: Open & Proud
Aimed to create safer, more accepting spaces at bars for members of the LGBTQ+ community
When bars and restaurants across the U.S. started serving Miller Lite in 1975, the world was a different place than it is today – including, and in many cases especially, for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
For nearly 50 years, Miller Lite has partnered with advocacy organizations, raised funds for HIV/AIDS non-profits, vocalized support for the Equality Act and sponsored LGBTQ+ festivals and events nationwide. Now, the brand is entering the second year of its ‘Open & Proud’ program, in conjunction with Equality Federation.
‘Open & Proud’ combines two of Miller Lite’s strongest convictions.
- Bars and restaurants are to be safe spaces for guests and staff members, no matter their sexual or gender identity. Those aspects of a person’s being are to be celebrated and embraced, especially at the bar.
- Change happens collectively – to make a meaningful, sustainable impact, we must work together.
This program began in 2021, when Miller Lite and Equality Federation invited LGBTQ+ community members, bar and restaurant owners, staff members and local officials to participate in a series of town-hall style events across the country. These forums informed a training guide that Miller Lite has since developed, and now plans to distribute to the tens of thousands of venues that serve the brand’s products.
Pictured above is Harmonica Sunbeam, The Comedy Queen, moderating the Asbury Park, New Jersey town hall discussion.
Included within the training materials are recommendations for establishing gender-inclusive dress codes and bathrooms, zero-tolerance anti-harassment policies and de-escalation techniques for security and staff members should a conflict arise. While the guide also shares insight into creating events and programming specific to LGBTQ+ guests and allies, there’s also information around the all-too-common practice of “rainbow-washing*,” and alternatively, how to become a truly inclusive environment.
Of Pride flags and similar iconography, the guide says:
“Signage only works if the culture a bar or establishment creates is rooted in respect and common humanity. Bars should not promote inclusivity unless staff and management have made a deliberate decision to help the LGBTQ+ community feel accepted and included.”
By listening directly to the needs and experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, the Miller Lite team intends to serve as a strong, vocal advocate to the bars and restaurants that carry their beer. Ultimately, the goal is to inform, educate and work alongside venues to ensure that all guests and staff members feel safe and included at any establishment they step into.
Miller Lite is a proud USBG partner, working together to ensure the bar and restaurant industry thrives. In March 2020, Miller Lite donated $1 million to the USBG National Foundation and announced a ‘Virtual Tip Jar’ program, encouraging individuals around the country to join in supporting the millions of bar and service staff who were out of work.
To learn more about Miller Lite and the ‘Open & Proud’ program, visit millerlite.com/open-proud.
*“Rainbow-washing” is a term used to describe brands or places of business that say they support the LGBTQ+ community, but don’t follow their statements up with genuine action.