Half a century after the Stonewall riots, M&C Saatchi ‘captures the rainbow' to encapsulate the key moments, achievements and pains of the LGBTQ+ community, in a partnership with Getty Images in London.

In 1969, the Stonewall riots marked an important moment in the fight for LGBT rights, setting the founding stone for the future of the gay liberation movement. Fifty years later, the wounds of abuse, discrimination and prejudice are still fresh, but there is much to be proud of, much to look back to. In a celebration of the LGBT community’s most important achievements, M&C Saatchi partnered with Getty Images on 26 June to put together a photographic exhibition in the heart of London, next to the main arteries of the London Pride.

A panel of speakers from Getty Images, Pride in London and M&C Saatchi addressed the issues still to overcome in terms of LGBT representation in the media and marketing. “Brands are finally realising they need to be inclusive to this community, not just market to this community,” says Guy Merill, head of art at Getty Images.

They discussed issues ranging from ‘lesbian invisibility’ to better representation of a more diverse landscape of people in the LGBT community. However, the warned against brands simply badging themselves with a rainbow flag, without backing that up with actual support for LGBT inclusion.

It was not the first time M&C Saatchi showed its commitment to advocate for the LGBT community. Back in 2013, following the ban of pride parades in Russia, the company had invited all members of the community to ‘go west,’ directing Russians to Stockholm for the pride parade. ‘Capturing the Rainbow’ is just the latest of a series of events organised by the agency in the past years, to celebrate diversity and inclusion on a global scale.

The exhibition at the end of June was part of the broader ‘Capturing the Rainbow’ initiative, supporting the LGBT community with a fortnight of events and panels. Getty Images dove to the heart of its archives to fish up images and pictures connected to the LGBT community, using keywords and analytics to scan a database swarming with photographs.

For more from Communicate magazine, sign up for the Transform newsletter here and follow us on Twitter @Communicatemag.