Content of the letter from employees in the group to $NFLX management -
<quote>
Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that there are many places where Netflix still has to grow when it comes to content relating to the trans and non-binary community. The Trans* Employee Resource Group, which includes trans and non-binary colleagues as well as our numerous allies, wants Netflix to immediately take the steps below to begin to repair the relationship between the Company, our colleagues, and our audience.
Specifically, we want the Company to adopt measures in the areas of Content Investment, Employee Relations and Safety, and Harm Reduction, all of which are necessary to avoid future instances of platforming transphobia and hate speech, and to account for the harm we have caused and will continue to cause until the below measures are put in place.
> Content Investment
* Create a new fund to specifically develop trans and non-binary talent
○ This fund should support both above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) talent;
○ This fund should exist in addition to the existing Creative Equity Fund;
○ Increase investment in trans and non-binary content on Netflix comparable to
our total investment in transphobic content, including marketing and promotion;
○ Invest in multiple trans creators to make both scripted and unscripted programs
across genres;
○ Revise internal processes on commissioning and releasing potential harmful
(“sensitive”) content, including but not limited to involving parties who are a part of the subject community and can speak to potential harm, or consulting with 3rd party experts/vendors;
○ Increase the ERG role in conversations around potentially harmful content and
ensure we have best in class regional support on complicated intersectional diversity issues;
○ Hire trans and non-binary content executives, especially BIPOC, in leading
positions;
> Employee Relations and Safety
○ Recruit trans people, especially BIPOC, for leadership roles in the company
(Director, VP, etc.) and promote an inclusive environment for them;
○ Allow employees to remove themselves from previous company promotional
content (e.g. allyship and diversity videos, etc.);
○ Eliminate references/imagery of transphobic titles or talent inside of the
workplace, including but not limited to murals, posters, room names, swag;
> Harm Reduction
○ Acknowledge the harm and Netflix’s responsibility for this harm from transphobic content, and in particular harm to the Black trans community;
○ Add a disclaimer before transphobic titles that specifically flag transphobic language, misogyny, homophobia, hate speech, etc. as required;
○ Boost promotion for Disclosure and other trans-affirming titles in the platform; Suggest trans-affirming content alongside and after content flagged as
anti-trans.
We are employees, but we are members, too. We believe that this Company can and must do better in our quest to entertain the world, and that the way forward must include more diverse voices in order to avoid causing more harm. The Trans* ERG looks forward to working with the Company to make this a better, more entertaining place for us all.
The irony here is that if Netflix gives into these demands, it will reaffirm the idea that the LGBTQ movement is more powerful than any other underprivileged class, just as Dave Chappelle described in his special; the source of his jealously.
I think it’s more likely a natural human response to the lack of autonomy we experience in the modern world. Especially during childhood we are forced to live our lives on rails, and we have no power to change the circumstances we find ourselves in nor to feel the innate pleasure of having solved problems with direct consequences. Animals in zoos develop strange behavior patterns. Why should we expect to be any different?
The irony is that these very same people who’ve been most damaged by the system choose to make themselves more dependent on it, and are also the ones who help it to strip more autonomy from all of our lives.
<quote>
Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that there are many places where Netflix still has to grow when it comes to content relating to the trans and non-binary community. The Trans* Employee Resource Group, which includes trans and non-binary colleagues as well as our numerous allies, wants Netflix to immediately take the steps below to begin to repair the relationship between the Company, our colleagues, and our audience.
Specifically, we want the Company to adopt measures in the areas of Content Investment, Employee Relations and Safety, and Harm Reduction, all of which are necessary to avoid future instances of platforming transphobia and hate speech, and to account for the harm we have caused and will continue to cause until the below measures are put in place.
> Content Investment
* Create a new fund to specifically develop trans and non-binary talent
○ This fund should support both above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) talent;
○ This fund should exist in addition to the existing Creative Equity Fund;
○ Increase investment in trans and non-binary content on Netflix comparable to our total investment in transphobic content, including marketing and promotion;
○ Invest in multiple trans creators to make both scripted and unscripted programs across genres;
○ Revise internal processes on commissioning and releasing potential harmful (“sensitive”) content, including but not limited to involving parties who are a part of the subject community and can speak to potential harm, or consulting with 3rd party experts/vendors;
○ Increase the ERG role in conversations around potentially harmful content and ensure we have best in class regional support on complicated intersectional diversity issues;
○ Hire trans and non-binary content executives, especially BIPOC, in leading positions;
> Employee Relations and Safety
○ Recruit trans people, especially BIPOC, for leadership roles in the company (Director, VP, etc.) and promote an inclusive environment for them;
○ Allow employees to remove themselves from previous company promotional content (e.g. allyship and diversity videos, etc.);
○ Eliminate references/imagery of transphobic titles or talent inside of the workplace, including but not limited to murals, posters, room names, swag;
> Harm Reduction
○ Acknowledge the harm and Netflix’s responsibility for this harm from transphobic content, and in particular harm to the Black trans community;
○ Add a disclaimer before transphobic titles that specifically flag transphobic language, misogyny, homophobia, hate speech, etc. as required;
○ Boost promotion for Disclosure and other trans-affirming titles in the platform; Suggest trans-affirming content alongside and after content flagged as anti-trans.
We are employees, but we are members, too. We believe that this Company can and must do better in our quest to entertain the world, and that the way forward must include more diverse voices in order to avoid causing more harm. The Trans* ERG looks forward to working with the Company to make this a better, more entertaining place for us all.
Sincerely-
Trans* Netflix
</quote>