How Pinners are planning a different Pride for this year

It is starting to sink in that there will not be any massive street celebrations or big parades to celebrate Pride this year. However, June is still the month when people around the world celebrate diversity and the LGBTQ community, and Pinterest has always been a positive place where people can explore their dreams and ideas and be themselves.

So it’s not surprising that Pinterest is continually seeing a high volume of searches for milestone moments such as ‘transgender transition’ (+70%) or ‘LGBTQ coming out stories’, which is up +93%.

Pinners are also interested in creating their best drag looks, with a steady increase in searches for ‘drag make-up’ since the beginning of the year (+77%).

People are also finding inspiration to express themselves through quotes and art by searching for ‘LGBT pride quotes’ (searches have been 8x more frequent), ‘Pride illustration’ (+44%), ‘Rainbow nail art’ (+55%) or ‘Bi pride tattoo’ (+30%). Future planning is also an integral part of Pinterest, as is proven by the high volume of searches for weddings: searches for ‘lesbian proposal’ are now 3x more frequent, while those for ‘lesbian wedding suit’ have increased by 96%.

Take a look at our full report for more Pride inspiration.

Discovering what gender means to you

People have been turning to Pinterest to explore their gender identities by searching for representation and tips on gender transitioning or ideas for genderless fashion and aesthetics. Searches for “transgender transition” began to increase in May ‘18 and reached their peak in August of last year. Searches then started to rise again during the pandemic, as we have noticed many Pinners have been exploring themselves during this time. There have been hundreds of thousands of searches for “transgender transition” and since April of last year, searches have increased 70%.

Inspiration to take the step in an easier way

For many, coming out to family or friends can be difficult or even scary. For that reason, people spend hundreds of hours planning for this moment. Some of our Pinners shared how Pinterest provided inspiration for coming out, which is a topic that continues to grow on the platform (searches for “LGBTQ coming out stories” grew by 93%). Check out their stories:

“My Pinterest boards have been a source of inspiration for me around self-expression, and gender experimentation in particular. During lockdown this is something I have been considering differently - with no social settings to go out and "express" in, this has become a more private and intense practise, and I use my boards to inspire me through that.

In terms of Pride, I've also found collecting images that share other people’s artwork and responses to queerness has been a way of feeling connected to a community in a time where I'm not able to physically be present amongst the community.”

"The biggest thing that Pinterest has done for me is help me to find my identity; it's helped me on my way to feeling whole as a person and feel less confused and depressed. I didn't know how to know what I liked, I was in disconnect with the emotion that comes when you really like something. Or I denied it.

Pinterest helped me to find that feeling and now I'm able to use it outside of the Internet. It may sound insignificant, but it's been a lifetime struggle for me. In many ways, Pinterest has helped me on my way to recovery and personal growth. I even think that this has been a factor in me finding my LGBTQIA+ identity."

‘Drag up your life’ on Pinterest

Drag make-up is an art, and the techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated and go far beyond good eyelashes and contouring. Pinners turn to Pinterest not only to find inspiration for the make-up, but also to find ideas on how to discover their drag persona and, at the same time, get to know themselves a little more. Since last year, searches for ‘drag make-up’ have increased by 77%, with a particular increase during Pride Month, as well as at Halloween, when Pinners search for tutorials to dress as their favourite drag performers.

Here are a few video makeup tutorials that we love (and that you can try at home):

We’ve also noticed our Pinners turning to RuPaul’s drag race for inspiration, with searches for “RuPaul’s Drag Race meme” up 37%. Here are the top trending drag queens from the show:

Pride product tips

During this month, when users search for “Pride” on Pinterest, they will see the suggested searches in all the colors of the rainbow. This experience is available in six languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian) for all users accessing from desktop, iOS and Android devices.

Over the next few weeks, people in the UK searching for Pride ideas on Pinterest will see a festive background below the search bar with additional search recommendations. To see this, go directly to the search bar and type “Pride” on iOS and Android.

To discover all the initiatives that Pinterest has planned for LGBTQ+ employees and allies, check out this post and follow along on our LinkedIn and @lifeatpinterest Instagram throughout June for an inside look.