[deanCommie]

Well, the quote you mentioned said nothing about sexism or racism, you added that. So I think you should wonder why the references in that paragraph made you bring a whole gamut of "political" considerations you then deemed irrelevant in one swoop.

The only one they said is "sexualities", and here again I would challenge your re-framing. "Embracing all sexualities" doesn't just mean "not being homophobic". Not actively discriminating against differences between people is the first step. The next step is being welcoming of differences.

Now, is Soundcloud doing that? I'm not sure. I don't know, I'm not a soundcloud user, nor am I queer. But there are absolutely spaces and websites that attract queer creators/users, and ones that don't. There are some that are neutral bland neutered corporate spaces. And some that are unapologetically vibrant and attract a greater percentage of people from - well "all genres, sexualities, religions, and definitions of music and art".

Perhaps Wired hasn't proven to you that Soundcloud isn't one of those sites, but it doesn't sound like you want them to.

[ryandrake]

Trying not to put words in OP's mouth, but I definitely know people in real life with this attitude, who also get weirdly bristled by innocent mentioning of things like "sexualities" in businesses' PR/positioning pieces. If I were to open a cafe and mentioned somewhere in my Grand Opening PR that the cafe is "inclusive to all genders and races," I know real acquaintances who would absolutely complain to me that my business was "too political". It's weird that the mere act of affirming that your business is welcome to people has become politicized but, hey, welcome to 2024.

[_factor]

It’s almost as if mentioning it, you’re implying that the majority of businesses close to you are not inclusive. If this is the case, go ahead and mention it to stand out.

Otherwise you’re just trying to get brownie points in how cool and progressive you are while solving your imagined problem.

[ryandrake]

I don't get how it's any different than hanging a big sign outside that says "We love to serve truckers and bikers!" It's just marketing/positioning. What makes one "brownie points" and the other not?

[underlipton]

Do we apply the same standard to brands that position themselves as patriotic? If not, it seems that the positioning is less of an issue to certain people than the position.