LGBT Spotlight: Sarah + Laura

Sarah and Laura Smith are the couple behind Sarah + Laura, which has once again been ranked in the top 10 LGBT blogs. Lifestyle bloggers covering family life, travel and food, Sarah + Laura have built a loyal audience with varied, in-depth content.

We spoke to the couple about the LGBT+ community, the importance of Pride and the best campaigns they’ve worked on (other brands take note!).

How do you describe what you do?
As an LGBT family, we have a unique view of the world and our experiences can be different than others’. By sharing what we find we hope to provide awareness for other LGBT families and anyone interested in travel, raising a family, food/recipes and the random goings on in our life. Our blog started as a personal diary but is now so much more now.

How do you use different social media channels with your blog?
We engage with our followers primarily on Instagram (right now) as people seem to love our Stories, especially when we’re travelling. Our Stories drive people to our blog where we can share more details about what’s happening. Twitter and Facebook are where we share our highlights and latest updates.

Is society getting better or worse for the LGBT+ community?
That really depends – in so many ways there have been changes for the better. Awareness and acceptance is greater than ever before, nowadays there is an understanding that ‘normal’ can be many things. However, with more LGBT+ people having the confidence and courage to be ‘out and proud’ it attracts attention from people in society who may have kept their homophobic views to themselves but now feel they need to stand up against the change in society. Ultimately though, from our perspective, society has got better. We can live openly as a married couple, raising a child in a society that welcomes us and we have never experienced any negativity.

Have you ever experienced online trolling?
No.

Why are Pride events important?
Any event that brings together the LGBT+ community is important. Historically the LGBT+ community has had to fight for rights, the fight will never end until there is total acceptance of the LGBT+ community in every aspect of life, in every part of the world. Prides allow representation, support and promotion of the LGBT+ community in a very public way, and celebrate everything good about being LGBT+.

What’s the best ways for brands to get involved without them just woke-washing?
To remember that LGBT+ people exist all year and not just in June. While we appreciate the appearance of rainbows in June and are happy to support brands highlighting their support of the community, there should be clear evidence that the brand supports LGBT+ people in their workplace. In our opinion a brand shouldn’t have to actively donate money to an LGBT+ cause – but that helps. For us it is about ‘walking the talk’ – if you say you support the community make sure you actually do.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve worked on?
LV= Insurance who looked at what the traditional family looks like now – this campaign felt inclusive as we were part of ‘new families’ that included LGBT+ families. Buckt (a Birmingham based experience subscription box) invited us to get to know our city in a new way. Again, we were part of a mixed review panel and our inclusion as an LGBT+ couple made us feel like the product was for everyone. We also appreciated an opportunity to visit and explore Newquay thanks to Love NQY. All the other reviewers had been ‘traditional families’ so when we were invited we were ready to show that LGBT+ families can enjoy a ‘traditional’ getaway too – in fact we are just like everyone! 

What advice would you give PRs looking to work with you?
For us if we are going to work with a company we like to be able to help share what they do with our community. It’s about the experience and any opportunity for us to show that we are just a normal family is welcomed. We want our daughter to grow up accepted, to be able to see families just to like hers and to make sure she feels represented. In order for that to happen we want to normalise our relationship. Promotion and awareness will always help that.

Do you accept press releases?
Yes.

What other blogs do you read?
We have a long list of LGBT+ blogs that we read including LesBeMums, Raff Out Loud and a few lifestyle blogs such as The Londoner, Barefoot Blonde and Travel Mad Mum but spend most of our time following other LGBT+ families on Instagram.