Brands are parasites, not pals to the LGBTIQ community, so it's no surprise they're dropping their Pride merchandise and branding
brands have never been real friends to the queers, so it's not a shock - but it is a symptom of some really bad stuff
It’s Pride Month in the USA, which usually means a big gay feast for brands, swapping out their cis models with a couple of non-binary hotties, a generic brand message of queer support (say YES to nice! Let Love Happen! There’s nothing more “slay” than fairness), plastering the rainbow flag on all their social media, and selling glitter-encrusted toasters with Antoni from Queer Eye’s dead-eyed face endorsing the product. During Pride, brands love equality and fairness and more importantly, all that gay money, those delicious pink dollars.
Pride tie-ins are also often incredibly cringe.
But, in the US this year there’s been an unprecedented and dangerous spike in discriminatory legislation, with more than 525 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced and more than 70 signed into law so far in 2023. This has led to the Human Rights Campaign declaring a state of emergency for LGBTQ people in the US on Tuesday. And along with all of this, attacks and boycotts against brands with Pride merchandising have been absolutely rabid, with brands like The North Face, Lego, and Miller Lite attacked en masse. There have been high profile boycotts of Bud Light, after they got icon and queen Dylan Mulvaney to do a partnership.
After significant backlash, including a viral video of a conservative who LOVES trans porn trashing Pride merchandise stands in a store, Target has announced it is removing some products that celebrate Pride Month after the company and its employees became the focus of a “volatile” anti-LGBTQ campaign. The company said threats against employees impacted their sense of safety and well-being.
This has led to a noticeable decrease in US brands supporting Pride Month, with many brands that have traditionally gone all out in June staying conspicuously silent and non-rainbow. The North Face, despite declaring a Summer of Pride in May, hasn’t posted in June, and remains un-yassified.
It’s all pretty understandable – brands are companies, and putting their employees (which includes the often forgotten social media moderators) in the firing line of rabid christofacists, conservatives, conspiracy theory nutters, terfs and transphobes is not really OK.
However, it’s a stark reminder that while it’s… nice, I guess… that brands get all in on Pride Month (i’d like to formally thank New Balance for sending me those Pride sneakers two years ago, they’re my favourite shoes), there is a limit to the kind of support that brands can give - and it’s dictated by capitalism. If the LGBTIQ community goes out of favour, becomes a financially unviable position to keep, then brands and their support will melt away like lube in a hot bath. Brands, to put it bluntly, are vultures, scavengers, that follow the money, and only endorse the LGBTIQ community when there’s a financial benefit to do so.
It’s worth remembering that brands are not a monolithic concept, and that I am talking generally – there are probably people at these brands who are ethically and personally motivated to support Pride, and even entire brands who will put themselves on the line for the queer community. There’s even signs of hope - many big companies, including Target and Bud Light's parent companies, are still backing Pride events in June. It’s also worth remembering that a lot of the time it’s queer people working for brands that are behind these initiatives.
Also, a lot of the time, these pride tie-ins are about raising money for queer charities, of various levels of integrity (which is great, but while it might not be an immediate financial benefit to the brand, the motivation often comes from good publicity and cultivating a queer audience. They’ll forget these pants are made with sweatshop labour by three-year-olds if they’re FABULOUS).
I think brands are perfectly fine to work with in a limited capacity – in my former media role, I often had to navigate the tightrope of editorial integrity while still accepting the much-needed brand dollars. Sometimes this worked easily – why not take some money from Disney to do the exact same coverage we were always going to do. Often it did not work out, such as the time I pissed off Netflix with a negative article about the unethical show 13 Reasons Why - which ran at the same time as the two week ad placement they’d just brought on our site for that very same show lol. There is a place for compromise – but as long as you don’t get fooled into thinking that a brand is supporting you, or your cause, for anything other than utilitarian reasons.
It’s probably best to consider brands as a weather-vane for public sentiment about queer people. When the LGBTIQ is en vogue, is being supported by the government and the public, then brands will feel safe enough to support us. When the opposite starts happening, they’ll be the first to jump ship.
Many years ago I got into a rather large argument with a friend, a straight man who was railing against the “GayTMs” that were going around Sydney for Mardi Gras, rightfully criticising the shittiness of an immoral big bank so obviously pandering to the LGBTIQ community for good publicity and pink dollars, while also doing evil big bank stuff. I have to say that I’ve probably come even closer to sharing his perspective since then - but the argument really devolved down to a straight man refusing to see WHY a city bedecked into rainbow ATMs is also, in some minor ways, comforting and pleasing to the queer community.
Only days earlier, before this disagreement, I’d been beaten up in the middle of Hyde Park, in broad daylight, by a man screaming homophobic slurs at me while punching me repeatedly in the face. Hundreds of people stood around and didn’t intervene, until a woman literally drove her pram into him. When you’ve experienced how violent and pervasive homophobia can be in everyday life, the sign that public sentiment has swung so dramatically that a BANK is comfortable enough to endorse queerness is comforting in a limited way. It’s a symbol of public perception shifting – Homosexuality was only decriminalised in NSW in 1984, prior to this time consensual sex between gay men was a criminal act. That means in my own lifetime, my sexuality has shifted from being a criminal act to being emblazoned on an ATM. That’s not nothing, as much as I also believe it’s worth being incredibly cynical and sceptical about the motivations behind it.
So, as a consequence, watching brands start to DROP that support, to wilt under the pressure of cookers and bigots, homophobes and transphobes, is likewise a worrying symbol of social change. It shows that we have another big battle on our hands, with queer people once again under attack, and straight allies once again needing to step up and support the LGBTIQ community.
Also, while I am sorry for calling brands parasites, if you are a brand who would like to fund this newsletter or send me free stuff, I will formally exclude you from that narrative. Now that’s a bargain. Send me thiiiiiiiiiings, my love of objects overpowers my ethics every single time.
-
This is SCOOPID, our queer news and culture newsletter, as part of All The Heterosexual Nonsense I was Forced to Endure. Please subscribe for more, please tell your friends, we love you.
Thanks for writing this Patrick. Ive always been a bit unimpressed by corporate support of my life, but perhaps its because corporate support has never really heped older dykes. 😉🤷🏼
This morning I read an article about the organising group that serves as a the coordinating platform in the States to assist various groups in persecuting trans via legislation. It's terrifying. It's been hard for me to fully grasp the breadth of hatred unleashed across the States. I'm not sure if you want to read it but here goes.
https://baptistnews.com/article/focus-on-the-family-affiliate-is-the-unifying-force-behind-campaign-to-restrict-transgender-rights/
In the meantime, how good was that person that helped you in Hyde Park on that sad day. Mama bear. Thanks for writing.