Pride Messaging is Nice, But Those Social Media Rainbows Don't Actually Protect the LGBTQ+ Community
As Pride Month rolls around each year, we are met with a familiar sight: a sea of rainbow-colored merchandise, corporate Pride messages, and companies vying for our attention with their annual displays of support for the LGBTQ+ community. While this widespread visibility of LGBTQ+ issues might seem like progress, it increasingly feels like little more than a trend—an opportunity for corporations to capitalize on a movement without truly understanding or supporting the meaning behind it. Once the calendar flips to July, the rainbows disappear, and these same corporations return to business as usual, leaving many of us in the LGBTQ+ community feeling used and disillusioned.
The History of Pride: A Political Movement
To understand why this commercialization feels so wrong, we need to look back at the origins of Pride itself. The modern Pride movement has its roots in the Stonewall Riots of June 28, 1969, a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States. These riots were a response to yet another police raid on a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, which was a common occurrence at the time. What made Stonewall different was that, on that night, the LGBTQ+ community decided they had had enough. The riots lasted for six days and became the catalyst for the gay liberation movement and the broader fight for equality.
The first Pride marches were held a year later, in June 1970, in cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and New York to commemorate the Stonewall Riots. These marches were not just celebrations but also acts of defiance and a demand for recognition and rights. Over the years, these marches grew in size and visibility, evolving into the Pride celebrations we know today.
The Rise of Corporate Pride
In recent years, it has become commonplace for companies and brands to participate in Pride Month. Whether through sponsoring events, selling rainbow-themed merchandise, or simply joining the conversation online, corporate involvement in Pride has become the norm. This trend began in earnest in the 1990s, around the same time that LGBTQ+ representation in media was becoming more positive and widespread, thanks to groundbreaking shows like Ellen, Will & Grace, and Queer as Folk. This increased visibility and social acceptance made the LGBTQ+ community an attractive target market for corporations.
In a 2017 Market Watch article, James Valerino, the media director for New York City Pride at the time, acknowledged the role of corporate sponsorships in the growth of Pride events. "We wouldn't have been able to grow into who we are today, the size and scope of the events, without the corporate sponsorships," Valerino said. "I don't know if we'd even be able to produce just the march and two other events without corporate donations."
While corporate sponsorship has undeniably helped Pride events grow, it also raises uncomfortable questions. Are we, as a community, becoming too reliant on corporate support? And in doing so, are we losing sight of the political roots of Pride, allowing it to become just another commercialized event?
The Problem with Rainbow Capitalism
This brings us to the concept of "rainbow capitalism," which refers to the commercialization and commodification of LGBTQ+ movements, most notably Pride. As support for the LGBTQ+ community has grown, so has the recognition of this group as a lucrative target market with significant purchasing power. In fact, the LGBTQ+ community had an estimated $3.7 trillion in purchasing power in 2019. With numbers like these, it's no wonder that companies are eager to court LGBTQ+ consumers during Pride Month.
But while some companies genuinely support the LGBTQ+ community and use their resources to effect positive change, others are merely jumping on the bandwagon for profit. They slap a rainbow on their products and advertisements, say "love is love," and call it a day. These actions are often superficial at best and hypocritical at worst.
One of the most troubling aspects of rainbow capitalism is its connection to "pinkwashing," where companies use LGBTQ+ issues to distract from their negative actions. For example, a corporation might market itself as LGBTQ-friendly during Pride Month while simultaneously donating to anti-LGBTQ politicians or supporting harmful policies. This contradiction reveals the emptiness of many corporate Pride campaigns, where actions speak louder than words—and the actions don't match the rhetoric.
The Disconnect Between Corporate Pride and LGBTQ+ Reality
As rainbow capitalism has become more visible, so too has the backlash against it. Many in the LGBTQ+ community are starting to question the sincerity of corporate Pride campaigns, especially when they are paired with actions that directly contradict the messages of support. In a 2018 Vox article, writer Alex Abad-Santos explored how Pride Month has become a "branded holiday." He noted that while corporate support for LGBTQ+ rights is growing, there is often a disconnect between the messaging and the reality of what these companies do behind the scenes.
This disconnect is particularly glaring when you consider that many corporations participating in Pride are also donating significant sums to anti-LGBTQ politicians and causes. In June 2021, Popular Information published a list of 25 corporations that donated heavily to anti-LGBTQ politicians while simultaneously promoting Pride campaigns. These corporations include some of the biggest names in the world, like Comcast, AT&T, Home Depot, and Google. Together, these companies donated more than $10 million to anti-gay politicians in the same year they were touting their support for Pride.
The Darker Side of Rainbow Capitalism
While some examples of rainbow capitalism are laughable—like Bud Light's "Let's Grab Beers Tonight, Queens" campaign or Skittles' decision to remove all color from their packaging in honor of Pride—others are downright harmful. Corporations like American Airlines and AT&T may change their social media logos to rainbow colors for Pride, but these same companies have donated tens of thousands of dollars to politicians who actively oppose LGBTQ+ rights.
Google, for example, set up a Pride animation that popped up when users searched for words like "gay" and "queer." But this gesture was undermined by the fact that Google has allowed advertisers to exclude non-binary people from seeing job ads, and its subsidiary, YouTube, has been accused of suppressing LGBTQ+ content creators. These examples highlight the insidious nature of rainbow capitalism, where companies profit from LGBTQ+ consumers while simultaneously supporting actions that harm the community.
Empty Gestures and the Need for Authenticity
Ultimately, many corporate Pride messages and merchandise feel inauthentic. They are empty gestures that do little to support the LGBTQ+ community in any meaningful way. As Karen Tongson, a professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Southern California, pointed out in an interview with PBS, "It's not that people are angry that corporations are showing some effort at making a gesture to the LGBT communities, but it's like, what backs it up? What is there behind the gesture? Is there anything substantial material that will actually help transform the worlds that we are in and make it better for all of us?"
This is the crux of the issue. If corporations truly want to support the LGBTQ+ community, they need to do more than just show up for Pride Month. They need to back up their gestures with meaningful actions that make a real difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
The Way Forward: Mindful Support
As Pride Month continues to grow in visibility and popularity, it's important for us as consumers to be mindful of which companies we support. While it's nearly impossible to avoid shopping at every corporation guilty of rainbow capitalism, we can choose to support companies that are genuinely committed to LGBTQ+ rights year-round, not just when it's profitable to do so.
As the LGBTQ+ community and our allies, we must hold corporations accountable for their actions, both during Pride and beyond. By doing so, we can help ensure that Pride remains a political movement rooted in the fight for equality—not just another opportunity for corporate profit.
And remember. Every day is all we have, so you've got to make your own happiness.
For more information on this topic, listen to Episode 09. Corporate Greed & Rainbow Capitalism.
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