![gay pride colors 500 pixel gay pride colors 500 pixel](https://previews.123rf.com/images/huhulin/huhulin1507/huhulin150700007/42039055-grungy-isolé-arc-gay-pride-flag-de-fond-blanc.jpg)
“The companies that do it right are authentic and sincere about where they are in the journey.
![gay pride colors 500 pixel gay pride colors 500 pixel](https://previews.123rf.com/images/corbendallas/corbendallas1709/corbendallas170900166/86737713-vector-diagonal-lgbt-rainbow-flag-gay-colors-.jpg)
“Every company is on their own journey with inclusion,” said RaShawn Hawkins, deputy director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Workplace Equality Program. Some companies get it, others not quite yet. Rainbows are cute but how can we elevate that?” said mixed media artist Portis Wasp.įor event producer Jake Resnicow, elevation means great participation in pushing for equity. “As a creative, you see a lot of lazy product executions all year round but particularly with larger brands during Pride there seems to be an absence of creativity in their collections. That it helps in the fight against the kinds of discrimination that can mean fewer opportunities, lower wages, homelessness, unemployment and violence for those in the LGBTQ community at rates much higher than their cis-straight counterparts. That’s not a bad thing.”Īdding to that, Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Saje Liese said, “We live in late-stage capitalism, selling merch for Pride - yes it’s good because in a way we are becoming more accepted, it still contributes to the same system that oppresses us, prioritizing profit over people, capital over community.”Ĭriticism from within the LGBTQ community around the corporatization and commercialization of Pride is varied and valid, but a key concern among some is around the assumption that commercial visibility equals victory in the movement for LGBTQ rights. There’s also little proto gay and proto queer kids, that means something for them to walk into that store with their mom. It’s completely understandable in a sense that we are a capitalist society and that’s what capitalism does. “It’s kind of a joke,” he said of the onslaught of rainbow-themed products.
![gay pride colors 500 pixel gay pride colors 500 pixel](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/gay-pride-flag-260nw-25364596.jpg)
“Who has the time to go and research every single corporation and find out every single thing they’re doing? “It’s hard to completely trust any corporation that is painting themselves in rainbows,” Walker said. Walker said there isn’t one LGBTQ core but 1,000 different groups and that the idea is to, at least once a year, come together as “one big messy, but loving community.”Īnd he sees the corporate impulse as out of place in Pride, and that all the true connections companies have are hard to untangle. Since the inaugural Queer Liberation March in 2019, which garnered 50,000 attendees, the message has been clear: No corporate sponsorships or “rainbow-covered anything,“ no police presence and no posturing politicians. “It’s about returning the Pride march back to the community.” “There was just this need to go back to how it began,” said Jay Walker, cofounder of the coalition. Organized by the Reclaim Pride Coalition, the June 27 event is intended as a protest to “reclaim the spirit and meaning of Pride to better represent the LGBTQIA2S+ community.” (Heritage of Pride did not respond to a WWD query.) Of late, there’s been enough corporate hubbub and commercialization around Pride that the Heritage of Pride march in New York now has a counterbalance in the Queer Liberation March. Leo Herrera, Writer/Filmmaker/Activist Courtesy Photo
![gay pride colors 500 pixel gay pride colors 500 pixel](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/lgbtq-gay-pride-flag-pastel-600w-1376947286.jpg)
While the gay rights movement existed before, the Stonewall riot ignited it into a global protest that now has become hospitable to big business, an event in which corporations see an opportunity for branding and visibility. Pride itself is based on a rebellion, a way for the LGBTQ community to come together and voice current issues the community faces. Pride can be complicated and it’s more than just a parade - it has a history of being a movement in the fight for LGBTQ rights and protections, led largely by people of color and those who suffered but fought unwaveringly. Some companies, however, do engage with the LGBTQ community year round, though many in the consuming public don’t see those less-visible efforts. Pride month has not so much taken off as taken over in the corporate world, with companies rushing to stand as allies of the LGBTQ community with rainbow logos, trans-focused marketing and more.īut as the Pride celebrations have become increasingly visible, complaints of Rainbow Capitalism have also risen - with companies seen as chasing LGBTQ discretionary dollars in June and then going away for another 12 months. The rainbow flags are waving pretty hard right now.