A local brew pub is having a Pride night that:
ððŧ Join us for an unforgettable Pride Night on June 12th!!! ðGet ready for a night filled with fun, love, and community as we celebrate Pride with an amazing lineup:- ðķ A live DJ spinning your favorite tracks all night long- ð§ðĨŠðĨ Delicious eats from The Whey Station- ð️ Fabulous vendors offering unique and handcrafted goods, including:ðŠ Tony’s Flour Shopðąð Lil’ Plant Shop’s Plant Busð Sammy Sparks Permanent Jewelryð Rachel Ashley DesignsðŠī Terrariums by Gawa LLC- ð Exciting raffles with awesome prizesBest of all, a portion of our sales, as well as all proceeds from the raffles and donations, will be donated to Q Plus (an organization dedicated to uplifting and empowering youth voices, and creating safe spaces for queer youth to be themselves). ððžCome hang out, show your pride, and make a difference with us! ðŧ
There are some who question the legitimacy of a non-LGBTQ establishment holding Pride celebrations just one day a year.
Others also question corporations commitment to the ideas of Pride… are they with us or are they with the dollars?
True allies don’t back down, while allies in it for the money will back down and the opposition knows it.
True allies will stand beside us and be counted.
True allies take the heat and still support us like Dolly Parton.The hollowness of corporate Pride
The troubling corporate pullback on Pride Month, briefly explained.
VOX
By Li Zhou
Jun 20, 2024Corporations — entities that have long capitalized on social causes to chase profit — seem to be telling on themselves with an apparent pullback on Pride Month marketing this year.
“There’s been a definite scaling back in both big and small ways,” Joanna Schwartz, a marketing professor who studies outreach to LGBTQ audiences at Georgia College & State University, told Vox. “I had expected some brand caution, but this year seems [to be] a near full-scale retreat.”
Multiple marketing experts Vox spoke to noted that some stores have toned down their messaging or decided to offer less merchandise — and, as the Associated Press put it, “at some chains, there’s no trace of Pride at all.”
Target, for instance, announced that it would limit Pride merchandise sales to roughly half of its stores, while Nike said it wouldn’t launch a Pride collection this year. (A Target spokesperson reiterated the company’s commitment to the LGBTQ community and pointed to its internal programs, Pride products, and its support of in-person events. A Nike spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
These announcements come in the wake of conservative backlash directed at Bud Light in 2023, following its social media partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Target, similarly, was the subject of Republican attacks due to its Pride displays and the trans-inclusive clothing it stocked.
“The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands,” Matt Walsh, a conservative pundit, said on X in 2023. “If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they’ll gain.””
What are your thoughts?
The only thing I see that is connected to Pride is the $ going to Q Plus. Isn't strange that we have come down to poodles peeing in the street, cupcakes, glitter, trinkets, rainbow ATM machines and other sunshine corporations, cops blowing us kisses when before they beat us, and people that sadly don't know OurStories and won't even know about fascists until they bite them in their butts. Someone or thing has infiltrated our ranks and have turned us into ninnies.
ReplyDeleteBut I do know that sometimes allies take a major role in our community and our progress. I know in one small town it is a straight mother who formed a Pride Committee, and they hold Pride yearly among threats from the local fascists. What Pride has become is nothing like what it is really about, and I wonder who is to blame for that. Is everything really ok in the land of plenty? A queer group in SF is calling for Pride to be abolished. As a queer elder I really don't give a crap which way that wind is blowing concerning Pride.