It’s June again and that means it’s Pride month. While this is a month for celebration and joy, it also carries many difficult topics for the LGBT+ community and is on the rise in recent decades, untangling a sea of corporations trying to profit from our community. Pride in 2022 means that corporations pull out their rainbow icons, vague statements of support and pride parades are filled with floats from corporations. Like many queer people, I have complicated feelings about this phenomenon (often called rainbow capitalism or pink capitalism).
Rainbow capitalism is proof that acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the Western world finally outweighs the opposition. It has become more profitable in most Western countries to support our community rather than stand against it. This is not an inherently bad phenomenon. I grew up in a world without rainbow capitalism and I am happy that young people now grow up with a variety of queer role models to look up to - such as Elliot Page, Lil Nas X, and Jojo Siwa. Additionally, it’s fun to see conservatives become increasingly upset and unhinged because even their favourite businesses are voicing their support for queer people every June.
My problem, however, is that rainbow capitalism tends to gloss over the problems still prevalent in our society. The issue is that too often this support is restricted to June and that it is for a very specific subsection of the queer community. Everyone else falls under the radar. Corporation support is often very deliberately aimed at wealthy, cisgender, able-bodied white men who have already made themselves a part of the system. Their support is little about a desire to help the LGBT+ community and much more about the desire to get our money.
It capitalises on the fantasy of a world in which queer people are accepted and, more importantly, assimilated, but that is not the world we live in. Even if you only look at the countries where corporations voice their support (their pride icons are suspiciously absent in other places), queer people suffer every day. Trans people are under an attack of moral panic in the UK and US, queer people of colour are routinely discriminated against, and marriage equality in countries where it exists rarely extends to disabled queer people. And this is just the tip of the iceberg which contains many more problems of economic, social, and political natures.
Just think of Disney, a company which is inescapable these days and which not too long ago stayed silent on the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, despite their considerable political influence (an issue itself). If it wasn’t for their employees who spoke out, I doubt Disney would have made any kind of statement, let alone taken action. Disney constructs a very careful image, aimed at maximum profit. These days, they hint at queer characters and content but keep it subtle enough that their more conservative audiences won’t get too upset. They make the media rounds every now and then with a promise of their first openly queer character, only to fail to deliver on their promise every time. And yet, despite these failures at representation and support, in June they pull out the rainbow merchandise, still not changing their behaviour.
Disney is not an outlier: Many corporations which outwardly support the LGBTQ+ community give money to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and causes behind closed doors. Of course, not all corporations actively support anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, but even among those who don’t, support for the community is often vague and its aim is profit. Lego, for example, released their “Everyone is Awesome'' set in 2021 which is meant to represent and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. But the set’s profits are not for LGBTQ+ people: Lego has an ongoing partnership with Diversity Role Models, a charity focused on inclusive education, but the “Everyone is Awesome'' set is separate from this. While it is great that they have a partnership with this charity, it seems the set’s aim is to make profit.
As for Pride itself, the increasing involvement of corporations has made it less accessible for queer people to attend events and celebrations. When I attend Pride events or read about them, I feel somewhat alienated and I know I am not alone in this. Official Pride events are full of branded content, expensive fees, and a desire to present only one side of the queer community. If you don’t fit in (which most of the community doesn’t), you’re not made to feel welcome.
With the commercialisation of Pride comes a price and it’s a steep one: The most vulnerable of our community are forgotten. Where Pride once was a unionised fight, where it was once about solidarity and resistance, now it is a party for brands, cishet people, and a chosen few queer people who are deemed acceptable and wealthy enough. I worry that Pride, which was once about celebrating and supporting all of us, has become an exclusive event for the few and leaves behind those of us who need a community the most.
I am not trying to be a downer. I understand how much it means to see queer people more accepted in society because I grew up not so long ago in a world where this was very rare. Rainbow capitalism did not exist then and neither did marriage equality, pride celebrations in my hometown, or shows like Heartstopper or Derry Girls. I experienced most of these things when I was already an adult and I am extremely happy that young people today get to grow up in a different world.
But I also recognise the danger in letting corporations fool us into believing they care for us, the danger in forgetting the roots of pride. We have a duty to carry on its true meaning and offer an accepting environment for everyone in our community and fight for the rights of every single one of us.
As previously mentioned, my feelings about this are complicated. I am glad that companies are showing support for the LGBTQ+ community and donating money to charities in June, but I am also very aware that to them this is little more than a marketing tactic. When we are no longer profitable for them, will this support stop? The sad answer is that it most likely will.
Pride at its core is antifascist and anticapitalist. Yes, it is also a celebration, but we have to remember this: The corporations are not our allies. Our allies are other marginalised groups. Our allies are the working class, people of colour, and disabled people. Our allies are those who are also oppressed by society and the worst thing we could do is forget this. Pride is (and always has been) a celebration but it is also a riot. For the queer community, the two go hand in hand.