Though we could (and should) be proud of our sexualities and gender identities year-round, another pride month has come and gone. And all over the Internet, companies and brands are replacing their rainbow-hued logos with their usual, less flamboyant emblems.
Should we be irritated that companies only show off LGBTQ pride for 30 days of the year?
On Reddit user doesn’t think so. “Please stop complaining about companies taking down their pride logos after June 30,” that user wrote. “It’s so entitled. We are what, like 8 percent of the population? Equality is important, gay rights are important, but why should companies devote their entire existence towards promoting our cause? There are so many different kinds of people who are struggling and need support out there so to me it’s so egocentric and childish to throw a tantrum that companies don’t spend more than a month promoting pride stuff. The world doesn’t revolve around us. We should be grateful that pride is mainstream enough now that companies take even a month to support us.”
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That Reddit post inspired dozens of responses — and many of the commenters think the July 1 straightwashing, so to speak, isn’t the point. “The criticism isn’t about them changing their logos,” one user contended. “It’s about them using the logos for PR and not actually remotely supporting us.”
“Support doesn’t always have to be monetary,” a Redditor wrote in response to that point. “Visibility can go a long way. When I was young, you would never ever see the kind of support you see for the LGBTQ community you see today. Yes, they may not have supported us when it was difficult, but it does the community a disservice to alienate and turn away advocation of acceptance.”
“‘Acceptance’ means nothing,” another user chimed in. “Queer liberation is about far, far more than making it so that people feel like it’s safer to come out. It’s about justice, and it is linked to liberation from all other forms of oppression, to which these corporations actively contribute. To a queer person in crushing poverty, ‘acceptance’ of their queerness is the cheapest form of support imaginable.”
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Said another: “The issue is not changing back the logos. It’s its consequences. If I’m a f*cking homophobe all year, I do business with homophobes, sell homophobic sh*t, and when it’s acceptable I disguise myself and ‘yay gays,’ it’s infuriating. And after the gay boom is over, go back to the normal attitude of all the year. People does complain about it, and it should bother everyone. Are they really helping? They could ‘help’ with visibility all they want, but if the other 11 months they’re doing more wrong that good, it doesn’t f*cking matter.”
Once you’ve read these impassioned comments — which, by the way, have been edited for brevity and readability — check out the rest of the conversation on Reddit. And then tell us in the comments below: Are you frustrated when companies take down their rainbows on July 1? And for that matter, do you think companies are walking the walk as they talk the talk of LGBTQ inclusion every June?
jcoberkrom
Heck no. I walked into Macy’s yesterday and wondered why they hadn’t taken down there Pride display.
LARRY
its nice we get the attention for a damn month…there are far more folks out there who deserve their time in the spotlight. I agree with the op in my youth you had to buy pride stuff on the down low…today every goddamn company in the world wants our dollars. If you think a company is abusing us then vote with your dollars. and STOP whining if we are not the center of the universe for christs sake…there are children in cages in Texas that are more important than seeing the Pride Flag on July 1st.
kevininbuffalo
Well said!
Brian
That articles like this are even written is a big part of the reason so many people think we’re looking for special treatment and not just equality. And sometimes they’re right. What other group have you ever heard of complaining because their holiday isn’t celebrated year round?
Creamsicle
@Brian I think the bigger problem with this article is that it’s only source is a random reddit thread with fewer than 100 upvotes.
Every comment and opinion is anonymous. We don’t even know if they’re really people and real opinions. For all we know it’s a bunch of Russian or North Korean bots trying to manufacture controversy in every Internet community they can find.
Brian
That would be like Christians getting upset because they get rid of Christmas stuff after December 25. That’s just how sales and marketing works.
Hdtex
Do you have your own private restroom? Or do you come here specifically to publically play in your own poo?
magicmike
Stores take down holiday decorations once they pass. That’s how it works. I also have a problem with all of these gays saying oh corporations are just using pride for their own gain to profit. Maybe. But 50 years ago those fighting for equality would have been elated just to see 1 gay pride glad in a major store. Now we are so entitled that it’s too much?? Talk about a total disconnect from those who worked to get these little twerps where they are now.
thisisnotreal
You know, I was thinking about this myself and I have mixed feelings on the whole thing. Especially after watching a YouTube video that explained “corporate pride” in a very thought provoking way that I had never thought about before. Yeah I agree that compared to decades ago we HAVE made progress in that area so to even have companies using pride at all is a step up. but at the same when you realize WHY most of them are doing it I can’t help but wonder “is it worth it?”
If you wanna see a very well thought out and thought provoking video talking about pride and consumerism look up Kimberly Clark on YouTube and search for “Kimberly Clark corporate pride”. She speaks about it in many ways I would have never thought of myself and it gave me plenty of food for thought to consider.