I didn’t need a calendar to recognize June 1 had officially arrived. The awareness of time is not a prerequisite for knowing when Pride Month starts. Company logos and existing products are given rainbow filters that bleed all over my social media feeds. Special Edition pride gear decorated in rainbows is marketed with abandon with little connection to what the company or brand is doing the rest of the year to show allyship to the queer community.
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This act of using an LGBTQIA+ flag to generate advertising, money, and a pat on the back during the month of June is often just rainbow-washing. It’s manipulative and predatory and allows companies to benefit from the queer community without actually supporting the queer community.
As a queer, nonbinary person, I love Pride. It’s one of the few places and big events where I can relax and exist without explanation or dread. Being with folks who have similar stories, struggles, and determination to be their most authentic selves in a world that is not changing fast enough to accommodate the LGBTQIA+ community is overwhelming and wonderful in the best ways. The connection to people without the need to communicate feels spiritual. The flags, glitter, signs, and swag are for us. Everything is to show solidarity and representation so that we can find our people within our own community.
But corporate sponsors of Pride and businesses big and small also see this as an opportunity to make money off the backs of queer folks and allies trying to be supportive. They market their products and services once a year to cash in on the excitement and sometimes desperate need of folks celebrating Pride. When a company cares more about its bottom line than the fight for equality, its gear and “pride” are no longer about or for us, and it’s gross.
There is a line between actual allyship and performative allyship. Even if a company says it’ll give a portion of its profits back to the LGBTQIA+ community, it’s usually only a small percent or up to a very small amount. I have little to no faith that the rainbow-colored speaker I saw at Big Lots yesterday will benefit queer folks in any meaningful way, but other folks will get excited to see the colors of the queer community and will be tempted to purchase the speaker without understanding where that money will go, and that’s the problem.
Please buy as much pride merch as your queer or ally-heart desires, but know where your money is going. There are plenty of queer-owned companies and organizations you can support, as well as companies who support LGBTQIA+ folks year-round.
There are so many issues the queer community is fighting against, but the most urgent need right now is to stop and undo the anti-transgender legislation that is targeting transgender kids, their caregivers, and their affirming doctors. If you really want to support the queer community during Pride Month, donate to organizations that are fighting anti-transgender laws. The Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and local pride centers and advocacy groups in your town are all great places to donate money to save and improve the lives of transgender folks.
These anti-transgender laws are more proof that the Equality Act needs to be passed ASAP. Right now there is no universal federal law that protects LGBTQIA+ folks from discrimination in schools, the workplace, housing, health care settings, etc. Every state, company, and organization has its own set of rules that queer folks are forced to navigate. The Equality Act would prohibit discrimination in public spaces and services and federal funding based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
The Human Rights Campaign has a list of companies that have donated money and expressed support of this legislation. If you are purchasing gear for Pride Month, at least put your money into a company that has stated its dedication to year-round support and protection of queer people.
But if you really want that new rainbow shirt, sticker, or pin, then your best bet is to put your money directly into the hands of a queer person. You could Google “LGBTQ owned businesses,” or you can scoot over to Instagram and check out two of my favorite accounts. Skye Tooley and Ace Schwarz keep running lists of queer-owned businesses that you should buy from.
Make sure you are including queer BIPOC folks in your list of places where you are giving your money to. Pride was started by Black transgender and gender-nonconforming people, so the least you can do is honor that by putting your money back into a community that is still disproportionately at risk of discrimination and death.
Wash yourself in rainbows, but be intentional about where you purchase them.
Editor's note:
*At Wild Sky Media, we recognize that not all pregnancies and parenting journeys look the same. That’s why across all our sites — CafeMom, LittleThings, Mom.com, and MamásLatinas — we are committed to using inclusive language as much as possible, recognizing that all forms of parenting are valid and celebrating the shared experiences and unique differences among moms, dads, nonbinary and noncisgender parents, and all forms of caregivers.
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