Corporate flip-floppers? These companies are accused of caving to conservative pressure to drop LGBTQ support
As conservatives like Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to frame LGBTQ rights and issues as part of a larger cultural battle and to energize their base, corporations are feeling the heat from all sides to make their support public. From destroying store displays of Pride merch to creating spoofs of trans people in lieu of Bud Light’s partnership with a trans woman, many companies are now yielding to conservative politics and backtracking on their support for LGBTQ people.
Make no mistake—rainbow capitalism has long continued to be a critique of Pride month, especially for those within the LGBTQ community who see it as a disingenuous way for corporations to profit off queer, trans and nonbinary people. Despite a 2018 survey by Harris Interactive that found that 66% of Americans would shop at places that support LGBTQ people, corporations today are struggling to straddle their support for LGBTQ people and their need to market to them.
On top of potentially losing work, LGBTQ content creators are losing faith in partnerships with corporations—even in Pride month.
“Working on a cool, useful, truly meaningful Pride apparel collaboration has been on my wish list for a while,” said queer illustrator and author Adam J. Kurtz. “And now I’m like ‘OK, so who won’t throw me away as soon as hate shows up?’ I hate that this [is happening].”
According to Kurtz, it must be “heartbreaking” for LGBTQ partners of sponsorships and deals to be swept aside for the sake of not losing support from conservatives. But he isn’t the only one questioning the priorities and values of these corporate entities.
“This is why companies need to stop doing rainbow capitalism,” said racial, gender and social justice educator Ericka Hart, in an Instagram post reacting to Target last week. “You don’t actually care about queer people, you care about making coin and you will do anything to make coin. Cut it out.”
As of today, the ACLU has tracked nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been proposed this year alone throughout the country. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 19 states have instated a law or policy banning gender affirming care, with eight more states already reconsidering. With Pride month starting this week, time will tell which corporations may or may not be swayed by conservative influence. For now, here’s the rundown for all the corporations currently accused of abandoning queer and trans support:
Over the last week, there has been major backlash against Target’s Pride campaign. A Target customer destroyed a Pride display in Missoula, Mont. Conservative TikTok creator Kaylee Layton posted a viral video showcasing the Pride collection’s “weird, creepy, uncomfy stuff on children’s clothing.”
As a result, the major retail store removed Pride products from several stores.
In an email to his employees that was obtained by Business Insider, Target CEO Brian Cornell claims the backlash has been “gut-wrenching” to see. Employees, however, feel doubt in the sincerity of Cornell’s letter, especially given the removal of many Pride campaign products.
Model, activist and sexuality educator Ericka Hart wants companies like Target to stop doing rainbow capitalism. In an Instagram video, Hart shared their frustration, saying that companies care more about making money during Pride month more than caring about LGBTQ people.
“If [customers] are being homophobic and transphobic because of the presence of a Pride campaign, what is it like for your staff that are queer and trans?” Hart said. “What is it like for your customers that come in that are queer and trans? They’re supposed to fear for their lives because you’re gonna hold space for some homophobic and transphobic people?”
Once again, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of drag artists who oftentimes use Catholic imagery are invited to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Pride Night event. The drag group, founded in San Francisco in the late 1970s, was initially uninvited after Republican Senator in Florida Marco Rubio released a letter condemning the baseball group’s decision to have the drag group.
The letter stated: “Do you believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers are being “inclusive and welcoming to everyone” by giving an award to a group of gay and transgender drag performers that intentionally mocks and degrades Christians—and not only Christians, but nuns, who devote their lives to serving others?”
Yet due to the backlash from the LGBTQ community, the Los Angeles Dodgers reinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. After several members of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence spoke with Dodgers’ President and CEO Stan Kasten, the drag collective released a note that said, “A full apology and explanation was given to us by the Dodgers staff which we accept.”
Since then, the Dodgers also established a Christian Faith and Family Day for the end of July, but the damage had already been done on all sides; conservative supporters of the team are skeptical and feel it is an effort to cater to the religious people who might feel side-stepped by their reinvitation of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Despite launching a Pride collection and public donation and partnership with GLAAD, the footwear company Crocs quietly pulled their partnership with DragCon UK—one of the world’s largest conventions that celebrates the art of drag— back in January.
In the weeks leading up to the event, Libs of TikTok, a right-wing social media account with over two million followers took it to Twitter to share a DragCon’s Instagram post that advertised a runway show for kids under 18 (escorted by their legal guardians) at the convention.
“Crocs is now sponsoring and promoting child drag shows where children perform dressed up in drag,” Libs of TikTok tweeted. Outraged by Crocs’ sponsorship, Twitter user @tnertz posted a video lighting their Crocs on fire until the shoes liquified. Others who contested the shoe company for supporting a drag convention wherein children would be present slung words like “grooming” and why Crocs should be boycotted.
Although Crocs never released a statement, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 3 contestant River Medway revealed to the public that the company dropped out of sponsoring the convention only days before, blasting them in a tweet.
However, it wasn’t until Twitch streamer and TikTok user ShinyPinkachu’s video at DragCon that hinted at Crocs departure. In her video, she walks up to a board of sponsors wherein one brand was taped out. When she pulled the tape off the board, the infamous Crocs logo was seen underneath. A commenter replied, “As a Crocs employee, our company motto is literally ‘come as you are’ so this is really shocking to me.”
We reached out to Crocs because there was never a public comment regarding DragCon, though they did not immediately respond to requests for comment in time for publishing.
Dylan Mulvaney, a trans influencer who gained over ten million followers while documenting her transition in a TikTok series titled “Days of Girlhood” partnered up with Bud Light last month. Her sponsorship with the beer company was part of a giveaway on behalf of the NCAA March Madness, a basketball tournament that heavily involves fan participation.
Bud Light, owned by Anheuser-Busch, along with Mulvaney offered her viewers the chance to win $15,000 for the “Easy Carry Contest” in which participants showcase themselves carrying as many cans of beer as possible.
Conservatives were not thrilled. Even singer Kid Rock uploaded a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light. Rumors were spread that Anheuser-Busch laid off their marketing team as a result of the backlash against Mulvaney’s partnership, though the Associated Press confirmed it to be untrue.
Although the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” according to their statement, there was no clear message on their continued support and stance for trans people like Mulvaney, making it unclear on whether companies like Bud Light truly stand by their LGBTQ partnerships.
Ultimately, creatives like Kurtz want to see partnerships between corporations and LGBTQ creatives prioritizing the safety of queer, trans and nonbinary creatives, because they cannot hide behind a brand or corporate identity to protect themselves from the brutal hate.
“I hate seeing queer creatives be propped up as a face of corporate inclusivity and then instantly torn down at a moment’s notice,” he said. “I hope that internally the conversations are focused around protecting creators who become a target for hate as a result of any creative partnership.”