![]() This has led some companies to pull back to “protect their employees from physical harm.”īut Tirado thinks the move is less about prioritizing workers than it is about profits. “What’s changed is an escalation of violence from right-wing protesters, both online and in person, as in the case of Target,” she said, referring to the company’s claims that they were looking after their staff by taking away Pride merchandise. “We’ve seen for a long time boycotts of companies both from LGBTQ+ consumers and conservative and religious groups when companies have marketed to queer and trans consumers,” Katherine Sender, professor of feminist, gender, and sexuality studies at Cornell, tells Fortune. While backlash against companies’ support of LGBTQ+ issues from fringe religious groups isn’t new, it’s become more extreme lately as it becomes a stronger part of the right’s platform. But as fringe groups increasingly mobilized and push for anti-LGBTQ laws, some big brands are backing down rather than stepping up to support the community out of fear that doing otherwise would be bad for business. Wade was overturned, some companies stepped up as the last safeguard of reproductive rights. In the world of late capitalism, human rights can be intrinsically tied to corporations. It’s all happening at a time when more conservative and religious-backed groups are passing anti-LGBTQ laws-Florida banned providing Medicaid for trans people, and Tennessee passed an anti-drag bill, both of which have since been ruled unconstitutional. ![]() Instead, friends are hiring one another “often without a corporation, to work together on their own dime.” Many people she knows, from drag artists to illustrators, received little outreach for Pride initiatives, which she says often makes up for the rest of the year’s low pay for queer creatives. She adds that two employees who help plan and budget such campaigns at Big Tech companies said they had no plans for them this year. ![]() ![]() We just aren’t getting booked this year,” Fran Tirado, a podcaster, filmmaker, and writer who’s previously collaborated with companies including Netflix, HBO, Google, Instagram, Nike, and Microsoft for Pride campaigns, tells Fortune. But I talked to more and more of my friends in queer-trans creative circles who shared the same sentiment. LGBTQ+ people in the creative fields also say that the lack of Pride campaigns means many companies aren’t offering them the work that they used to-something that queer creators are feeling in their wallets. But campaigns like these don’t always reach the pockets of the LGBTQ+ creators who need support rather, it reaches just the employees or the brand itself. Six out of 10 top Fortune 500 companies told Fortune that they are celebrating Pride, mostly with internal events (the other four didn’t respond to requests for comment). A Starbucks spokesperson denied the allegations to Fortune and said the company continues to “unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community” Bud Light and Target did not respond to request for comment. And, in mid-June, Starbucks managers in 21 states reportedly asked their workers to remove Pride decorations from the stores or to not put them up at all. Target removed its LGBTQ merch right before Pride month after customers threatened workers. Bud Light reneged on its support of its campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in response to a group of anti-trans individuals boycotting the beer. Three major retail companies have dominated headlines over the past several weeks for falling short on Pride initiatives, signifying that rainbow capitalism dimmed in 2023.
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