Why I Don’t Support "Pride Merch"
Trigger warning: mention of trans violence
Over the past few years, it has become a contagious trend for retailers, designers, and large corporate companies to exhibit their support for the LGBTQA+ community during the month of June (aka pride month). Every year, this performative act of allyship seems to grow more and more, with an increasing amount of companies hopping on the train, exhibiting rainbow-filled store displays, participating in the annual NYC Pride Parade, and selling rainbow-themed “pride” merchandise to consumers. One simple online search on media sites, ecommerce sites, or even google will display thousands of different “pride-themed” merchandise for consumers to purchase. But I often question the authenticity and depth of these retailer and brand initiatives.
From a capitalist standpoint, it makes sense to hop onto this movement: LGBTQA+ rights have been a spotlight in mainstream media for the past 20 years, and there has been an increasing acceptance of those of the LGBTQA+ community. It’s a huge and growing movement that is easy to capitalize on, as the world shifts into putting social issues at the forefront. By displaying rainbows in their store displays and selling pride-themed merchandise, or by participating in the Pride Parade collectively, these companies are “showing” their support for the LGBTQA+ community to the public eye. By showing their support for this marginalized community in a public way, they are able to adhere to new social standards, and therefore maintain a positive reputation in the marketplace and in the media. People only want to buy from companies who align with their values, right?
However, often times these “Pride campaigns” don’t actually help the community, or at least those within the community who need the most support. Often times, pride-themed merchandise is only sold for 1-2 months, leading up to a month long “pride” celebration in June — but why do companies only share their support during the month of June, when it’s relevant in the media and will enable positive press? Moreover, there is the question of where the money made from these products go — and more often than not, it’s back to the CEO’s pocket, not to the actual LGBTQA+ community (who could use the money a lot more than a millionaire).
People of the LGBTQA+ community, especially trans people of color, have disproportionately high rates of homelessness and suicide in comparison to non-trans people and non-queer people. Estimates show that around 20-40% of homeless youth are transgender, even though they make up a small percentage within the general public. This is often due to rejection from families, rejection from landlords/housing applications, as well as gender discrimination from shelters. On top of that, a trans person of color could potentially face racial discrimination in addition to gender discrimination. This also proves difficulty in job searching as many employers still experience and project unconscious bias, even if companies have “anti-discrimination” policies.
If companies and corporations took all of the money made from their pride-themed merchandise and used it towards giving housing to homeless LGBTQA+ people (without making a whole big expensive PR-fueled campaign about it), these performative acts of alliance wouldn’t be as contemptible as they are. Companies could probably save more money themselves by directly donating and giving money to the LGBTQA+ community instead of spending millions of dollars on creating a huge PR campaign around the event of “Pride.” And better yet, these companies could just give money all year round—which in turn would only have minimal financial “consequences” on these multi-million/billion dollar corporations.
The idea of profiting off of a marginalized identity (aka selling pride-themed merchandise in “celebration” of pride month) is an example of late stage capitalism. Late stage capitalism, in short, is described as “the horrible things capitalism forces people to do to survive.” It is driven by profit and capital, as well as the activities done (such as selling pride merchandise) to achieve maximum profit. It is the absurdities and ironies that are a result and manifestation of capitalism that could not have been predicted. Some other examples (from The Atlantic) include:
Nordstrom selling jeans with fake mud on them for $425.
Prisoners’ phone calls costing $14 a minute.
Starbucks forcing baristas to write “Come Together” on cups due to the fiscal-cliff showdown.
Even within the LGBTQA+ community, there is still a lot of disparity between cisgendered, able bodied, white folks and trans/gender non-conforming/nonbinary people of color. Often times, a lot of LGBTQA+ campaigns are really only targeted at those in the community who are cisgendered, able-bodied white men—who are systematically more protected from discrimination than someone who is nonbinary/trans, disabled and black (who is systemically more likely to be denied housing and job opportunities). Just looking at corporate pride campaigns (as well as runway shows that are beginning to cast more "andronynous” and gender non-conforming models), most people who are represented are white, able-bodied, and thin (if they even cast LGBTQA+ models). However, these surface-level representations are far from what the LGBTQA+ community consists of, and while representation is not the holy grail solution to end discrimination, it is still important to acknowledge that certain demographics of a larger marginalized community are more recognized in the media and accepted at large by society. Having all of this in mind, it makes you wonder who these pride initiatives really are for.
I firmly believe that LGBTQA+ initiatives should have trans people of color at the front of their campaigns, especially if they are disabled, or are a sex worker (both of which systemically enable more room for oppressive actions against them). In 2019 alone (we are only half way done with this year), there have already been numerous accounts and reports of violence against trans women. With the amount of money and power that big brands, retailers, and corporations hold, they could be using their resources to help some of the most marginalized people out there. But right now, it seems like a lot of these companies just want credit and good press for selling and exhibiting rainbow-colored commodities.
