It’s Pride Month and as more and more businesses have climbed on board the rainbow train, Republicans are running out of places to dine out.
“Rainbow washing” and “rainbow capitalism” have become common refrains from some in the community who are weary of corporations slapping a rainbow on their logo without supporting the community during the other 11 months of the year. But with over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ laws proposed at the federal and national levels by Republicans and the religious right, this is the year to overlook that in favor of just making them squirm.
But as the far-right boycotts Disney, Target, Budweiser, and any other company they can, the perpetually angry are quickly running out of options. Even Chick-fil-A, the right’s bastion of fast food righteousness, has been deemed too “woke” for waffle fries after they hired a vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
So where is a Republican supposed to go on Sundays after church like God intended? Not these restaurants. They’re not offering a side of hatefulness to their menus.
Click through to see some of the brands celebrating online
With hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed over the past year, both at the federal level and in state legislatures across the country, it’s a difficult time for the queer community. Republican politicians, far-right online personalities, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists have launched vicious attacks against the community, especially drag queens and transgender people.
June is usually a celebration for the LGBTQ+ community, but this year many have found it challenging to enjoy Pride like in previous years. They’ve been traumatized by the nonstop vitriol and threats of violence.
So how can you take care of yourself this year? The onslaught of negativity can quickly take its toll, so LGBTQ Nation spoke with a therapist and psychologist to get tips on how to recognize your trauma, protect your mental health, and show yourself some compassion at the same time.
“These relentless attacks against LGBTQ folks, at minimum, leave us afraid, anxious, and insecure. When we leave our homes, are we safe? Will I be faced with attacks ranging from disgust to outright physical harm?” clinical psychologist Roxy Manning, Ph.D. pointed out. “Someone might call themselves an ally, but will they publicly intervene when horrendous comments are directed at me, or is their allyship restricted to privately commiserating with me and telling me that what happened was so wrong? We begin to doubt ourselves.”
“So many of us walk the world in this state of perpetual anxiety and uncertainty – am I safe, do I truly belong, am I truly welcome, am I appreciated and valued? And these attacks make it impossible for us to fully trust a ‘yes’ to any of those questions, no matter how often we are told otherwise. At our most elemental level, we know that it will only take another slur yelled as we walk down the street or another bullet ripping through our community to let us know how shaky that welcome truly is.”
The Human Rights Campaign recently declared a state of emergency for queer people in the United States, particularly in states politically dominated by Republicans. Pride festivals have been canceled due to threats of violence or legal ramifications. And social media has become an even more giant cesspool, if possible. For a community that already suffers disproportionately from depression and suicide risks, Talkspace therapist Cynthia Catchings, LCSW-S, warns that it is essential to be aware of your mental health risks.
“Fear of the unknown and knowing that there is an emergency can create stress and anxiety. That can result in other negative thoughts and actions, including panic attacks, depression, or PTSD,” she said. “Look out for negative emotions; drastic mood changes; fear, anxiety, or panic attacks; a lack of interest in things that you enjoyed doing before; irritability; not feeling like socializing or talking to others; crying spells, poor hygiene, lack of or excessive sleep; and changes in eating habits.”
“Staying informed but moderating the information intake is essential to avoid more severe mental health issues. You can take some time to observe and reflect on how you feel. It also helps to be open to listening to what those who care about you tell you. A person that loves you will share their concern. Being open to listening to them. Speaking with a mental health professional or joining a support group can help too.”
Dr. Manning agrees. “As we work on expanding our capacity for self-compassion, we can find support in not doing this alone. It can seem counter-intuitive. People used to tell me, ‘You just need to learn to accept yourself.’ But it’s hard to accept yourself when all around you, people are putting you down, making fun of you, and demonstrating that they think you have little value. We can more easily access self-compassion when we experience compassion, when we see reflected in other people’s behavior that we are worthy of care, consideration, and acceptance.”
“Other people can show us the path to self-compassion when it’s new to us, and can keep reminding us that this is possible. For a long time, when I judged myself harshly, I would remember the voice of a dear friend who always received me with total compassion. I couldn’t always find the words to be compassionate to myself, but recalling his words would be a needed jumpstart.”
But what if our emotions keep us from celebrating Pride? That’s okay, they say. Pride started as a protest against authorities abusing their power to persecute the LGBTQ+ community, after all. Give yourself time to process everything from an inside point-of-view instead of solely external, and see if that helps you feel better.
“Not wanting to celebrate is okay,” Catchings says. “Any feeling we are experiencing that makes us avoid participating during the celebrations has a valid reason. However, it is important to take some time to reflect on the reasons why you feel that way. Ask yourself if that attitude is creating more issues or if you will be more resentful in the future for not celebrating this year.”
Mindfulness activities, journaling, yoga, breathing exercises, practicing a hobby or sport, or participating in a support group can help to soothe your emotions. Still, Dr. Manning warns that some techniques may seem helpful at the time but aren’t.
“As a Black psychologist, so many people have shared messages of anti-compassion they’ve learned from their family, often with the best intentions. Instead of giving ourselves permission to feel, to self-empathize, we’re told just to get back out there, pretend,” she said. “For many of us, without the capacity for the healing effect of self-compassion, we seek strategies to distract ourselves or numb ourselves.”
“We use food, alcohol, drugs, and increasingly, the internet and social media. We want to feel cared for and nurtured, so we turn to meaningless sexual encounters. We rely on accessing and expressing anger and judgment at ourselves or others. We even have behaviors that seem prosocial but still serve to distract us from our feelings.”
“Many of us have some emotions we think it’s okay to experience, and others we demonize. I might allow myself to feel anger and rage but not allow myself to feel grief and despair. We think we have to ‘chin up’ and soldier on, be professional, don’t let them see it hurts,” Dr. Manning added. “We can welcome and hold all our reactions and emotions with compassion.”
“One way we can access that compassion for our reactions is to recognize that each emotion is fueled by an underlying need, something that is deeply important to us. If we feel anger, it might be fueled by our deep longing for justice, for relief from pain. We can even feel compassion for our numbness – our inability to feel may be our body’s best strategy to relieve the intense pain.”
“Remember that you are the change that you want to see in the world, and not celebrating or participating in some way may sabotage progress and your own happiness,” Catchings pointed out. “If you feel like it after reflecting on your reasons not to celebrate, pick up those colors and wear them proudly wherever you go!”
A $100,000 donation from HBO was announced on Wednesday for regional, national, and local LGBTQ+ organizations in conjunction with the Emmy, Peabody, and GLAAD-award-winning unscripted series We’re Here. The donations will benefit LGBTQ+ non-profits in the locations where the show recorded its third season.
PFLAG Fort Worth, MS Capital City Pride, Pride of Southern Utah, TriVersity Pride Center, Equality Florida, and Lambda Legal are among the organizations receiving the donations, according to HBO.
During season three, Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara, and Shangela toured Texas, Utah, Florida, Mississippi, and New Jersey, bringing together a range of residents to promote acceptance and raise awareness. In each town, the queens support their “drag daughters” by empowering them to express their true selves and to encourage acceptance and tolerance in their communities, despite increased opposition from state governments in Republican-controlled states nationwide.
The season was shot during the beginning of a fraught period for LGBTQ+ people as right-wing extremists and conservative Republican politicians targeted the community with a particular disdain for transgender people and drag queens.
Queer people, especially those who are trans, have been falsely accused of grooming children by the far-right.
In the show, local groups protested the production happening in their towns due to these conspiracies.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/9ghvJYFxt-0?rel=0&start=85We’re Here Season 3 | Official Trailer | HBOwww.youtube.com
This donation will benefit organizations supporting or advocating for the LGBTQ+ community in their state.
Dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV and AIDS, Lambda Legal focuses on impact litigation, societal education, and public policy nationwide.
Using lobbying, grass-roots organizing, education, and coalition building, Equality Florida protects the LGBTQ+ community from harassment and discrimination, particularly in the face of an all-out assault by the state’s Republican governor and 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis.
As a community-based organization in Mississippi, MS Capital City Pride provides safe spaces for LGBTQ+ communities and mentors emerging leaders. Among the many services the TriVersity Pride Center offers to the LGBTQ+ community in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are events, educational programming, a media center, and support groups.
PFLAG Fort Worth provides confidential peer support, support for families, education, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ people in that part of Texas. As a community-based organization in Mississippi, MS Capital City Pride provides safe spaces for LGBTQ+ communities and mentors emerging leaders.
All major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming, the advocacy group GLAAD said Thursday. But Twitter is the worst.
In its annual Social Media Safety Index, GLAAD gave Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter low or failing scores, saying the platforms don’t do enough to keep their users safe. That said, most improved from a year ago.
Twitter, which was acquired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk last October, was the only exception. GLAAD’s scorecard called it “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people” and the only one that saw its scores decline from last year.
Twitter’s communications staff was eradicated after Musk took over the company and for months inquiries to the press office have been answered only an automated reply of a poop emoji, as was the case when The Associated Press reached out to the company for comment.
LGBTQ advocates have long warned that online hate and harassment can lead to violence offline. But even when it does not, online abuse can take a toll on a person’s mental health.
“There isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t have a doxxing situation for somebody in our community that we have to come in and help them stop it and stop the hate, stop the vitriol and stop the attacks,” said GLAAD CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis referring to the malicious practice that involves gathering private or identifying information and releasing it online without the person’s permission, usually in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge. “It’s really been amped up to a level that we’ve never seen before.”
On Twitter, attacks on LGBTQ users have increased substantially since Elon Musk took over the company last fall, according to multiple advocacy groups.
A big part of the reason is the drastic staffing cuts Musk has enacted since his takeover — there are simply not enough content moderators to handle the flood of problematic tweets that range from hate speech to graphic material and harassment. Musk has also described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” who believes Twitter’s previous policies were too restricting.
In April, for instance, Twitter quietly removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” raising concerns that the platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups. Musk has also repeatedly engaged with far-right figures and pushed misinformation to his 143 million followers.
Twitter, as part of the same retooling of its site policies, also changed how it responds to tweets that violate its rules. While in the past, offending tweets were removed, the company now says it will sometimes restrict a tweet instead of removing it from the platform altogether.
“Twitter is is largely a cesspool now. You can’t post without getting attacked. There’s no room for conversation. It is just about hand-to-hand combat,” Ellis said. “And that’s what it is. It’s like backyard dogfights.”
Ellis lamented that before the takeover, Twitter was a “leader” among major social media platforms when it comes to protecting LGBTQ users.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, saw a 15 percentage point score increase for both its platforms, to 61% and 63%, respectively. GLAAD’s index measures 12 LGBTQ-specific indicators, such as explicit protections from hate and harassment for LGBTQ users, offering gender pronoun options on profiles, and prohibiting advertising that could be harmful or discriminatory to LGBTQ people.
While Meta has improved and has strong policies in place, GLAAD says the company does not consistently enforce them. For instance, the group says for many abusive posts that it reports, Meta will send an automated response stating that due to the high volume of reports it receives, it is not able to review the post.
Meta said in a prepared statement that it works with “civil society organizations around the world in our work to design policies and create tools that foster a safe online environment,” including getting input from LGBTQ safety and advocacy organizations.
TikTok, which saw its score increase from 14 points to 57%, said it is “proud to have strong policies aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from harassment and hate speech, including misgendering and deadnaming, and we’re always looking to strengthen our approach, informed both by our community and the advice of experts, such as GLAAD.”
Google’s YouTube, meanwhile, scored 54%, up nine points from 2022.
“Our policies prohibit content that promotes violence or hatred against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Over the last few years, we’ve made significant progress in our ability to quickly remove this content from our platform and prominently surface authoritative sources in search results and recommendations,” said spokesperson Jack Malon.
Musk, in tweets and public statements, has repeatedly said he supports freedom of speech and calls himself a “free speech absolutist” who wants to turn Twitter into a “digital town square” where people with differing views can debate freely. The company’s newly installed CEO, Linda Yaccarino, also tweeted recently that “you should have the freedom to speak your mind. We all should.”
But GLAAD and other organizations advocating for marginalized groups note that unfettered freedom for one group can infringe on the free speech of others.
“Freedom of speech does not mean I get to, you know, bully and harass people relentlessly,” said Jenni Olson, GLAAD’s director of social media safety. “And that is why companies have hate speech policies, because … if someone is bullying and harassing me that actually means that I don’t have freedom of speech because I’m afraid to say anything.”
The American Medical Association has strengthened its position supporting the care for all transgender and gender-diverse people.
The AMA’s House of Delegates, holding its annual meeting in Chicago, voted Monday to pass the Endocrine Society’s resolution on protecting access to gender-affirming care, according to an Endocrine Society press release.
In the resolution, the AMA committed to opposing any criminal and legal penalties against patients seeking gender-affirming care, family members or guardians who support them in seeking medical care, and health care facilities and clinicians providing it.
The AMA promised to work with federal and state legislators and regulators to oppose policies restricting access to the care and collaborate with other organizations to educate the Federation of State Medical Boards about the importance of gender-affirming care.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Urological Association, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American College of Physicians, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, and AMA’s Medical Student Section cosponsored the resolution.
The AMA already has a long history of supporting gender-affirming care, including support for insurance coverage of the procedures, which include puberty blockers for young people, hormone treatment, and surgery. Medical associations agree that genital surgery should be delayed until patients reach age 18.
But right-wing politicians are increasingly attacking such care, calling it experimental and unproven, when in fact more than 2,000 scientific studies have examined aspects of gender-affirming care since 1975, including more than 260 studies cited in the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Practice Guideline, the society notes in its press release.
Twenty states have passed laws banning most or all gender-affirming care for minors, and some states restrict the care for certain adults as well, such as those who receive insurance coverage through Medicaid. Five of the states make it a crime to provide the care. At the federal level, far-right Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene last year introduced a bill that would have made it a felony to deliver the care to minors. It went nowhere, but Green reintroduced it this year.
The United Kingdom’s National Health Service recently decided to limit the use of puberty blockersto clinical trials, a move that received criticism from LGBTQ+ activists.
In the U.S., 11 states and several cities, including New York City, Kansas City, Mo., and Washington, D.C., have taken steps to protect access to gender-affirming treatment.
Several studies have made clear that gender-affirming care saves lives. A 2020 study, for instance, found that trans adults who had received puberty blockers in their youth had lower likelihood of lifetime suicidal ideation than those who wanted the treatment but did not receive it. A recently released study found that receiving hormone treatment as teens significantly reduced the risk of ever attempting suicide.
The American College of Pediatricians, a small, right-wing extremist group of physicians who for two decades has struggled to gain traction finds itself for the first time with more power than it has ever had as the far-right takes greater hold on America.
But along with their new-found power comes a deep dive into at least 15 years worth of their internal documents, the result of the group reportedly publishing a link to its own unsecured Google drive in April, which WIRED uncovered and reported on back in May.
The Washington Post combed through 10,000 of the group’s documents, and on Thursday publishing its exposé on the American College of Pediatricians, which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.
“The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a fringe anti-LGBTQ hate group that masquerades as the premier U.S. association of pediatricians to push anti-LGBTQ junk science, primarily via far-right conservative media and filing amicus briefs in cases related to gay adoption and marriage equality,” SPLC writes in its extensive report.
According to The Washington Post, the American College of Pediatricians is a “small group of conservative doctors” that “has sought to shape the nation’s most contentious policies on abortion and transgender rights by promoting views rejected by the medical establishment as scientific fact.”
The American College of Pediatricians promotes the discredited practice of “conversion therapy,” which has been called “torture” by some who have been subjected to it. Conversion therapy, which purports to change a human being’s sexual orientation or gender identity, is outlawed in several states, while most credible medical organizations have denounced it.
The group’s success comes at the expense of transgender youth.
“The organization’s quest to ban the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors has culminated in a string of recent legislative wins following lobbying in at least eight states, internal documents show,” The Post reports. “Arkansas first enacted such a law in 2021, after Michelle Cretella, then executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, described such care as ‘experimental and dangerous‘ to legislators. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked it.”
“Versions of the law have since passed at least 20 other state legislatures, including Florida, Idaho, Indiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Missouri, Montana, Texas, North Dakota and Louisiana this spring alone; some face court challenges and one was vetoed by a governor. Similar bills are making their way through legislatures in North Carolina and Ohio.”
In other words, lawmakers in about half the country are working to harm transgender children, with the help of the American College of Pediatricians.
Also among the American College of Pediatricians’ more dangerous efforts over the years have been its attacks on homosexuality.
“Internal records from 2010 show how the group tied homosexuality to health risks — even death — in a letter campaignto educators, citing a 1991 study to demonstrate that for each year adolescents delay ‘self-labeling as ‘gay’,’ the risk of suicide decreases by 20 percent.”
That claim we know today is false.
“According to more recent research, suicide risk rises with therapy directed at changing sexual orientation. Lesbian, gay and bisexual people who experienced conversion therapy were almost twice as likely to think about suicide and to attempt suicide compared with peers who had not experienced conversion therapy, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law,” The Post adds.
2010 may seem like light years ago, but LGBTQ rights were very much a large part of the national conversation back then.
In 2010, President Barack Obama directed the federal government to extend spousal benefits to same-sex couples. A critical portion of the anti-LGBTQ federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. President Obama also signed into law the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that year. And a federal judge ruled California’s infamous Prop 8 was unconstitutional.
But also in 2010, just as LGBTQ people were starting to be able to access the rights and recognition they had always been denied, the American College of Pediatricians sent a letter, The Post reports, “to 14,800 public school superintendents [that] urged school officials not to affirm any student expressing homosexuality. It directed them to a website operated by the group that pushed ‘sexual reorientation therapy’ for those with ‘unwanted homosexual attractions.’”
The Heritage Foundation, a once-vaunted right-wing think tank that has succumbed to pro-Trump MAGA far-right extremism, is a big fan of the American College of Pediatricians.
“They have had the courage to take stands in court and to speak as medical professionals in relating their experience when it comes to questions of human dignity in unborn life, freedom of conscience, and the protection of children,” Roger Severino, Heritage’s vice president of domestic policy, told The Post.
Severino, a far-right religious extremist, served in the Trumpadministration as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights.
In its report on Thursday, The Washington Post adds that Severino “said [he] relies on the American College of Pediatricians for scientific expertise.”
Amplifying far-right wing anger that the LGBTQ Pride flag was hanging from the White House during President Joe Biden’s historic Pride celebration over the weekend, the Heritage Foundation lashed out, attacking the entire LGBTQ community and the Biden administration.
On Wednesday the Heritage Foundation declared that the LGBTQ Pride flag “does not represent anything good and it certainly does not represent America.”
IGLTA, the world’s leading LGBTQ+ travel association, is proud to announce the global launch of a groundbreaking initiative to support full equality within the travel industry: IGLTA Accredited™. Following a soft launch within IGLTA’s network, IGLTA Accredited™ has opened applications to hotels and accommodations worldwide, with anticipation of rapidly building momentum as travel organizations globally seek to champion LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
IGLTA Accredited™ sets the standard as an independent quality assurance process, providing concrete evidence that participating hotels genuinely welcome LGBTQ+ guests through their actions, not just empty words. To obtain accreditation, hotels must successfully document fulfillment of eight criteria, showcasing their dedication to creating a safe and welcoming environment for their staff and LGBTQ+ travelers.
The eight criteria of IGLTA Accredited™ are built upon the pillars of diversity, equity, inclusivity, policy, community, advocacy, transparency, and sensitivity. They encompass the implementation of non-discriminatory policies protecting both LGBTQ+ travelers and hotel staff, comprehensive sensitivity training, a proven commitment to inclusive marketing practices, and tangible evidence of genuine support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“We believe allyship should be year-round, not just for pride,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. “LGBTQ+ travelers are looking for real accountability in their travel experiences, and travel advisors want to know they are directing LGBTQ+ clients to hotels/accommodations that truly welcome them. We invite properties around the world to join us in championing integrity within the travel industry and elevating the standard of travel for all. IGLTA Accredited™ strives to provide peace of mind for all LGBTQ+ travelers, wherever their adventures might take them.”
W Costa Navarino was the first hotel globally to become IGLTA Accredited™. The resort opened last year in Costa Navarino, a sustainably driven destination in the Greek region of Messinia, southwest Peloponnese. They have implemented several practices to ensure a welcoming experience, such as role-play inclusivity seminars for associates, establishing an LGBTQ+ associates ambassador, and the creation of gender-neutral room amenities, spa treatments, and restrooms.
“The foundation of Costa Navarino is built upon a deep respect for our guests. Our commitment is not only to meet but to exceed their expectations,” said Stephanos Theodorides, Managing Director of TEMES, the developers of Costa Navarino. “Recognizing that everyone has a unique personality, we strive to anticipate diverse needs, ensuring that everyone feels as comfortable as they would in their own home. The fact that W Costa Navarino is the first hotel in the world to be IGLTA Accredited™ is a true honor.”
In today’s cultural climate, trust has become a rare commodity. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, which surveyed 28 countries, showed that nearly 6 in 10 people currently say their default emotion is distrust. It is no longer enough for brands to claim authenticity, it must be proven. This is especially true for the LGBTQ+ community.
Discover how IGLTA Accredited™ is transforming the landscape of trust and authenticity during our virtual event on 22 June at 10am ET. Click here to RSVP and to learn more about the program.
About IGLTA & the IGLTA Foundation
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association is the global leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel and a proud Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. IGLTA’s mission is to provide information and resources for LGBTQ+ travelers and expand LGBTQ+ tourism globally by demonstrating its significant social and economic impact. IGLTA global network includes 12,500+ LGBTQ+ welcoming accommodations, destinations, service providers, travel agents, tour operators, events, and travel media in 80+ countries. The philanthropic IGLTA Foundation empowers LGBTQ+ welcoming travel businesses globally through leadership, research, and education. For more information: iglta.org, igltaconvention.org or iglta.org/foundation and follow us on Facebook @IGLTA, @IGLTABusiness or @IGLTAFoundation, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram @iglta.
Bud Light and Target were not always political punching bags. But both companies have been drawn into the center of a long-brewing conservative battle after the brands released campaigns supporting or featuring LGBTQ people.
Target announced Tuesday it was pulling some LGBTQ-themed items from stores following what a company spokesperson described as “threats” to employees over this year’s line of Pride Month merchandise. In interviews, Target customers and employees at stores in North Carolina and Texas said the company moved Pride collections away from the front of the store.
Bud Light, meanwhile, drew backlash from right-wing commentators after partnering with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on a marketing campaign in April. Influential conservative figureheads called for a boycott, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a contender for the GOP presidential nod — said he would never drink Bud Light again. Sales have continued to plummet.
But several mainstream brands have publicly supported LGBTQ people for years. So what’s different now? Advocates and marketing experts say it’s the growing power of a vocal minority of far-right political commentators, conservative politicians and religious legal groups, which have led the calls to boycott the companies while these right-wing groups and individuals also support a historic wave of state legislation that seeks to restrict LGBTQ rights.
Yet another recent uproar centered on the Dodgers, which faced pressure from conservatives such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to disinvite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a decades-old LGBTQ nonprofit, from the team’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night. The team later reversed course, re-inviting the group, and drew more criticism from conservatives.
The most protracted battle of all concerns Disney, which has been locked in an increasingly bitter feud with DeSantis. The root of the conflict: Disney’s decision, under former CEO Bob Chapek, to publicly oppose Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill restricting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis hit back, targeting the media giant’s special self-governing status in Orlando, home to Walt Disney World.
The firestorm around these brands stems in part from efforts made by corporations to be more inclusive. In recent years, against a backdrop of growing cultural visibility for historically marginalized communities, consumer-focused companies have increasingly featured LGBTQ people in advertising, marketing and other public-facing initiatives, such as Pride events.
Of course, major companies also saw a clear capitalist incentive: LGBTQ people in the U.S. collectively represent roughly $900 billion in annual purchasing power, according to a 2019 report from LGBT Capital, a financial services company.
That hasn’t made them immune to backlash that has been intensified in part by internet-fueled conspiracy theories and a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills in statehouses.
Ari Drennen, the LGBTQ program director for Media Matters, a liberal watchdog organization, said a common thread connecting firestorms around Target and Bud Light’s campaign with Dylan Mulvaney is Matt Walsh, a political commentator for far-right website the Daily Wire.
“He’s been one of the most strident voices pushing this forward,” Drennen said. “Now, they’ve been picked up kind of more broadly throughout the right-wing media from people following that lead, but he’s been the person who’s really been pushing this kind of aggressive boycott tactic.”
She noted that Walsh declared victory over Target on social media, where he has 1.9 million followers on Twitter.
“The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands. If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they’ll gain,” Walsh tweeted on Wednesday.
“First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress,” he added. “Let’s keep it going.” Walsh did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.
An anti-Bud Light sign hangs on a country road in Arco, Idaho, on April 21.Natalie Behring / Getty Images file
Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch, distanced the company from Mulvaney and said in the days after the backlash that it “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.” Roughly a week later, Anheuser-Busch confirmed media reports that two of the marketing executives who worked on the campaign were taking leaves of absence.
Drennen said that part of what is allowing Walsh to get traction is his increased national recognition in efforts to restrict transition-related medical care for minors. In February, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves invited Walsh to speak ahead of Reeves signing a bill to ban transition-related care for minors in the state. Earlier that month, NBC News reported that Walsh’s advocacy also influenced Tennessee’s decision to reject more than $8 million in federal funds to combat HIV.
“All of this is a coordinated attempt to make it untenable to be specifically trans in public,” Drennen said. “And one of the ways that they’ve attempted to do this is by removing any kind of political support, any kind of corporate support — just basically making it untenable to be an ally to the trans community. And I think that’s the real connective tissue between these.”
She added that Fox News covered a new North Face campaign that featured drag performer Pattie Gonia during a segment on Wednesday. On Thursday, conservative commentator Candace Owens announced during her Daily Wire show that, due to the campaign, “there will be nothing in my home that is from the North Face.”
Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, a firm specializing in LGBTQ marketing, said that while the controversies surrounding Bud Light and Target were “created” by a small number of people, they were amplified by social media and some news outlets.
“The kerosene just carries a lot further today,” Witeck said of how controversies sparked by a small number of people spread further more quickly. He added that the conservative response to Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney campaign was ignited, in part, by commentator Ben Shapiro, and then picked up by other right-wing voices and news. Shapiro did not immediately return a request for comment.
Conversations about LGBTQ people, at a time when LGBTQ issues are more visible than ever, “become distorted quickly,” he said. Witeck added that LGBTQ advocates are likely to continue filing legal challenges against anti-LGBTQ laws because they violate the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, a 2020 ruling holding that gay and transgender employees are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The decision galvanized many grassroots conservative activists.
“Trans people have been dehumanized, people are defining them in political terms that are dehumanizing, and so it’s much easier for these media influencers to line up those things in front of people,” he said of the backlash to Target and Bud Light, even though “these aren’t the motivating issues in their lives.”
Laurel Powell, director of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S., said “far-right extremists sense an opportunity,” and that is why there has been a more intense response from conservatives to Target’s Pride Month collection, for example.
“We’re coming off of the most hostile and dangerous state legislative season when it comes to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation,” Powell said. “We are existing in a country right now where one of our major social media networks has essentially become an alt-right platform. They see an opportunity, and what they’re going to find out is that they are out of step with most Americans; they are out of step with the vast majority of people who believe that LGBTQ+ people should be able to live lives free from discrimination.”
In 2016, a slew of major corporations, including American Airlines, Apple, Microsoft, eBay and Nike, signed on to an amicus brief supporting the Justice Department’s efforts to block North Carolina’s “bathroom bill,” which barred trans people from using restrooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificate.
Seven years later, the American public and U.S-based companies have only become more accepting of LGBTQ people, the latter with both their internal policies and via public marketing campaigns. However, Witeck said the difference between then and now is that lawmakers have proposed nearly 500 bills to restrict LGBTQ rights in dozens of states.
“In 2016, you had just one state doing something novel that other states weren’t doing,” Witeck said. To take a stand on even 10 of the bills proposed this year would be a challenge, “and most major corporations are based in all of those states.”
Witeck said he expects Pride Month this year to be “militant,” because LGBTQ people are anxious and worried.
“Corporate allyship is going to be tested like we’ve never seen,” he said. “Allies have got to really be prepared to grow spines, to really stand by their values.”
A Catholic “Pride Mass” at Duquesne University was canceled at the urging of the Pittsburgh diocese after being bombarded with messages from anti-LGBTQ+ protestors.
Planned by the organization Catholics for Change in our Church, the mass was meant to be promoted as a service held in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Catholics. But according to local news outlet WESA, all hell broke loose when a flyer referring to the event as a “Pride Mass” was obtained and published by the far-right Daily Signal. The flyer was reportedly put out by a parish member without approval from the organizers.
Her rhetoric is getting more combative, saying trans women are just faking it so that they can attack cis women in the bathroom.
In a letter calling for the cancellation of the event, Bishop David Zubik said the messages the diocese received “used condemning and threatening, and some might say hateful, language not in keeping with Christian charity.”
Zubik also emphasized he never approved the mass.
“This event was billed as a ‘Pride Mass’ organized to coincide with Pride Month, an annual secular observance that supports members of the LGBTQ community on every level, including lifestyle and behavior, which the Church cannot endorse,” he wrote.
He claimed that the Church welcomes LGBTQ+ people but that it “cannot endorse behavior contrary to what we know to be God’s law.”
“We are very sad and very frustrated,” said Kevin Hayes, president of Catholics for Change in our Church. Hayes said the organization just wanted to “have LGBTQ Catholics feel welcomed as beloved sons and daughters of a loving God and just be affirmed for who they are within the context of the Eucharist, which we feel is appropriate.”
Hayes also said that the group held a mass for LGBTQ+ Catholics last year and no one complained. But anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol from the right has been growing more and more extreme, and this year, extremists have made it their mission to take down any company or organization that supports Pride.
“It concerns me that our Christian brothers and sisters became angry over the mere support of the LGBTQ community by having them participate with us in a mass,” said Deacon Herb Riley of the St. Joseph the Worker’s LGBTQ ministry, who was helping to plan the service, to WESA.
Creighton University theology professor Todd Salzman added that despite the fact that polls show the majority of Catholics support LGBTQ+ people, bishops have been hesitant to follow suit.
Salzman said Zubik’s decision to cancel the event validated the protestors’ actions. He also called out the hypocrisy of stances like Zubik’s.
“The church does not exclude Catholics who practice artificial birth control, even though the church condemns that — the vast majority of Catholics do practice artificial birth control in a marital relationship,” he said. “So there’s a singling out of LGBTQ people.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) signed two anti-trans bills targeting kids into law on Wednesday, one banning gender-affirming care for trans youth and one banning trans women and girls from playing on women’s sports teams.
S.B. 49, the “Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act”, is set to take effect on August 28 and bans all gender-affirming treatments (including reversible puberty blockers) until August 2027. Any healthcare providers who violate the law risk losing their license. Some states that have passed gender-affirming care bans have required trans youth already receiving this care to wean themselves off their medications and detransition, but this law allows those already undergoing care to continue.
“We support everyone’s right to his or her own pursuit of happiness,” Parson tweeted upon signing the bill. “However, we must protect children from making life-altering decisions that they could come to regret in adulthood once they have physically and emotionally matured.”
The anti-trans sports bill, S.B. 39, says both private and public schools all the way through college must require trans youth to play on sports teams according to their sex assigned at birth.
In his tweet about the bill, Parson declared that inclusivity was unjust “nonsense.”
“Women and girls deserve and have fought for an equal opportunity to succeed, and we stand up to the nonsense and stand with them as they take back their sport competitions. In Missouri, we support real fairness, not injustice disguised as social righteousness.”
LGBTQ+ advocates have roundly condemned the legislation.
“These bills represent a two-pronged approach to targeting trans youth and eliminating their stories, their perspectives, and their right to a happy, healthy childhood,” said Human Rights Campaign state legislative director and senior counsel Cathryn Oakley in a statement. “SB 49 tosses aside decades of scientific research and guidance from every major medical and mental health organization, representing over 1.3 million American doctors, in favor of the discriminatory whims of politicians in Jefferson City.”
Shira Berkowitz, senior director of public policy and advocacy for Missouri advocacy group PROMO said Parson has “showed just how little Missouri’s state government values LGBTQ+ lives and, in particular, transgender and gender-expansive youth. Berkowitz added that the laws are part of an “embarrassing history of elected leaders intentionally taking action to harm transgender Missourians.”
