Happy Pride Month. We need to talk.
June is typically a rainbow-filled month meant to celebrate the LBGTQ+ community. But this year, it’s become a time to reflect on how far we've come—or haven’t come.
As anti-LGBTQ legislation picks up steam, major brands are getting swept into the ugly fray. First, a noisy boycott of Bud Light bubbled up after Anheuser Busch sent an online influencer named Dylan Mulvaney a six-pack. Mulvaney, who is trans, posted a video of herself celebrating her first year of womanhood, igniting an online backlash.
Now, Target is under fire for its popular Pride merchandise. Anti-LGBTQ agitators have aggressively confronted customers and harassed Target employees. If it feels like a campaign of hate, it's because it is.
Rightwing commentator Matt Walsh has spent the last few weeks saying the quiet part out loud, first on Twitter and then on his popular Spotify show. “The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands. If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they’ll gain,” he posted. “First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress. Let’s keep it going.”
Target pulled some of its stores' merchandise, citing employee safety. “Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior,” the company said in a statement. One LGBTQ brand creator, who runs a London-based startup selling “art and accessories for the proud, loud, and colorful," was upset but relieved after the retailer pulled his merchandise in light of the protests. It was “the biggest opportunity of my career,” Erik Carnell told CNN. But it was just too frightening, he said.
While the majority of Americans oppose anti-trans legislation, support is slowly rising. Some 43% say they support laws that criminalize gender-related medical care, which is particularly devastating to trans youth. What would help a lot would be the passage of the Equality Act, federal legislation that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. After years of debate, more than 500 major U.S. employers now back the legislation as part of the Business Coalition for the Equality Act. So far, it hasn’t made much difference. Part of the reason may be cynical politics as usual—many companies also support the politicians who vote to block the bill.
But part of the reason may simply be inertia and that not enough companies have been forced to examine how they support their increasingly vulnerable LGBTQ employees, customers, and community members. It's time to make this a Pride Month that matters.
Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com
This edition of raceAhead was edited by Ruth Umoh.
