Is it me, or is Pride Month less “in your face” this June?
I don’t think I’m imagining it, but I do feel like I’m seeing less and less of the seizure-inducing “ka-pride-o-scope” flag embedded into corporate marketing.
I’m not complaining, mind you. I’m glad there is a noticeable shift in corporate culture in 2025. It seems the big box stores, car manufacturers, banks, etc., are finally learning their lesson. The majority of America voted against feelings and vibes last November.
One of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration was forced acceptance. They were bold about it, too, hosting pride celebrations on the White House lawn, inviting flamboyant, acrylic nail-wearing men to shadow the press secretary, and placing transgenders into positions of authority based on nothing but their gender dysphoria.
The push was so flagrant, corporations were all too eager to jump into the pool along with the federal government. Anheuser-Busch famously launched the grifting career of Dylan Mulvaney, the grown man who lives his life as a pre-teen girl, by making him a spokesperson of the Bud Light brand.
We all remember how that went. I still won’t purchase their brew to this day, even after their course-correction campaign with Shane Gillis.
I also remember Jaguar’s short-lived campaign last November, with a commercial featuring art nouveau drag queens and multi-ethnic gender-benders. I just checked their social media accounts. They haven’t posted anything since December.
As a matter of fact, there’s a social media post making the rounds pointing out this phenomenon. It was posted on June 1st by Benny Johnson and points out the absence of rainbow-colored corporate logos this year.
Apple, IBM, HP, American Airlines, Paramount, and Vogue all bended the knee to the queer cult for Pride Month in 2024. I double-checked the list. They all continue to keep their normal logos.
And I haven’t been to Target in a bit, but apocryphal posts suggest to me that they, too, have straightened out, so to speak.
In 2023, most of the Target locations featured prominent Pride displays complete with rainbow-themed clothing and even treats for the kiddies such as Pride-themed gingerbread houses. I wish I were kidding.
After a wave of complaints and a bit of a bumpy ride on the stock market, Target decided for June of 2024 to move the Pride showcase toward the rear of the store in most markets.
This year seems to be a different story for Target, though. @JKHomestead on X shared a photo on June 1st of a USA-themed section with American flag flip-flops and pullovers where she says the Pride merch used to be in Junes past.
I’m not naïve enough to believe that these corporations actually care about the views of the American electorate, but they care enough about their bottom lines to know they shouldn’t ruffle feathers when they don’t need to be ruffled. I can live with that for now, I suppose.
What is troubling, however, is the number of municipal organizations that are still under the spell of the “ka-pride-o-scope.”
Locally, the New Bedford Police and Fire Departments have switched over to queer-friendly logos on their respective social media accounts. Same with the police department in rural, Trump-leaning Westport.
Boston and other liberal cities and towns in the Commonwealth have hosted flag-raisings for Pride Month this week.
I feel these profile pic swap-outs are being done more out of defiance than solidarity, though. The Trump administration may be able to weed out wokeism from the federal agencies, but the local and state factions maintain their independence. And they’re flaunting it.
I must admit, in my pettiness and love for confrontation, I click the “laugh” reaction on these posts whenever I see them. Just a little jab at the faceless dweeb in charge of the official account of whichever organization telling them that I and many other locals see this as a ridiculous virtue signal.
I did see one comment under one of these posts that got me thinking. It read “Nice to see the insecure homophobes letting us know who they are,” alluding to all of the “haha” emoji reactions.
Who is more insecure? Me, who would rather not celebrate anyone’s sexuality or lifestyle choices? Or is it the group of people demanding an entire month be dedicated to their depravity?
