As June kicks off with annual “pride month” celebrations, most U.S. corporations are continuing to display rainbow-colored logos and other forms of support for “gay pride” despite growing backlash against several major companies for doing so.
As the Associated Press reports, several companies that have faced backlash include Target, Bud Light, and the LA Dodgers. Target recently debuted a line of pro-transgender clothing, including swimsuits and clothing marketed for children, and subsequently loss over $10 billion in market value. Bud Light announced a partnership with “transgender” influencer Dylan Mulvaney, including special cans with Mulvaney’s face, and has now seen plunging sales that have forced the company to buy back expired beer from the shelves. And the LA Dodgers announced a “pride” event featuring an anti-Catholic drag queen group, drawing outrage from fans.
However, despite the numerous massive boycotts, most of their parent companies are standing firmly behind celebration of “pride.” Target is a platinum sponsor of NYC Pride, with a donation of at least $175,000, while Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch is sponsoring pride celebrations in Charlotte, Chicago, and San Francisco.
One example is Macy’s, whose CEO Jeff Gennette reaffirmed the company’s support for pride month, albeit with a more subtle approach. The company, Gennette said, plans to be “very careful about how we put out this product that we select and how we position it on the website and in stores.”
“We stand by our values and we’re a highly inclusive organization,” said Gennette. “And we think the bulk of America is as well.”
Addressing the subject of possible boycotts, the far-left group InterPride claims that, of the 375 pro-pride organizations it represents around the world, 40 percent have seen their sponsorship dollars increase by 20 percent from this time last year. The U.K.-based LGBT Capital claims that there are approximately 17 million gay, lesbian, transgender, or other forms of sexually deviant people in the country, with a combined total of $1 trillion in spending power. Mathematically speaking, this would come out to an average of just under $59,000 per person if it were true.
“For every one customer knocking the display over, there are 10 who love it, and they are going to vote with their feet,” claimed Allen Adamson, co-founder and managing partner of marketing firm Metaforce, with no evidence to back up his claims.