“From a legal perspective, there has been a significant influx of bills being put forward in many states across the country with regard to trans issues, [and] broadly under the umbrella of anti-LGBTQ+ rights,” Jeffrey Boles, associate professor and chair of legal studies at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, told Adweek. These laws “touch on different matters … but they all are essentially pushing back on the recent gains for the LGBTQ+ community.”
The same anti-trans sentiment held by the politicians authoring those bills is also at work in the realm of public opinion, making the decision to run Pride campaigns more of a measured consideration for brands. And not every brand is willing, or financially able, to go toe-to-toe with politicians, as Disney did against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“Corporations are concerned about drawing the regulatory attention of a state that is acting at the behest of this very loud, very reactionary political minority,” TJ Billard, assistant professor at Northwestern University and founding executive director of the Center for Applied Transgender Studies in Chicago, told Adweek.
That political minority is seeking to reverse the gains that the broader LGBTQ+ community has achieved in recent years, explained Billard, who uses they/them pronouns.
“It is very much motivated by a very specific form of radical hatred of trans people,” they said. “That is leaching into the broader community’s place in society because the community has—very thankfully—for the most part, stuck loudly by their trans siblings.”
Money (still) talks
While fewer instances of rainbow-washing are welcomed by many observers, fewer Pride-related creative projects have a monetary impact on the folks who make that work.
“A lot of people that depend on Pride money are not being asked to do anything,” observed Michael Houston, director of studio and integrated production for Arnold Worldwide and Havas Studios Boston.
In that way, the chilling effect around corporate Pride is directly impacting queer creators, something Houston said they’ve noticed within their own professional circles.
But money hasn’t stopped flowing in other directions. Notably, corporate political donations flow to the lawmakers behind a historic rise in anti-trans legislation—often by the same brands posting rainbow flags to social media during Pride month.
