Remember walking into a Target and seeing a small booth with a bunch of stuff for Pride? Exxon Mobil or whoever the fuck posting about how much they love their gay oil rig workers? Watching their Twitter accounts switch their profile picture the second it hit 12am on July 1st was always a treat, so much so it was a popular meme. Well, that era is done. It was a good time while it lasted I guess.
It may seem ridiculous, but I miss it. Yes yes I know it was all virtue signaling in order to sell to queers but it felt as if maybe queer people were somewhat accepted in polite society.
During the protests following the murder of George Floyd you saw companies rush to state how woke they are, and how they’re going to be different guys we promise. DEI coordinator roles opened at every major corporation across the country as they tried to follow greater trends in relation to societal changes in regards to race and gender. Now just under five years later those DEI coordinators are in line for unemployment. For a lovely list of companies that have abandoned their DEI goals, see here.
Brands don’t want us anymore. We are no longer worthy of being advertised to due to the fear of backlash or boycott. Remember Dylan Mulvaney? How much shit she had to go through for a minute ad showcasing Bud Light? I remember my brother went to a wedding that same summer filled with uh, to say this more politely, Bud Lights target audience. Let me tell you, the things he told me about their opinions on the matter weren’t good to say the least. All of this over a couple TikTok videos promoting a beer! It was on Fox News day in, day out for months, for a TikTok!
This is all to do with money of course. They never gave a shit to begin with. They just knew at the time that to be woke was to make money. Corporations, by their nature, are risk adverse. They can’t shake the boat too much or they risk pissing of their shareholders. Honestly it’s kind of shocking that they were ever in support of queer rights.
Rainbow capitalism and DEI programs were always a bellwether as to if queer people are accepted in society. With the dissolution of these programs we know now that things are probably going to get a lot worse for queer people. Rightwing attacks have only increased as well as hate crimes. The transgender bathroom panic is in full swing again (how retro) and queer people are openly called pedophiles on social media without repercussion. As of a few days ago it is now allowed on all Meta platforms to say “Gays are freaks” or that “Trans people are mentally ill.”
I have been called a f****t twice in public in the past year. For reference, I am in one of the bluest states in the country in a metro that is even bluer. The age of queer acceptance is over and I find it hard not to mourn. It’s hard not to feel fear when you look at the media, particularly social media. Platforms like Twitter are filled with anti-LGBTQ posts. I can’t even browse the app without seeing something that dismisses my personhood. You may not realize it, but you internalize these things. I thought I was stronger than the bullshit on my feed, but as things have gotten worse I have been plagued with self-doubt and hatred. It’s 2025 and I still fear holding my partners hand in public or dressing too feminine. We don’t deserve this, no one deserves this.
As of January 2025, 49 Anti-LGBTQ laws were passed among 15 different states. These laws include forced outing of LGBTQ youth in schools, sports bans, and deferral of public funds to aid people transitioning. While trans people are most affected right now, that doesn’t mean that they’re not coming for the rest of us. Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade conservative justices like Clarence Thomas indicated that the same argument could be made for Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized same sex marriage nationwide.
In fact, conservatives are already plotting to overturn marriage equality. The state house in Idaho is pushing to challenge Obergefell in the Supreme Court. Should the court rule on the side of the state of Idaho, marriage equality will be brought down to the individual state level once more.
I yearn for the days in which I knew that no matter how mad it made the Christian right that I could be who I want without repercussion. However nowadays I fear that the more out I am, the more ammunition they have to use against me. I foolishly thought that my generation was the last to go through discrimination for who we are. I may be young, but I remember when same-sex marriage was illegal, I remember the backlash and the vitriol. In a sense it felt like we had won, that the war was over and good prevailed. The backsliding of queer rights has taught me one thing. There is no war, at least not traditionally, it is protracted series of battles that we must fight everyday to secure our right to exist how we want to.
In reality, I don’t give a shit if McDonalds or Shell stop their DEI programs. They were bullshit posturing from the start. I do fear that our visibility will be slowly taken away and before you know it our existence is criminalized. One day you wake up and you can’t get married in some state in the armpit of America, the next our existence is criminalized.
It wasn’t that long ago that even having gay sex was enough to get you thrown in prison. Same sex marriage nationwide hasn’t even been legal nationwide for a decade. It’s easy to think the war is over, but in reality it is just the beginning. With any civil rights movement in the United States there is pushback from the right. That pushback often results in what little social progress was made being eliminated.
As a queer person, I will never step down nor will I change who I am to appease the Christian right. If you are reading this and you are queer, nor should you. If our very existence makes them uncomfortable, then make them fucking uncomfortable. Never stop being who you are. I’d prefer death over going back into the closet and you should too. We are stronger together and you must show them that you do not back down without a fight.
One day, no matter how pointless, there will be another Target pride selection.
[1] https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=
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