#rainbow capitalism

[yakityyaku]

very funny (irritating) to me that everyone whined and yelled about stupid rainbow capitalism and how performative wokeness/allyship is a net bad we should all refuse to support and now like.

tumblr is doing nothing for pride and target isn't selling much (if any) of their pride collection offline except at certain stores (in democratic areas, basically) and build a bear has a much tinier collection than normal and all the actual pride stuff is on their "adult" website (not sure if it's in stores, but pride = adult is a hell of a message)

there are genuinely good criticisms for performative allyship in all its applications. it shouldn't be the only thing we expect from people and companies. but if all the shit I see being called performative stopped tomorrow then in terms of the LGBTQ+ community especially we just. wouldn't talk about queerness or queer issues or celebrate pride or do anything.

open your fucking eyes. we are very close politically to having gay marriage rolled back. now companies are basically being let off the hook to even make a miniscule effort (which matters to the people who don't have access to any other kind of support in their communities! which normalizes the community in public spaces!) because the only reaction they have gotten over the last few years are negative ones from BOTH sides.

we are so entrenched in discourse at all times for the sake of our OWN performance of who is the wokest and who is REALLY an ally or a good community member that we have basically handed over all the work of activists of the last several decades to the other side because we'd rather scream at each other over fucking chicken restaurants and shit than the real life backsliding that's happening.

and this goes for other shit too. feminism, poc rights, all of it.

also. trans rights aren't discourse and aren't just culture war arguments. in case any terfs think they can spin this to be antitrans.

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

From @wearedissenters on Instagram:

🔗Link in bio to donate to a mutual aid fund for Queer and trans Palestinians, Sudanese, Congolese peoples and front line organizers.🔗

🌈🇵🇸Queer as in free Palestine. Trans as in free Palestine.

We’re not here for the pinkwashing and rainbow capitalism of u.s. imperialism and the zionist entity. We’re here for collective liberation! ❤️‍🔥🌱

[odinsblog]

GO GAY EUGENE!! 🌈

[drmajalis]

Two things can be simultaneously true.

"Rainbow Capitalism" does not in any way signal whether corporations actually care about or help queer & trans people and only serves to generate positive PR and/or free advertising from "outraged bigots." And Corporations openly displaying symbols of pride and queer/trans community serves as modest barometer on the social acceptance of queer & trans people, and business after business pulling back it's pride merch/symbolism because of right-wing backlash is not good and potentially a sign of even worse to come.

[presidentalpaca]

[whydidisavethistomyphone]

Happy pride month!

[darkangel1791]

I have been upset in previous years with posts that complained about "rainbow capitalism". I understand that people felt used by companies that had homophobic policies and/or donated to anti-gay organizations, but still had a marketing campaign in June designed to celebrate Pride.

But as I say on my tumblr homepage, I am old. I remember when a corporation would never commit financial suicide by putting a rainbow on their product. Gay people were not mainstream. They were hated, feared, and objects of disgust.

Corporations are always going to screw people over. That is what they do. "Rainbow capitalism" at least showed that the LGBTQIA community was accepted enough that corporations knew that they were unlikely to lose more customers than they won by participating. It was worth the risk, because the risk was small.

This year, there is a significant drop in "rainbow capitalism". I guess that will make some people very happy. But it is not good. It is a very bad sign.

It means that now corporations are more worried about who might boycott them, than who they can sell to with that marketing strategy. We are falling out of the mainstream. We are losing acceptance. I think we all know why.

Try to be louder, show yourselves, attend Pride, fly your flags, buy any "rainbow capitalism" products that are still available if you financially can. But do keep yourself safe.

And most of all, vote as if your life depends upon it.

If we ever get our acceptance and buying power back again, please understand the importance of "rainbow capitalism", and what it really means.

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤎🖤

[shorthairedbrownqueer]

May: apple vodka

June: GAY apple vodka

Stop making our lived experiences about your product marketing. There’s more you can do.

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

I admit I hate rainbow capitalism, and understand that most of the companies that do it donate to anti-gay and anti-trans lobbyists.

But every company makes a cost- benefits analysis for every move they make. They calculate how much money it would take to to the thing, how much money they'd lose from potential customers if they did he thing, and how much money they'd gain if they did the thing.

And the blessed thing about rainbow capitalism is a bunch of billion dollar companies said "This is how much money it'd cost to create the designs. This is how much potential money we'd lose from homophobes that no longer want to support our business. And this is how much money we'd get from gay people buying our products just because it's gay." And the giant corps realized they'd make more money from the gay communities and allies than they'd lose from the homophobes trying to boycott.

And look. It goes both ways. Like gay people can't stop eating Chic fil a, the homophobes can't stop shopping in Target. Both potential losses and potential gains will even out at the end of the month to go what it would have been if they hadn't done the rainbow capitalism.

But the point still stands. For an entire month, companies realized that the money of the gay communities holds more power than the money of the evangelical communities. And I just find that beautiful.

-fae

[thoughtportal]

[queerism1969]

[awetistic-things]

the fact that there’s literally no companies putting up their rainbows right now for pride month because they see it as too risky is genuinely scary

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

“From Palestine to Stonewall,

Break the chains and let them fall!

The first Pride was a protest,

We will not stop! We will not rest!”

I and a number of other activists marched with @pawboston, a queer labor rights group, in order to spread our message of #NoPrideInGenocide. We handed out fliers against pinkwashing with action items for supporting Palestinian liberation (see last images). The outpouring of warmth and support was, as you can see, deafening in the best way!

It was another gut punch to come home to news of the Nuseirat massacre after such a positive day. I can only hope our resources will do some good, and that the passion for justice shown by the hundreds of spectators, marchers, and activists alike will help us aid in Palestine’s liberation.

Let @bostonprideforthepeople observe how they have become the very corporate, complicit, cop-ridden Pride we sought to escape from.

[shoelace1200]

Putting my saved r/196 posts on Tumblr

Original poster was deleted

Edit: I now realise this is misleading.

This account is still up and running however the reddit account which posted the screenshot was deleted

[k-wame]

capitalism in two weeks

[grindel-elf]

I’ve seen a lot of awesome people talking about this but it bears repeating. Don’t let rainbow capitalism distract you from what’s happening in Palestine. Don’t let pinkwashing pacify you into thinking queer people are accepted and safe. We’re not. Keep boycotting. Keep protesting and resisting. Don’t give corporations your money or “celebrate” state-sponsored pride events. There’s nothing to celebrate in this country regarding the rights of queer people. Pride 2024 should not be a party, it should be a rebellion. It should be about solidarity with Palestine, mutual aid in our communities, and resistance of the empire and its violence on the world.