Do Major Brands Hate The LGBTQIA+ Community? By Jennifer Kate
Well, I'm back with another blog. This one is again another LGBTQIA+ in honor of Pride Month. But this one is gonna talk about how major brands are handling Pride Month thus far, and my feelings on all of the nonsense going on surrounding major brands and Pride Month.
There has been a recent trend of major league sports teams canceling Pride Nights and players refusing to participate in Pride Night events. Now if I’m being honest, I might be slightly biased about this topic, because if you guys don’t know, I am a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Now let’s get into this whole situation, shall we?
Not only are Major League sports teams canceling Pride Nights but they are silently changing their profile pictures from Pride ones back to their normal logos. Hi, MLB, and, of course, the one and only Rob Manfred.
Now the MLB changing back its logo to its normal one may seem innocent on the surface, but they don’t support the LGBTQIA+ community as they constantly say they do.
Now if you want someone to blame for MLB changing back its logo it’s the one and only troublemaker in the MLB and we all know his name so say it with me...ROB MANFRED!
There are also specific teams who have had issues with Pride and who haven’t participated in Pride this year compared to years past. The Texas Rangers are the only team as of right now to not do anything Pride related.
Again, this doesn’t at all surprise me because if you know anything about Texas, you would understand. But what I don't understand is why every other team has a Pride night scheduled and has had no problem with inclusiveness. But again there is also one person I blame for not doing more. And this will not be the first or last time you guys will hear me back this particular person and again we all know his name so let’s say it together shall we? Good ole Rob Manfred.
Anyways the major league sports aren’t the only ones who are having a problem dealing with the backlash of Pride. Multiple big-time corporations are not handling backlash well...such as Target, for which I have written multiple blogs.
Now if I’m being honest, ever since I wrote those blogs about Target, things have seemed to have settled down. Now I don't have much left to say about this whole Target problem other than they still have Pride sections and they haven’t given in to the pressure of society. And in my opinion, Target sells some of the best Pride items around, even better than Amazon!
Now this is somewhat breaking news: Starbucks has pulled down all Pride decorations from all its locations across the United States. This doesn’t quite surprise me if you will, but it makes me hurt for all of the members of the LGBTQIA+ community as this news comes about halfway through Pride Month. This isn’t the first time Starbucks has stirred up controversy in the last little bit. If anyone remembers the holiday cups Starbucks used to give out, you guys would know the backlash that came with that. And it’s honestly really sad if you ask me.
Now if you have been following some of the trouble Starbucks has been in recently, another big issue you would remember would be the workers' strike across approximately 100 different Starbucks locations in the United States. Starbucks employees stated during that one-day strike that took place on Red Cup day on November 17, 2022, that they were done with their anti-union retaliation and then walking away from bargaining.
Now these are just a few of the companies dealing with the backlash of Pride this year. There are so many others I could talk about. but this blog would be way too long. I may make a part two and rip on some more companies who are incorrectly dealing with pride backlash. Then I will be doing a blog to end off pride month with my reaction/day at the New York City Pride Parade, taking place on June 25th, 2023.
I think this wraps up this blog but I’ll be sure to do a part 2 and fill you guys in on more LGBTQIA content soon!