Back then, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to attend a fancy Pride party.
But nothing has come close to the community I felt at Oklahoma City’s parade, seeking shelter together from that twister. I’ve been to a few of these parties, and I’ve enjoyed myself. No matter where Pride proceeds go, and even if paid events are mostly by and for LGBTQ people, they are inherently exclusionary, and the people most in need of resources are the ones who get left at the gate. But that is perhaps the gist of the problem: Corporations, by their nature, want to make money, so they center the affluent minority of LGBTQ people, who skew white, gay and male. The statistics only get more dire the more we look at race and gender identity within the LGBTQ community. As The Post reported, gay men, especially gay men of color, hit a glass ceiling when it comes to upper management positions. A 2016 report from the Williams Institute noted that LGBTQ people face “a risk of being poor that is at best equal” to non-LGBTQ people and “at worst, much higher.” It’s not even true for most cisgender gay men. This is true for a few gay men, but it’s a myth for most. It’s a story that seems to take as its narrative center the myth of LGBTQ affluence: The notion that LGBTQ people - and gay men specifically - have a lot of money to spend on Pride festivities. These events tell a story about where Pride is and who can and can’t go. Don’t get caught without an overpriced Pride-branded beer in your hand, either! Merchandise at Pride isn’t new, necessarily, but it is the byproduct of Pride growing into a more commercial space where being nickel-and-dimed is the norm rather than the exception. NYC Pride, meanwhile, offers T-shirts at a cool $55 and a hoodie at $90. This year, PrideFest VIP tickets will run you $50, though the parade is still free. It was revealed that a day ticket would be $35.
Shocked one attendee with the elimination of its free ticket option. In 2016, a Pride festival in Los Angeles that at first promised inclusivity for women and seniors Pride is becoming a more expensive affair across the board, and the folks who need it most are getting priced out. Beneath that, the intrusion of businesses into our annual events has recontextualized what celebrating Pride means even within the community. That debate tends to center the battle over the soul of Pride: Should it be a protest, or a party? Should we really let a weapons manufacturer slap a rainbow over their logo and march in the parade? We question whether it’s ethical, and we wonder what the criteria ought to be for corporate allyship.īut that element of the conversation is just the rainbow veneer on the Wells Fargo float.
Five decades after New Yorkers had to fight to keep a single gay bar open, it's time to ask: What happens when Pride is for sale?Įvery year, debate erupts anew over the corporatization of Pride. However revelers feel about the relationship, Pride celebrations and the corporations that sponsor - and profit off them - are at this point deeply intertwined, with far-reaching consequences. For others, it's a betrayal of the movement's radical roots. For some in the community, that's a sign of mainstream acceptance. Rainbow merchandise abounds, and companies often boast the splashiest floats in the parade. A year later, marches to commemorate the riots and celebrate the identities of the agitators inaugurated the annual festivities that became known as "gay pride." Half a century on, as Pride has evolved into a party-focused, heavily branded affair, the celebration sometimes seems more retail than riot.
The end of this month marks 50 years since New York police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar, prompting patrons and LGBTQ residents to fight back in a series of riots that ultimately kicked off what was then called the gay liberation movement.
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