Pride for Sale: When Corporations Cosplay Allyship


 

THE QUEER RESISTANCE FILES

Part Four: “Pride for Sale: When Corporations Cosplay Allyship”

By RICHIE D MOWREY for The Sassy Gazette
Because you can't trademark resistance.

They sell us rainbows in June.
They sell us out by July.

Pride used to be a riot.
Now it’s a limited-edition frappuccino.

Every June, corporations slap rainbows on their logos, launch “Love Wins” ad campaigns, and flood our feeds with messages of acceptance — while cashing checks from politicians, lobbyists, and hate groups the other eleven months of the year.

Welcome to Corporate Pride: where allyship is merch, and queerness is a quarterly marketing strategy.

FILE 001: Pride™ — Now in Three Easy Payments!

Want a rainbow T-shirt made in a sweatshop that donates profits to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians?
Congrats, you’re the target demographic.

Corporate Pride isn't about liberation.
It’s about monetization.

  • Target releases a rainbow line... then pulls it when boycotts start.
  • Disney films include a "historic first gay moment"... that gets censored internationally.
  • Major banks fly the rainbow flag... while funding politicians who legislate trans genocide.

Rainbow capitalism isn’t support.
It’s a receipt machine painted pretty colors.

FILE 002: Performative Allyship 101

How to Cosplay Allyship Like a Pro:

  • Change your logo to a rainbow for 30 days.
  • Sponsor one (1) Pride float.
  • Sell merch with “Love is Love” stitched by underpaid workers.
  • Donate to anti-LGBTQ+ super PACs on the down-low.
  • Profit.

Corporations aren't confused.
They’re complicit.

They know supporting Pride sells.
They also know bigoted donations protect tax breaks, deregulation, and political influence.

So they "celebrate" us — until the checks clear.

FILE 003: Allyship or Ad Campaign?

Ask yourself:

  • Do they support queer employees all year?
  • Do they publicly condemn anti-LGBTQ+ legislation?
  • Do they fund queer rights organizations beyond "Pride partnerships"?
  • Do they protect trans workers when boycotts and bomb threats hit?

If the answer is no, their rainbow is a costume.
And your wallet is the mark.

FILE 004: Real Allyship Leaves Receipts

Real allies:

  • Donate to bail funds, housing orgs, and LGBTQ+ legal defense groups.
  • Refuse to cave when bigots boycott.
  • Protect trans, nonbinary, and queer workers even when it’s not "trendy."
  • Walk the walk even when it costs them.

Fake allies:

  • Sell rainbow socks made in Bangladesh.
  • Sponsor Pride but sponsor bigotry too.
  • Post #LoveIsLove once a year and vanish when things get hard.

CLOSING ARGUMENT:

If your Pride ends when the fiscal quarter closes, it was never allyship — it was advertising.

We are not seasonal accessories.
We are not market segments.
We are not here to pad your diversity reports.

We are the riot you can't trademark.
We are the resistance you can't brand.

Filed Under:
"Rainbow-Washed."
"Profits Over People."
"Thanks For The Tote Bag, Now GTFO."

Next Up in The Queer Resistance Files:

Part Five: “The Rainbow Curtain: Pinkwashing, Propaganda, and Pride Politics”
Because sometimes the enemy waves a rainbow flag, too.

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