The Month of Pride

Writers at The Washington Post commented on, ‘Pride For Sale’ published on June 20, 2019, highlighting how the month of June and Pride campaigns beyond have evolved beyond raising awareness for LGBTQ communities and their concerns.

Well, which festival, event or social cause isn't commercialized today? Everything is about getting hits on social media, stretching the advertising dollar and hitting desired revenue figures. With all these about 'raising awareness' for whatever... there's no quicker way than doing a tangible, material promotion of sorts. Consumerism drives the market, and even as social causes try to 'de-commercialize' the marketing campaigns, the effects of such an outreach effort remains middling.

Half a century on, as Pride has evolved into a party-focused, heavily branded affair, the celebrations sometimes seems more retail than riot. Rainbow merchandise abounds, and companies often boast the splashiest floats in the parade. For some in the community, that’s a sign of mainstream acceptance. For others, it’s a betrayal of the movement’s radical roots. 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. 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?

The comments are neatly categorized into 'Purchase Politics' by Evan Greer, 'Priced Out' by John Paul Brammer, 'Corporate Allies' by Thomas Roth and David Paisley, 'Woven In' by Vincent DeLaurentis, and 'Rainbow Police' by Chinyere Ezie. They provide an all-round introduction and insight into how Pride has changed with the times, mainly in America.

In 'Priced Out' by John Paul Brammer, he laments the prices of LGBTQ events. Never mind about men, women too. Isn't this true for every other non-LGBTQ festival as well? Look at the price of gig tickets in Singapore, for every genre of music. We pay the highest ticket prices in the world.

These events tell a story about where Pride is and who can and can’t go. 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. 

This is true for a few gay men, but it’s a myth for most. 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. As The Post reported, gay men, especially gay men of color, hit a glass ceiling when it comes to upper management positions. 

The statistics only get more dire the more we look at race and gender identity within the LGBTQ community. 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. 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.

Sure, we have corporations to thank for leading the way to being brave, to stand out and hold up those voices for LGBTQ causes. But when corporations capitalize on anything, we all know how it ends. We get priced out. (Think big pharma monopolies and opioids, Sacklers and museums.) That will be another thread of discussion.

We're not America. But when it suits certain groups' agenda, they bring American right-wing fundamentalism into town, and for other topics, they claim 'unhealthy foreign influences'. In Singapore, people are generally conservative, not just their opinions about LGBTQ rights, but for many other causes as well. Especially the rights and treatment of foreign domestic labor. The older I get, the more I despair at how right-wing Singapore is becoming. I must remember that my own echo chamber creates a false sense of security that is against how the general public feels in many matters.

You know my stand. I find it ludicrous that we have to come to this, to simply accept someone with a different sexual orientation as... also human. To not discriminate, ostracize or mock. Themed ‘Standing Against Discrimination’, Pink Dot Singapore 2019 is held at 5pm on 29 June.