Corporate Pride

It is Pride month, and in Toronto that is a pretty big deal.  I always ignore the big parade because the idea of travelling to a spot that will be jammed full of noisy people is more terrifying than exciting, but I certainly support the whole thing - from a safe distance.  Toronto has had some struggles in recent years with figuring out who gets to be in Pride, especially with the police.  The police seem to think that everyone should just forget their role in attacking queer people and sparking Pride in the first place, but faugh to that.

That part seems easy to me.  Keep out the people who actively assaulted and harassed you in years past.

It is trickier for me to know what to think about banks.  Banks love to be part of pride, using rainbow symbols, having floats, etc.  On one hand I am hesitant to embrace big corporations trying to redeem their images with temporary shows of progressive thought, but on the other hand their money and enthusiasm does amplify the Pride signal.  I have seen plenty of people giving opinions, and they don't seem to find much in the way of agreement.

Pride should be about queer people, goes one line of thought.  Scrubbing the reputation of staid businesses isn't what Pride is about.  Banks would have been just as happy condemning queer people if that was good for the bottom line, so why should they be allowed in? 

But during Pride month there are so many rainbows, and that has to matter to young queer kids trying to find acceptance.  Just seeing all those businesses desperately trying to show how much they support queer people is something in itself.  It also sends a message to the bigots who aren't going to change their minds - it says that bigotry isn't welcome in public, and you had best keep your gay bashing to yourself.  That helps in ways that are hard to measure.

It isn't totally clear cut either way, at least to my eyes.  Right now it feels like big companies trying to be part of Pride is a net positive, but that comes with the caveat that it will only persist as long as they see profit in it.  They are uneasy allies, right now, people who are helping out but who could backstab at any time, even if they probably won't.  I would probably have lots of extra feelings, maybe feelings on both sides of the issue, if I were queer myself and had a greater emotional stake in it.  Having lots of queer friends and partners doesn't grant that same lived experience, even if it does cement me firmly on one side.

The Pride organization seems to agree with me.  Take their money, let them spread the message, but keep an eye on them, just in case.