Taking Back Pride to and for The People: The Disappearance of Corporate Pride
Kania Putri Rahmadiani
The celebration of Pride Month has been interpreted in various ways in different parts of the world. The excitement has reached different parts of society that in the past few years, corporations and businesses have joined in on the fun and incorporated Pride in their campaigns. Though the notion of “the more the merrier” still applies, this could potentially cause problems as this may result in Pride Month being reduced as a marketing campaign, thus taking it away from the core of the celebrations itself – equal rights for all, as well as the commemoration and celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) culture.
Pride and The Theme of June
Not only for the LGBTQ+ community and the general public, June as the Pride Month has caught the attention of corporations, popularizing the term “corporate pride”. Numerous companies have started campaigns, sometimes whole collections, dedicated to celebrating Pride Month (The Nation Thailand, 2025). However, there have been a few instances where those companies seem to only be utilizing the festivity of the celebrations for their own advantage to appeal to the market as being inclusive. Business campaigns centered around Pride Month without a genuine act of support from the company for the community outside of June then gave birth to the term “rainbow washing”.
Originally meant to be of support for LGBTQ+ rights, rainbow washing may instead be counterproductive as the community is used as a token to make people believe that their values align. Business-oriented Pride campaigns also often disregard the troubles the queer community faces, such as socio-economic inequality or prejudice, and despite the power they hold, few companies have clearly shown proof that the campaigns are actually benefiting the queer community (Conway, 2022). The capitalization of pride may shift the focus from speaking up for queer rights to simply a vibrant theme of the month (Conway, 2023; Weber, 2016).
Pride for Everyone
Although the recent Pride Marches and city decorations may lead people to think that Pride Month equals lavish decorations and extravagance, a step back to pay more attention to the history will lead us to think otherwise. Pride Month as a commemoration started in the United States in 1969 following the Stonewall Inn raid and riots (Peterson, Wahlstrom, and Wennerhag, 2018). Pride Marches involved various groups in the community, including the most marginalized members of society, such as gays of color and drag queens. This proves that Pride was started by and for the people of the queer community, regardless of class.
Businesses being involved in Pride celebrations is not a negative step, however relying on corporations to campaign about queer rights is not ideal for the community nor sustainable as there have been several instances in corporations stepping back from Pride celebrations. Some companies have decided to scale down on their Pride campaigns due to public backlash from communities that are against the message (CNN Business, 2025; Forbes, 2025). This shows that corporations move according to market demands, which may mean Pride will only be on the moodboard so long as it’s convenient and profitable. They are bound to cave to pressure and stop being vocal about the rights of the community, which is not the case for marginalized LGBTQ+ community where discrimination is still faced daily and standing up for queer rights cannot just be halted as the community wishes.
Thus, as members of society, we need to keep the idea that Pride Month is a reminder of the equal rights of human beings. Pride Month is not meant to be capitalized, especially when discrimination and fear of criminalization are still prominent problems for the LGBTQ+ community. The celebrations do not need to be expensive as the core of Pride Month centers around the people (The Intercept, 2025). Pride Month celebrations can start with us, by being more inclusive and not sidelining marginalized queer groups, who essentially started the movement. It can start by abolishing LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace and not normalizing jokes with homophobic undertones. Pride Month is a reminder that the queer community is not an object that we can sell or a marketing theme of one month in a year, rather it is composed of individuals, human beings, with rights that we should all fight for.
Conclusion
Corporate Pride and rainbow-washing has been a big part of Pride Month since the past few years, which although can make the celebrations more lively, may instead turn the queer community along with their rights into a token and a mere marketing campaign for one month. The decrease of Corporate Pride lately signals the nature of corporations which generally only supports a cause when it is deemed popular and profitable. Pride, which was started by vulnerable groups, shall always be a reminder that the monthly commemoration is for the people of the queer community, and that LGBTQ+ rights are basic human rights which should be protected and fought for all year long by everyone.
References
Bastian, Rebekah. “Pride Month 2025 Exposes the Limits of Corporate Allyship.” Forbes. Accessed 24 June 2025. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebekahbastian/2025/06/18/pride-month-2025-exposes-the-limits-of-corporate-allyship/.
Meyersohn, Nathaniel. “Big brands are pulling back on Pride merchandise and events this year.” CNN Business. Accessed 24 June 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/02/business/brands-pride-month-trump-lgbtq.
Peterson, Abby, Mattias Wahlström, and Magnus Wennerhag. Pride Parades and LGBT Movements: Political Participation in an International Comparative Perspective. Abingdon: Routledge, 2018.
Jaenglom, Kamonmarn. “The Magic of Pride: Thinking Beyond the Rainbow.” The Nation Thailand. Accessed 25 June 2025. https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/the-opinion/40050696.
Conway, Daniel. “Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride? The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of Activism.” Sociology 56, no. 2 (2022): 148-165.
Conway, Daniel. “The Politics of Truth at LGBTQ+ Pride: Contesting Corporate Pride and Revealing Marginalized Lives at Hong Kong Migrants Pride.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 25, no. 4 (2023): 734-756.
Weber, Cynthia. Queer International Pride: Sovereignty, Sexuality and the Will to Knowledge. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Ahlman, Austin. “Corporate Pride is Dying. Good.” The Intercept, accessed 25 June 2025, https://theintercept.com/2025/06/05/corporate-pride-month-lgbtq-trump/.
