June of every year is the Pride month: 30 days dedicated to the queer community. Now, while the idea itself is amazing and helpful, the way the corporates go about it, is mostly not. Token support has become a norm during the Pride month and that warrants some introspection on the part of people in the positions of power. For now, things don’t look too great, and here are things that the queer community wants and what it is offered.
1. More representation vs logo change
Every year during pride month, many corporations change their logos to show their support for the queer community. Great, but what about representation? What exactly have you done to make sure they do not face hurdles society has put in their way? When a bunch of heterosexual people make no effort to include a queer person in the conversation and then claim that they are all for celebrating Pride month, that seems a bit shoddy.
2. Safer environment vs hollow social media campaigns
Now, logos are a part of elaborate social media campaigns, which, honestly, are not completely useless. They do create awareness, but two things: 1. Was the intention to create awareness or to get brownie points for seeming woke? 2. Is creating awareness enough in 2022? It is not. Decision-makers in companies need to ask themselves that if a queer person were to join their organisation, would they be safe from all and any kind of bullying? If the answer to that is no or maybe, you need to do better.
3. Education about proper usage of pronouns vs giving out Pride merch
Again, Pride merch is cool. I would love me some. However, there are more important issues that need to be solved before the allies start feeling great about themselves, going out and about in their T-shirts. A person’s pronouns are very important for them to depict their identity in their own way and each company needs to educate its employees on this. It’s appalling to me that there is still no system in place for such stuff.
4. Legal protection vs discounts that don’t even make sense
All employees, but especially those from marginalised communities, should have access to legal help and should be assisted with the same by their workplace in case they face any discrimination and want to take the matter to the court. This is what they need, not the discounts on products that are of no use in the long run. For instance, if you’re a multi-million dollar fast-food chain that is giving discounts on the items, that’s good, but where are you putting that money? If it’s going into your pocket in the end, then what’s the use of this gesture on a bigger level?
5. Contribution to organisations working for the queer community vs celebratory E-mails
The logic is the same everywhere. An E-mail in itself is not a problem, but one must think a step further. Any real change can only be brought through measures that affect things positively on the ground level. So, contribute to the organisations, and NGOs to make sure that people fighting for equal rights don’t have to compromise on their own pay. Plus, it comes down to what resources one has, and money helps a lot with that.
Lots of thinking to be done, lots of actions to be taken.