🏳️‍🌈 what happens when Pride Month ends? 🏳️‍🌈

QUEER WORD
COMPANIES WHEN PRIDE MONTH ENDS

What It Means:

A meme that pokes fun at corporations that enthusiastically embrace Pride during June, only to quietly remove their rainbow logos and LGBTQ+ messaging the very moment that the month ends.

Let’s Use It In A Sentence:

Jinder knew that she'd bombed the job interview when, asked what she knew about the company, she replied, "Mostly that I've seen it in a Companies When Pride Month Ends meme."

A Little Bit of History

It's strange to think about how much the world has changed in the ten or so years since this meme first appeared in the 2010s.

Back then, it emerged as a way of mocking all those corporations and businesses that were more than happy to post a rainbow logo and a message of support in June. Yet, come 1 July, they'd quietly revert to their regular branding and wouldn't make even a passing mention of queer rights again for another eleven months.

And yeah, alright, I know it was crumbs at best. Nothing more than performative allyship.

But I've got to admit that, in these dark times, I'm kind of missing it.

And it's been making me ponder a thing or two. Like:

Is Performative Allyship Still Allyship?

The purist in me wants to say ‘No way! Absolutely not!’

But, the pragmatist (which is making a lot more noise recently) says… ‘hmm… maybe?’

Don't get me wrong. I still think it was entirely cynical. A rainbow-flag-ified logo and a carefully worded social media post are a pretty measly substitute for actually doing something meaningful.

But... I also happen to be old enough to remember a time when there were practically no companies that wanted anything to do with queer people.

And so there’s a part of me that wonders whether all that performative nonsense did have some value after all.

Maybe not for the corporations themselves. Maybe not even for their customers. But for the queer kid who suddenly saw a major brand publicly acknowledging people like them. And, not just acknowledging them, telling them that they’re welcome.

But, now, even that seems to be disappearing.

And whilst I don't especially miss rainbow logos, I does bum me out that we live in a world where companies are suddenly less willing to be associated with us than they were ten years ago.

Anyway. Enough of my waffling.

Let's have a laugh at some of my favourite Companies When Pride Month Ends memes.