Ultimately the problem with rainbow washing (or the problem with the problem with rainbow washing?) is that rejecting allies for not being perfect has a tendency to leave you fighting alone.
Like, the Target and Budweiser examples. The phobes picked their new crusade targets and no one rallied a counter movement, because, you know, Bud sucks anyways and corporations bad but all it did was tell the liberals running things that the community won’t even pretend to have their back if they get boycotted by hateful hicks, meaning the actual smart move is to just wash your hands of the whole thing.
Obviously we have to draw the line somewhere, and maybe that should be Raytheon, but I’m not sure Budweiser and Target were bad enough to abandon in return.
I completely agree. There should have been a backlash, and there needs to be one in the future.
The Dodgers disinviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence brought a backlash that made them re-invite them. Dropping them because some politician in Florida thought it was offensive and the right wing tried to turn it into a thing was wrong and it was a terrible look. It was exactly what those in the community most complain about with regard to rainbow washing - that corporations (at least some of them) are fair weather friends. I have to give credit to Disney for going hard on that number, and the mouthbreathers are never going to come after Apple or Google because those are companies that have roots in place.
We need to hit back hard when they go after Target or Bud. We need to take it seriously because they take it seriously, and they know that getting Target to pull rainbow tee shirts is the thin end of the wedge in making LGBT something people should be ashamed of. We have to fight, not because rainbow wear at Target is important, but because LGBT rights are important.
The only place I’ll generally draw the line these days is with the Log Cabin crowd. I’ve never personally known an LCR who was active in the rights movement. The few that I know wore-Trump have become very quiet about it, or else we’ve simply stopped speaking. Those guys (and in my social circle they’re all guys) can fuck off.
Ultimately the problem with rainbow washing (or the problem with the problem with rainbow washing?) is that rejecting allies for not being perfect has a tendency to leave you fighting alone.
Like, the Target and Budweiser examples. The phobes picked their new crusade targets and no one rallied a counter movement, because, you know, Bud sucks anyways and corporations bad but all it did was tell the liberals running things that the community won’t even pretend to have their back if they get boycotted by hateful hicks, meaning the actual smart move is to just wash your hands of the whole thing.
Obviously we have to draw the line somewhere, and maybe that should be Raytheon, but I’m not sure Budweiser and Target were bad enough to abandon in return.
I completely agree. There should have been a backlash, and there needs to be one in the future.
The Dodgers disinviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence brought a backlash that made them re-invite them. Dropping them because some politician in Florida thought it was offensive and the right wing tried to turn it into a thing was wrong and it was a terrible look. It was exactly what those in the community most complain about with regard to rainbow washing - that corporations (at least some of them) are fair weather friends. I have to give credit to Disney for going hard on that number, and the mouthbreathers are never going to come after Apple or Google because those are companies that have roots in place.
We need to hit back hard when they go after Target or Bud. We need to take it seriously because they take it seriously, and they know that getting Target to pull rainbow tee shirts is the thin end of the wedge in making LGBT something people should be ashamed of. We have to fight, not because rainbow wear at Target is important, but because LGBT rights are important.
The only place I’ll generally draw the line these days is with the Log Cabin crowd. I’ve never personally known an LCR who was active in the rights movement. The few that I know wore-Trump have become very quiet about it, or else we’ve simply stopped speaking. Those guys (and in my social circle they’re all guys) can fuck off.