Corporations Feel Pressure amid Pride Month Backlash

The backlash wave across the country, which has disproportionately targeted transgender people, has even weighed on large companies with more liberal reputations. The union representing Starbucksbaristas said dozens of the chain’s locations are not letting employees decorate for Pride Month in June — including at least one case where workers were told violence in response to Target’s Pride merchandise sparked safety concerns. The company said it has not changed any policy on decorations and is encouraging stores to celebrate Pride Month.

LGBTQ+ inclusion has in recent years been ‘standard business practice,’ said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD. But that practice has become trickier amid a ‘very aggressive legislative session’ in which hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills — which target trans rights and how sexual orientation and gender identity are taught in schools, among other topics — have been introduced by lawmakers across the country.

It should be noted, however, that corporations such as Nike, North Face, and Walmart have been going strong despite Pride Month merchandise branding. Nike even went as far as to tell angry customers to “be kind, be inclusive” after it partnered with Dylan Mulvaney.

Anson Frericks, who previously served as president of sales and distribution at Anheuser-Busch, said that some corporations need to have a better understanding of its audience.

“Anheuser-Busch has lost sight of who its customer is. A brand like Bud Light is a brand that has never been political, but now they’re being shunned by customers on the right, who see this partnership as a very politicized position they’ve taken, and also customers on the left who don’t feel supported amid the backlash,” he told CNBC.