What a way to end Pride Month. The typical end to each June is a euphoric blend of pride and exhaustion. Our Orlando-based team joins our Tampa Bay team in St. Petersburg for a weekend of celebration as we conclude the month with St Pete Pride.
And we did that this year, however that excitement was overshadowed by a series of unfortunate events in the final days of June that left me feeling a bit defeated and very confused.
First was a bizarre Ron DeSantis campaign ad that tried to paint former President Donald Trump as an LGBTQ+-loving leader of the free world. The ad, which was posted to the “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account, showed a clip of Trump speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2016, weeks after the Pulse tragedy, saying he would protect LGBTQ+ citizens. It also showed news interviews of Trump seemingly saying he was fine with Caitlyn Jenner using the women’s restroom in Trump Tower and that he was OK with trans women competing in the Miss Universe pageant. Then the ad goes off the rails flashing photos of DeSantis with images of shirtless bodybuilders and film clips, which I think are meant to show how “manly” the Florida governor is by comparing him to these men.
Among the film clips used include Cillian Murphy in “Peaky Blinders,” in which he plays a crime boss; Christian Bale in “American Psycho,” in which he plays a serial killer; and Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” in which he plays a corrupt stockbroker. Another clip features Brad Pitt from the movie “Troy,” in which he plays Greek warrior — and well-known homosexual — Achilles. The entire thing has a techno beat laid over it and plays like the kind of video you seen playing in kink clubs or bath houses, or so I am told.
In the same week, Dylan Mulvaney posted a video to her TikTok and Instagram discussing the Bud Light controversy and how Anheuser-Busch has yet to reach out to her after all of the hate and bullying from the conservative right over her collaboration with the beer brand.
“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse, in my opinion, than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want,” Mulvaney said.
Companies sharing Pride-focused tweets, photos and merchandise is nothing new, but this year many companies have seemingly lost their backbones as Bud Light was joined by Target and Starbucks among businesses that appeared to have backpedaled their support at the first threat of a boycott.
And that brings me to the worst part of this year’s Pride Month — the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 decision, the court decided that it was OK for a Colorado graphic artist to deny services to same-sex couples. I won’t go into all the details about how this sets us back, not only as a community but as a society, and will make it harder for an already marginalized community in the U.S. What I will say is elections have consequences and not showing up because “there’s something about her that I don’t like” is not good enough.
Rights of marginalized people are being chipped away by a court that consists of three conservative judges appointed by Donald Trump and I can’t help but get angry when I hear people say they sat out the 2016 election or voted third party because they didn’t like Hillary Clinton. Tens of millions of registered voters sat out the 2016 election and, according to Pew Research, the number one reason given was a dislike of the candidates.
We are in a time when not liking the candidate is not a good enough reason to not vote. Currently, the Republican Party is hellbent on pushing down on communities that are already being oppressed and stripping more and more rights away.
The two oldest members of the Supreme Court also happen to be the two who, based on allegations, are the two most unethical: Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who are both in their 70’s. Rumors have started online that both are looking to retire within the next few years, setting the 2024 election up to be as pivotal as the 2016 election. Biden being able to name Thomas and Alito’s successors would put the court at a 5-4 progressive majority. This should be what motivates liberal voters to the polls. So when the time comes in 2024 please make sure you get out and vote.
