‘Not fun enough, not rainbow enough’: the spectacle of Pride distracts from real action

Alex Charilaou 18 June 2021

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of InQuire Media

Image courtesy of Karl Bewick on Unsplash

I’ll start this piece by putting my cards on the table: I am non-binary and queer. My partner is bisexual. Most of my friends are LGBTQ+. So, when I say I have no patience for Pride Month, I’m saying it from a place of experience, aware of the implications.

Before I get to the substance of my criticism, some disclaimers: firstly, I haven’t a lick of patience for conservative criticisms of Pride Month — that we’re ‘all up in their faces’ or ‘what about oppression of the straights’ or ‘I don’t like the word cis’. In fact, one of the only joys of Pride Month is incensing these people, watching them lose the battle, and, frankly, mocking their dread at the idea of sexual introspection.

The other joy of Pride Month is Pride festivals, for no reasons other than it being a bit of fun, I like the pretty colours and you get to meet cool people. I enjoy the freedom of a Pride march and I don’t have much patience for those in the LGBTQ+ community who involve themselves in the ‘kink-at-pride’ discourse, pearl-clutching at the same proclivities we’re ostensibly building acceptance towards. Pride is, after all, about sexual liberation, but we’ll come back to this shortly.

My final disclaimer is that, despite my marginality, I am writing from a position of privilege. I am white, male-presenting, relatively well-off – I cannot and will not claim my experience is universal. If some queer people find Pride Month a rich or empowering experience, then it’s worthwhile for that reason alone.

With those caveats out of the way, the fact is that I cannot bring myself to respect Pride Month, especially on the weighty terms it sets for itself. Straddling the divide between an exploration of queer histories (a thorny question being what counts, and whose stories are privileged) and a demand for formerly denied universal acceptance, the queers and allies who push for Pride Month set themselves high targets.

When people criticise companies who latch onto Pride Month with their rainbow logos and rarefied wokeism – quickly ditched, naturally, when it’s bad for business – companies are outraged at the suggestion that they’ve acted out of self-interest. I question what these people think the Pride-flag waving could be for, if not an exercise in the most distilled kind of self-interested cynicism— the profit-making kind. Have you seen LGBTQ+ rights improved by the imposition, top-down, of a Pride Month? Is it not, in fact, an opportunity for corporations to push their rainbow tat and line their pockets, for the far-right to find a foothold in their confected culture wars? Pride Month has been designed, at least in recent years, for the benefit of the wealthy.

Violent crime in Europe and the US against the LGBTQ+ community – especially our trans siblings – is rising, not to mention the increasingly bleak picture for queer individuals in other parts of the world. In many cases owing to our post-imperial baggage.

It seems to me that Pride Month is little more than an excuse for burying these discouragements, or at most platitudinously decrying them, washing our hands of actual action. Not fun enough, not rainbow enough. As with last year’s BLM protests, liberals are very quick to commandeer movements away from demanding radicalism towards toothless paeans of ‘acceptance’, but only for those willing to accommodate themselves neatly into the system. You’re a gay couple willing to practise monogamous, heteronormative marriage? Welcome to society! Kink at pride? You’re dangerous perverts damaging the social good. Any attempt at international social change is quickly co-opted – this is why, around the world, LGBTQ+ gains are being reversed. We’ve lost the stomach to fight. If Pride Month is celebrating queer histories of radical insurrection – like the Stonewall riots – we shouldn’t water this down.

When Pink News is publishing Pride Month messages from Theresa May, a former prime minister who oversaw the deportation of vulnerable LGBTQ+ refugees and voted against repealing Section 28, we might see Pride Month as nothing more than an opportunity for bigots to clean up their image ready for the next £100,000 speaking gig. There’s no radical content, just form. Until this changes, there is very little to Pride Month worth engaging with.