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The Chronicle Herald • Sponsored Content
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
SALTWIRE.COM
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow What it means to be a true ally MINA ATIA
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any Halifax businesses participate in Pride month every July and show their support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The support ranges from marching in a parade with a giant float, changing their logos or selling a rainbow-themed line of merchandise to generating fundraisers, displaying inclusive advertising or simply putting a rainbow flag up in their shop window. To some, this is a phenomenal way to drive forward change, acceptance and inclusion for queer people in the city and province. For others, it’s simply another example of rainbow washing for the sake of profiteering and corporate clout. What’s rainbow washing? It’s using or adding rainbow colours and/or imagery to products, material and/or promotions. This signals progressive support of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, but at times it can be performative. It can earn consumer credibility but little to no effort or tangible results for queer people’s benefit. “It’s painting our history and culture in this fantasy, which seems to have turned our struggle and story into a capitalistic brand that’s being constantly exploited,” says Gabe Squalor, Co-Owner of Outlaw Country Tattoo. “And I think as queer people, who are really into educating ourselves on queer history, where we come from and what we need, we feel it’s very complicated talking about rainbow washing.” “I’m not always offended by a rainbow flag in somebody’s window. I appreciate some form of support and visibility,” says Squalor. “But it’s a complicated feeling because these corporations have a further reach than we do, by a long shot, and can do a heck of a lot more.” These mixed emotions stem from the dividing opinions on how opportunistic rainbow washing can be. It has been a topic of contention for a while now, but this year gained a lot of traction online. Some organizations, mainly big corporations, are profiteering from 2SLGBTQIA+ products, jumping on the rainbow-washing bandwagon. And there are questions about the true intent and authenticity behind their campaigns and the support they offer. “I think big corporations should continue to fund Pride,”
Gabe Squalor (left) and Tucker Bottomley are the Co-Owners of Outlaw Country Tattoo. MINA ATIA says Squalor. “However, I think that they should take a step back from how they use their sponsorship platforms and should rework their values and understanding around what Pride is and means.” “They need to be giving more money, taking less and not profiting off of Pride,” says Tucker Bottomley, Co-Owner of Outlaw Country Tattoo. On one hand, it’s amazing that many corporations are showing their pride during Pride. It’s great that there is so much visibility. On the other hand, it can be rather tokenizing of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
DIFFERING OPINIONS ON RAINBOW WASHING
“To me, personally as a human, rainbow washing looks like any organization or government entity that claims they are gay friendly when they really don’t like you,” says Liane Khoury, QTBIPOC Community Committee Lead, Halifax Pride. “So, I look at their policies, who they’re hiring and if the CEO is giving money to anti-LGBTQ causes, then why are they at Pride? Why do they want to be here? For me, that’s the biggest issue.” Putting a rainbow up for one month every year is not allyship — it’s marketing. Rainbow washing allows organizations that don’t do tangible work to support 2SLGBTQIA+ communities at any other time during the year to showcase a rainbow
for Pride month and call themselves allies. “Halifax has a history of being against Pride, but we have reconciled since then,” says Khoury. “Now, I’m on the Halifax Pride board trying to do all the progressive work and reduce rainbow-washing practices.” The problem with the rainbow flag today is, despite it being a beautiful symbol with a meaningful history, its usage has become so generic and watered down that people and organizations can use it to claim allyship without addressing or even thinking about the issues the flag represents. “If a corporation sells Pride stuff, they better be asking permission, giving 50 per cent of the profit to the artists/creators and using the lion’s share of the rest to give back to the rainbow community or a BLM organization in their area,” says Jay Aaron Roy, Owner, Cape and Cowl Comics and Collectibles. “We must pay attention and support the people doing the work now and use our privileges to speak up for marginalized folks. Because now is when it matters.” The business community needs to hold itself to a higher standard of allyship, where 2SLGBTQIA+ people are genuinely supported and recognized. Yet, at the same time, this bandwagoning of social rights to make profit is seen by some as necessary before the genuine intent to support. For example, even if one child sees a commercial with the
rainbow flag and decides it’s OK to be part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, that rainbowwashed advertisement was worth it. Organizations jumping onto the bandwagon does have impact and it can be even more impactful by having a consistent message of inclusion and support 12 months of the year. 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion should be a fundamental element of any organization all day, every day — not just during Pride. “To be an ally, you must know the history of Pride,” says Khoury. “You must know Pride started as a protest and how we got to where we are today.” “You need to recognize that Black and Latina trans women of colour started the Stonewall uprising as a response to police brutality; to think about what it means to be from an underrepresented and repressed community that police targets all the time.” “Most importantly, to think about what they have had to overcome to get us to where we are today!”
LISTENING TO AND WORKING WITH 2SLGBTQIA+ COMMUNITIES
The role of organizations during Pride month is to be true allies. They shouldn’t centre themselves in the conversation, but rather amplify the voices of those most marginalized and who may otherwise go unheard — more specifically, queer people of colour.
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“A true ally is someone who understands that they’ll never know everything and will never finish learning,” says Squalor. “It’s someone willing to do the learning on their own but understands they’ll never be an expert.” “They are willing to give a little extra space for queer people, share resources and also understands that queer people are complex in themselves, too.” This can include organizations passing over their social media platforms to 2SLGBTQIA+ creators for a day or host a panel discussion on an underserved topic in front of a large audience. Being a true ally means lifting up and amplifying the voices of those in the community, rather than giving their own opinions. Moreover, organizations — especially powerful ones — can be active allies in growing the prosperity of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and rights. They can use their privilege and financial prowess to highlight queer activists. “Some allies are often seen as this political movement and kind of influencer-type people, so they’re shocked and surprised when we fall flat on certain issues or if we mess up or say the wrong thing,” says Squalor. “They’re shocked and can’t believe a queer person could make mistakes just like everybody else, but we are just like everybody else: complex and sometimes not going to be right.” “True allies can recognize when it’s the right time to ask questions and when it’s the right time to just do their own research,” says Bottomley. “Personally, when I’m learning about a new subject I would rather ask someone, but those aren’t always things that you should be asking others because you don’t want to take their labour. Allies should be willing to do their own research.” Additionally, if organizations are selling Pride merchandise and giving the profits to an organization like the Youth Project and/or making sure they’re hiring/supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ employees, that’s a good-faith effort and true allyship. If it’s only about changing logos on social media or hanging a flag in storefronts to entice queer people to spend their money, that’s when it becomes rainbow washing. CONTINUED ON A8