Companies Back off ‘Pride’ in Wake of 2023 Controversy 

In the decade between 2013 and 2023, Pride Month went from an obscure American event to a nearly global—and in many quarters obligatory—celebration of homosexual acts, cross-dressing, BDSM, and gender ideology. For those of us who believe some or all of these things to be immoral (or at least not the stuff of which parades ought to be made), June has become an uncomfortable month. 

One of the most noticeable aspects of Pride Month has been ‘allyship’ by companies, especially huge multinational corporations. However, in 2023, many consumers made clear that they found this kind of messaging distasteful, and some companies seem to have taken notice. In 2024, Pride Month seems, if not a more subdued affair, at least a far less corporate one.

Bathing suits and boycotts

In April of 2023, Bud Light, a rather bland American beer famously loved by ‘real Americans,’ released an ad featuring Dylan Mulvaney. For those blessedly ignorant, Mulvaney is a TikTok star previously known for the series “Days of Girlhood.” Most notably, though, Mulvaney was born a man and today identifies as a woman. 

The ad was frankly unremarkable; it was just one more example of the kind of ‘LGBT-affirming’ messaging everyone had come to expect from companies. However, it badly misjudged the product’s base of support. Budweiser and Bud Light beers built their brands on the dual values of manliness and patriotism, and—forgive my French—if there’s one thing manly American patriots are uninterested in, it’s women with penises. 

Soon after the ad was released, the musician and Trump-supporter Kid Rock began advocating for a boycott of Bud Light and Budweiser beers, both owned by Anheuser-Busch. While there have been many attempted boycotts over this sort of corporate messaging, for whatever reason, this one worked. Within a month, Bud Light’s sales fell drastically, and soon Anheuser-Busch’s stock prices fell 20%. The greatest victory, though, was when, after twenty straight years as the best-selling beer in the United States, Bud Light lost the title in May 2023. 

But Bud Light was not the only cautionary tale of 2023. Target, the department store chain, has long been a champion of non-traditional sexual expressions, famously welcoming anyone who wishes to use their women’s restrooms as early as 2016. Each June, their “Pride” collection took up more and more shelf space—and was aimed at an ever-younger audience. Perhaps most famously, Target began selling ‘tuck-friendly’ women’s swimsuits with space for genitals that, until recent years, would have been associated with men.

Bolstered by the success of the Bud Light boycotts, many Americans, especially parents, began calling for Target boycotts, whether for Pride Month or year-round. The rapper Forgiato Blow released “Boycott Target,” which garnered several million views across various social media platforms.

Target boycotts were so successful that the store announced in May that it would be drastically cutting back on its Pride collection. Indeed, some Target stores are not carrying any Pride merchandise whatsoever this year. 

The Victory of the Sacred Heart

Target is not alone. Americans are used to virtually every corporation filling its social media with posts in support of Pride month every June, but this year many have been silent on the matter. It seems that last year’s boycotts made enough waves that companies are finally realizing that a large portion of their customer base is not supportive of the massive social experiments on the structure of the family and the human body represented by Pride month.

The vices of pride and licentiousness are not the only things celebrated in June, however. Many observe alternative celebrations, such as Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. George began observing “Fidelity Month” every June several years ago, but in the last two years it has attracted far more attention. Fidelity Month has even been praised by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.

Christians in particular have been supportive of such efforts. Perhaps the most successful of these has been to draw attention to an old tradition. Namely, many Catholics have been observing June as the month specially dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. For the Christian, there is much evil in the world, but it will never be triumphant. Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross has defeated Satan, and all are invited to repent of sin and come to Christ. There is room in His heart for all.