Anyone else sick of still seeing Pride logos everywhere?

[Divoc2020]

I don't have a problem with Pride, and its role in raising awareness etc in the way that many campaigns have awareness days/ weeks etc. I can remember when it used to be a week, then it became a month (June). All fine.

But I've just seen John Lewis still has its Pride logo on its Facebook page, as does one of our local council pages and the Twitter feed of a group affiliated to the local police.

Surely the point of a month-long campaign is that it is, er, a month and then you revert back to your usual branding, or else the impact is lost?

I have to confess, some of this is a design and marketing issue for me, as the Pride versions of high street logos are usually appalling - the John Lewis one being a case in point!

@Soubriquet

Yup.

My work are now actually saying “come and sign to this link to get your exclusive pride pack!”

No thanks.

I’m not straight. I still won’t click it

The work thing is a little worrying to me. Not personally as I don't work in the right kind of sector, but overall. I have a very devout Catholic friend who pretty much has to make excuses every year not to participate in their corporate branding stuff at Pride, which would be seen very negatively. He has enough standing that he could probably weather it, or change firms, but there are plenty of people in jobs who don't have much choice.

Conceptually this identity politics is basically telling people to choose and identity themselves from the rainbow of options rather than having the neutral no view not bothered option. In other words what is wrong with old fashion inclusiveness by default as long as not discriminatory.

We are not identikit robots as we are technically all different but nevertheless just plain human beings irrespective of what sports team we bat on etc etc?

Looking at this whole identity and subdivisional stuff we are basically pointing out differences than trying to be all things to all people. I am just a touch perplexed as what the next new identity thing may be as heard and had to educate self on pansexual recently etc. There must be a fine line between inclusiveness and reverse positive discrimination when a particular candidate is selected for a particular task (open to all candidates) rather than merit.

I agree. I immediately now think dodgy and potentially illegal sex ed materials for schools, erosion of women and promotion of straight white men as the most oppressed. Ten years ago I would have been a wholehearted supporter. The various Pride and LGBT groups did this to themselves.

Going back to the John Lewis logo on Facebook, I think what this demonstrates to me is the disconnect in organisations there sometimes is between the official corporate identity and the expressions of it on social media.
I suspect few organisations have a solid social media sign off procedure, but instead hand it over to 'trusted' individuals or agencies, who are probably younger, more 'woke' than senior management.
It's why, in my opinion, it's always better to email a specific senior person, rather than post on Facebook/Twitter etc and hope your comments reaches the top (it rarely will).

It's really bad practice (in branding/marketing terms) to have different logos scattered around e.g. the JL website is now Pride free.

Sainsbury's is good at managing this I think. They have definite campaigns, then they end and the website and app refresh. The rainbow balloons were gone off the front page on July 1st!

I've just bought a whole bunch of these stickers because they speak volumes about what Pride has become.

Where did you get those stickers?

There’s a link on page 1

.....
@Divoc2020
I work for Sainsbury’s

It pisses me off tbh. It’s just a marketing ploy. That multi coloured flag doesn’t represent the people I love. For me it gives me such a negative feeling.

It took decades of hard work by the LGBT to get to where we are now but in the past few years it’s been completely taken over by people who do not represent the original LGBT community.

#LGBTP is actually a thing on Twitter, it’s being totally normalised. Guess what the P stands for...

I have lesbian family members and friends and we wouldn’t t have gone pride if it was on.

@Soubriquet

..... *@Divoc2020* I work for Sainsbury’s

Gosh, well that's interesting! I suppose I was mostly talking about my perception of their marketing management though, not their HR policies.

@Evelefteden - yes, I agree it's actually becoming overwhelmingly negative now.

I have a gay family member who was very involved in Pride in Manchester when it was all getting going in the 1980s. Had a long chat with him the other day and he says he and his friends are horrified by the way things have worked out and the current direction of travel with TQ+ etc. He doesn't want anything to do with it!

It's strange really, because when I was younger, he and I didn't agree about quite a few things, but now we find ourselves firmly within the same 'camp' on issues!

Please don’t tell me P stands for paedophile..

@BraveGoldie

The month is one way of trying to get people's attention and channel energy, but ideally we should be thinking about these issues all year round, so I think it's great if it's becoming less of a 'gestural' thing and more embedded in the brand identity.

I don’t think ‘brand identity’ belongs in the same sentence as any type of civil rights/equality movement!

Brands only do what they perceive to be profitable - when that changes they’ll be all over the next cool-looking movement.

There seems to be quite a lot of dog-whistle homophobia on the feminist board recently. It's like the 'femail' section of the Daily Mail. Is this the collateral damage of the gender-critical stance here? If you think Pride goes on for too long, it's not for you, ok. 🙄

Women not supporting their own erasure - the stated aim of some of these activists - are homophobes. Good point.

If you think Pride goes on for too long, it's not for you, ok.

It's definitely not for lesbians anymore, anyway.

I am a lesbian thanks.🙄

I am a lesbian thanks.🙄

@notyourhandmaid

If you think Pride goes on for too long, it's not for you, ok.

It's definitely not for lesbians anymore, anyway.

So who is it for these days then?

It is true that the feminist boards here have caused me an awareness of Things On The Internet that I was previously unaware. The minor attracted persons all over twitter and the misogynistic boards on Reddit...

I’m now hearing klaxons not dog whistles though.

I’ve no problem with Pride month but it’s not a month anymore, it’s a several months

Meanwhile companies & organisations continue to not give a shiny shit about other excluded groups

Where is the widespread corporate support & expenditure for carers week? For mental health? For people with disabilities?

Companies are only interested in Pride because they see an easy chance to be inclusive without having to Make too much effort

Also FWR is one of the few places consistent in saying same sex attraction matters unlike stonewall which says it’s about same gender; homosexuality is now a ‘medical term’ apparently

A article below (from BBC no less) to share in case of interest and for me in case I inadvertently become a sexual dinosaur (new add on SD label?) and out of touch or offend anyone super sensitive by innocent ignorance.

Still as a parent unsure how to educate young inquisitive minds as apparently its part of primary school PSHCE Personal Social Health and Citizens Education. This core curriculum subject in which children learn about themselves, other people, rights and responsibilities and relationships including sex education (whatever this also includes these modern times).

Not wishing to also be inadvertently discriminatory and forgetting Asexuality - the lack of sexual attraction to others and of course Gray asexuality or gray-sexuality which as we all know(!) is the spectrum between asexuality and sexuality. Individuals who identify with gray asexuality are referred to as being gray-A, or a gray ace, and make up what is referred to as the "ace umbrella". Within this spectrum are terms such as demisexual, semisexual, asexual-ish and sexual-ish.

And for inclusiveness personified what about Celibacy or the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons?

Lots of options and a matrix of tick boxes!

www.bbc.com/future/article/20190702-are-we-set-for-a-new-sexual-revolution

Are we set for a new sexual revolution?

From reproduction without sex to open relationships, our attitudes towards sex may evolve rapidly in the near future, predicts the writer Brandon Ambrosino.

They don’t fall themselves paedophiles though do they?

Don’t they have a different name