Hacker News Reader

Comment by codingslave | Hacker News Reader

If you look at pride month and the level of marketing and news associated with it, one would estimate that the gay population is huge. Nearly every major corporation on linkedin has a rainbow logo, my uber the other day showed their ride path as a rainbow. The level of influence that LGBTQ currently has in the American mind share far outsizes their population, even now I am worried my account will be banned for mentioning this.

I have actually had many people from different walks of life mention this in the last month, people are taking note.

View on HN

Corporations are cashing in on the trend. I'm both equally happy and unhappy about it. It means that being LGBT has finally become mainstream enough, but it also shows a two-faced side to the corporations who will also donate to anti-LGBT politicians. It's pandering to us, is what it is. That part, I'm not so much a fan of.

Corporations are cashing in on the trend

This is true. But it's also true that companies are afraid of being "corp-shamed" on the internet.

No marketing or PR department wants to answer the question, "Why don't you support xyz!" on the internet.

Steve Jobs didn't have a Reality Distortion Field half as powerful as Twitter.

I don't have any issue with companies taking no stand, so long as they don't have negative impact on the LGBT community through political contributions.

Do people genuinely _expect_ Apple, et. al. to proactively support LGBT rights? I think it's asking a bit much, but also, I'm no marketing expert.

I get that people want to associate with brands that they feel can 'get them'. And brands can freely choose what they identify with. But this is just marketers getting you to buy, it isn't a real political stance.

So I would say to the person who exclaims, "Why doesn't <corporation X> support <cause>?", is largely ineffective. You got a bunch of social media icons to be rainbow-colored, and no actual legislative agenda for your issue, on behalf of these companies. Can we consider that progress? To me "Support LGBT rights <or else>" does not sound like progress.

I mean...Apple kinda does? Tim Cook is openly gay, and while he's generally extremely reserved about political opinions, LGBTQ+ rights seems to be the exception. (On that, he's merely very reserved, but he does say something sometimes, quietly but with conviction.)

Apparently people expect the US embassy to fly the pride flag on the official flag pole.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/11/mike...

You think, "The level of influence that LGBTQ currently has in the American mind share far outsizes their population".

They gained marriage equality only 4 years ago. They are underrepresented in Congress (10/535, about 42% of expected representation based on the 4.5% number cited in the article). Same sex relationships have only been decriminalized for less than 50 years.

By any standards they are a historically oppressed minority in the US. I wouldn't worry that your, "account will be banned for mentioning this" but I do think your concerns are pretty ridiculous in light of a few rainbow flags and rainbow themed logos.

edit: I left out a bunch of stuff (DOMA, DADT) intentionally but I made an egregious mistake with, "decriminalized for less than 50 years". I forgot that gay sex was still illegal in 14 states until just 2003 (Lawrence v. Texas).

> They gained marriage equality only 4 years ago.

Gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004.

Yes, I remember. I am counting from Obergefell v. Hodges.

How obtuse. It’s clear they were talking about at the federal level, nationwide (i.e. 06/26/2015)

It's a fair point and I think it was a good faith observation, made possible because I was ambiguous. I did the same thing using the date of the first sodomy law rollback (state of Illinois, 1960s) vs national (Lawrence v Texas, 2003). I don't think they deserved any downvotes.

I would be jaw-on-the-floor shocked if you were banned for your comment, and I think the suggestion otherwise gives your ideas a "too hot for HN" cachet that they haven't earned. There is no evil empire hunting down the renegade free-thinkers who dare to say that LGBT activism is disproportionately influential. If anything, that's the whole point.

"We're here, we're queer" isn't just a catchy rhyme, it's a statement of purpose: the problem isn't just discrimination and violence, but marginalisation. If you can treat a person as an outlier and the group they represent as a rounding error, it's easy to justify mistreating them. I mean, there are always a few angry weirdos who show up at the town hall, right? Just ignore them and they'll go away.

So why throw huge flamboyant parades? Why make flags and shirts and bumper stickers? Why force us to think about them? Well, I can probably name a bunch of groups that you aren't forced to think about, and are doing far worse because of it. That's activism. Being aware of something is a prerequisite to caring about it.

Marginalisation is the big problem. An other community comes in mind that is currently only allowed to congregate in small designated reservation where the general public is warned of their presence. The size of that demographic is estimated to be bigger than the LGBT community and yet holds no political influence and I doubt there has been a single US presidential candidate in history that given them positive focus on the political agenda. Most seems happy to regard them as a few weirdos that can be kept out of sight and mind from the rest of society. LGBT activism and in particular the pride parade are good examples of how to break out of such public perception.

> Well, I can probably name a bunch of groups that you aren't forced to think about

Really? So why not name them in the first place? This whole idea that mistreatment of tiny, hidden, unrepresented minorities that aren't actively harming anyone else might somehow be "justified" goes against everything that this country was founded for.

> LGBTQ in the American mind share far outsizes their population

What does that even mean? Population is one thing, but can mindshare be measured? You're comparing apples and oranges.

Well, what other groups make up 5% of the population and get corporate logos changed in recognition of that group?

About 5% of Americans watched the NBA finals, did brands go out of their way to make NBA fans feel included?

Do news shows bring on their NBA correspondent to talk about NBA issues?

Yes? Advertisers always market to sports fans.

When did google rebrand itself in NBA finals rainbows?

The reason for that is NBA fans were not specifically and generally excluded from various societal institutions. The level of public show is an effort not just to recognize inclusion but normalize it. Any attempted change in societal behavior takes concerted effort. For NBA fans (and numerous other small groups) -- there is no change needed.

~12% of American women will get breast cancer, which is about 6% of Americans. And during October there is just as much pink as there are rainbows in June.

> About 5% of Americans watched the NBA finals, did brands go out of their way to make NBA fans feel included?

Yes? The fact that you're even asking this question is mind-boggling.

> Do news shows bring on their NBA correspondent to talk about NBA issues?

There's this little thing on the news program every single day called "The sports segment", where they talk about sports. There are entire channels devoted to sports.

Are you not in the US? Do you not consume any US media? This entire line of comparison makes no sense whatsoever.

Thanks for speaking out! I totally agree with you!!

How does a company pandering to a consumer group have anything to do with the civil rights struggle of that group?

How am I, as a gay man, responsible for the fact that companies see Pride as a valuable advertising angle? I don't know a single LGBT person that is happy about it, other than it means that society doesn't ACTIVELY, VIOLENTLY HATE US ANYMORE.

>I have actually had many people from different walks of life mention this in the last month, people are taking note.

Ah yeah, Uber made the route a rainbow color, so fuck the people who would like to have basic civil protections from being fired for who they love. I love the absolutely non-existent logic of anti-gay idiots.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com