People hate any normal shit she does because they want her to say she’s a man (which literally defeats the purpose of being a trans woman?) It’s literally the act of calling her a woman that pisses people off… They don’t want trans people to exist, period. I wish everyone would be honest, because yeah, it does look like they’re up in arms over a woman drinking beer. It’s embarrassing
I agree with your comments that every celebrity doesn’t have to hold up a pride flag and every company doesn’t have to actively support pride with crazy merch no one wants bc that’s not inherently enacting any change. HOWEVER there is something to be said about the normalization of LGBT people in mainstream society that I appreciate as well as a small form of solidarity. Yea, Taylor swift isn’t making monumental change by holding a pride flag but she is introducing her audience, some of whom might not know anything about LGBT issues, to accept us and educate themselves! Same with large companies engaging in pride / small towns and communities across the country. For some, the only interaction they have to lgbt people at all is seeing rainbow logos or advertisements and I guess that’s better than nothing.
I’d rather see functional merch, like the tuck-friendly swimsuits that Target got rid of, than random cheap rainbow-decal plastic trinkets that didn’t need to be produced and will ultimately go to landfill. Even focusing on generic practical items like a notebook or tote bag that people will actually use is better. Another good move by retailers would be carrying/ running sales on some of the LGBTQIA+ books that are being banned from schools and libraries. The exposure, however limited, is worth something, but I look at some Pride displays and really just see future garbage 😬
Please. Taylor does NOT deserve praise for introducing people to LGBT issues, and I say this as a gay person. One day she can go from making a half-assed song with lyrics related to gay rights, and the next she will openly date a homophobic person for clout. The fact that people can't see through her bullshit after so long is beyond me
@@jaredarenas7542This omg😭😭 I genuinely used to like some of Taylor's album and when I was a younger gay boy I was really comforted by the You need to calm down song cause I live in a very homophobic and conservative country but it does feel like it was all very performative.
My trans kid found a sling pack at Target, not even a trans friendly swimsuit, just a fanny pack with the trans flag on it, and he fell in love it. When we got up the register, the cashier called a manager over and we were told the item had been recalled and they could not sell it to us. I get that the employees felt unsafe due to knuckle draggers threatening violence online, but bending to their demands only emboldens them. The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists, but Target does.
Kayla: “A portion of the proceeds of this video will be donated-“ Google: “NOT on my watch!” _de-monetises video and puts right-wing propaganda on everyone’s front page instead_
I live in a Midwest red state, and while we don’t have a “big city,” I’m in what we consider “the metro.” Y’all its scary out here. After years and years of Fox News being played in every dentist or doctors’ waiting room, the rhetoric is sticking. For the first time in over ten years I don’t feel safe celebrating pride.
It’s frightening as well to see younger people buy into the idea that at least we’re doing better now than ever before… It takes a complete erasure of history to think it’s that simple and linear, and now schools in an increasing number of states are required to engage in that erasure. It’s vital that as many people as possible understand what a backlash is, and that we’re in one.
Because our lgbt movement was kidnapped by the crazy left people indentifying by different pronouns n targeting kids so yeah that’s the issue here people in general don’t care if u gay or not
It’s super disappointing to see the fall of queer safety. The radicalization of far right ideas is getting to a truly insidious boiling point that I am nervous about. However, I TRULY have no intent on softening myself. Standing up in the face of adversity is the backbone of our community.
honestly, even though much progress has been made, it feels like it's so much more unsafe today than say, five years ago to be anything other than cis white male (though, really how safe was it before anyways sigh). All the recently amped up threats towards trans people really brought reality back to us.
radicalized? reacting to people who just can't leave our children alone and attempt to turn them against us in school behind our backs. thats where your people crossed the line worldwide. non-American here. the rest of the world is sick of this woke garbage. next pride month is gonna be your month of rage huh? bring it
The thing is: I'm tired of black people having to speak out against racism. I'm tired of queer people having to speak out about homophobia. That's why straight cis people who have high popularity should talk and fight with us because we've fought a lot on our own. Taylor should speak out like any other straight cis celebrity who has a large queer following. We shouldn't be requesting RuPaul, NPH or idk Ellen DeGenerous to speak out. They already did, they already said. Now it's time for straight people and the brands to speak and to fight. I'm tired.
100% agree. any cis straight celebrity who profits off their largely queer following should have spoken out about this AGES ago. hell, any cis straight celebrity who does actually think that LGBTQ people deserve rights should say it. it's the bare minimum yet it's impossible for them these days.
The problem is that any time a straight Cis white person does, there's someone who isn't that who disagrees with what they say or says their opinions don't matter. It's a people issue, where everyone is different and has different opinions but when one person says something people outside a group assume they speak entirely for the group. Even leaders of groups don't speak for every individual but it comes down to how our brains group people together
@@abrawolfI think thats because brands and celebrities don’t speak out on their own free will. They only do it after basically being begged to do so. Then why they do speak out it’s very tone deaf. Some goofy shit like painting their nails and pumping their fist going “ALLY! ALLY!” I’m tired of feeling like a dog being thrown a pity bone by these rich people. I don’t need them to accept me. I know I have my community. I feel comfort in that.
@@abrawolf people with the most privilege and the most platform can and should lend their support on a functional level without getting out of their depth and trying to break down issues that don’t directly affect them. Appearing in an ad for or against legislation that protects or harms LGBTQIA+ communities world be an example.
I agree that getting RuPaul to make a statement wasn’t necessary or important to making change…. But it was also super weird she didn’t say something sooner. Doesn’t excuse what people did in trying to pressure her to say something, I just find it odd that someone who so readily proclaims the title of “Queen of Drag” dragging their heels to say something about a drag ban in their own country.
Same thing we saw in our community with OJ, Clarence Thomas, Kanye and all those sorts: When you're rich, you "stop being a minority". As OJ said, " I'm not black, I'm OJ." Ru is safe now; a household name. Like hell she's gonna put her wealth and her platform at risk.
While ‘there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” is true, it’s not an excuse to ignore things that we can do. It doesn’t mean do nothing. That’s a lazy response, at best (speaking to the trope). - And as an elder, I can tell you that people using their platform, especially one that queer people gave to them, matters. Whether it gives hope to those who need it, or it urges people to show more compassion (the hight of the AIDS pandemic), it all matters. People coming out is the only reason we’ve made any progress. Safe spaces, be it physical or in a fandom, aided in a ton of coming out stories.
We just had Pride in my town (our fourth one!) and it felt more charged, more energetic...like we were revved as a F*CK YOU to the bigots/Republicans. We had politicans and religious folk there to SUPPORT the human beings who were celebrating. Rumor has it there were about 15 protestors but the group was so small and insignificant in comparison that barely anyone saw them. They didn't stay around very long...maybe they realized love is stronger than the hate they embrace. HAPPY PRIDE, ALL!!! Be you, stay proud, and, stay safe!!! 🏳️🌈💜🌈
I think this year is the first time I've ever been somewhat comforted by rainbow capitalism. It shows that the corporations think our population is worth more to them than the right wing population, even in the face of the hundreds of anti-queer bills and all the grooming rhetoric. Just this once, I'm happy for any display of support even if it's coming from a corporation.
Love your content, here's a take on what the issue with RuPaul has been from someone who watched him come up in the 90's (at least previously, obviously things have changed a lot in recent years): RuPaul did a lot for gay men and drag performers, it is undeniably true. The backlash queer people had against RuPaul was his unwillingness to show clear support to trans issues despite co-opting our aesthetics in his music, films, and TV shows (the song "Tr*nny Chaser" as well as many other lyrics across his discography come to mind especially, as do TV appearances where he was essentially playing a trans woman). This included his unwillingness to cast trans people on his show if he knew they were trans due to it being "unfair", despite queens like Detox having plenty of feminizing surgeries but still being cast without issue due to being cisgender men. Ru's (and production's) stance ultimately changed, but seemed clearly to be due to the backlash, as he doubled down several times before finally abouting face. RuPaul in particular is one of the biggest faces in queer media with the undeniably most popular show featuring exclusively queer people, so to not have trans women (or trans men or non-binary people) receive proper recognition until recently felt like a stab in the back, a sort of "I got mine, figure yours out on your own, but you should still be thankful for me" kind of mentality. Things have changed a lot in the years since and I agree with other comments here about how straight and cis people should be promoting queer issues, as I can tell you firsthand that people are far less likely to listen to trans people about our struggles than if they think the person talking with them is cis like themselves. I don't think this excuses other queer people from criticism. Ru has done so much to advance gay rights through visibility and promoting a message of love, but there is still more work to be done and if he hadn't made those changes to allow trans contestants, cut trans slurs from his rolodex of jokes, and wasn't vocally promoting trans women, men, and non-binary folk with our distinct issues the way he does and has for cis gay women and men, I would still be criticizing him.
See, my problem with Taylor Swift specifically is not that she doesn’t speak out about every issue. It’s that she branded an entire album era based largely on the idea of “coming out” as a democrat in support of the queer community and then received god knows how much money for it (when she very much doesn’t need it she literally owns like four mansions). Hell, she even made it a focal point for her entire documentary film on Netflix. This was such a core part of her branding for a year. Yet, the second this “era” of activism ended, she dropped it like a hot potato and has barely spoken up since. The only time she ever speaks out about anything now is when it affects HER, not other people. Now, if she had shown support in a more casual way, I don’t think I or anyone else would be complaining. But she didn’t. She set that expectation for herself and utterly failed to meet it. Now do I think that one rich celebrity is going to completely solve bigotry towards queer people? Absolutely not. But even if she doesn’t hold all the power, she still holds a lot of it. I feel like if you’re a celebrity who wants to participate in some activism, it’s the bare minimum for fans to ask you to be mindful about it.
I feel like the lover era and her Miss Americana documentary is not to center her as an activist, but rather to clarify the things that the media have said about her or coined her as. Miss Americana is so much more about that 5 minute scene of her coming out as a democrat, it delves in to her psyche - how she's always told to be a good girl and stay apolitical since she comes from country music at a young age - and how she copes with music, and the process behind making music. The scene where she argues with her dad and tour manager to speak out about Trump feels more like she's finally breaking free or is trying to break free from that good girl, people pleaser mindset - especially after what her cancellation had done to her. In her 1989 era and 2016 hate campaign, Taylor was coined by Nazis as an Aryan goddess, but she didnt respond as she already went to hiding by that time. Reputation was the era were she's subtly becoming more political but she didnt adresss anything because she's rebuilding her career and people still hated her. Then after her tour and after she stabilised her career once more, she created Lover, and I feel like she made Lover so -in-your-face- about her political beliefs to basically destroy and denounce the things they labelled her as. Idk thats just my perspective.
@@toastedbananas4760 That is a good point. The political part of the documentary, while it was a focal point, definitely wasn’t the only one for sure. And I think that, while it doesn’t necessarily exclude any criticism, it shows that you don’t need to hold her nearly as accountable as a lot of people do (myself included I will admit I’m very much part of the problem). It’s so nuanced and complicated because of the nature of celebrities. They’re simultaneously both very human and very much not because of how they profit off their own personalities. So, when you add activism and privilege to the mix, it’s BOUND to become a little bit of a mess. It’s very very strange and I must admit I’m still in the process of coming to terms with my own relationship to celebrities like Taylor Swift because of it. While I do still think she should probably do more, I definitely get why she doesn’t and I don’t think it’s the biggest issue in celebrity activism by a long shot.
@@margoalex. Oh definitely that there are areas that she could work on. But, i understand why that she doesn't speak up so explicitly despite showing queer visuals in the lover section of the eras tour and donaring privately considering that there's 70k people in one space and more outside with limited security - then there is the fact that America's political climate is unstable and they allow guns. I've also heard that security don't necessarily check fan's bag when they enter, eager to quickly get them inside. And in some states, some fans have said that there are conservative protests nearby as well. There's a lot of factors that play here, but i do hope Taylor exercises her voice more once she is finished with her US leg of the tour instead of completely blacking out from social media like in the past. I get why she would stop interacting with the internet together since it could get pretty toxic especially for celebrities, and she has to protect her mental state - but maybe a statement and public donation/petition like she did in the lover era and during the folklore era?
@@toastedbananas4760 Oh, I haven’t heard about the bag checking thing. I know it’s such a small thing but for some reason it stands out to me. When I went to her eras tour, we weren’t even allowed to bring bags. The stadium only let me take like a small wristlet. I wonder if that plays a factor at all. Especially because I know Taylor Swift has had quite a few stalkers in the past and I can’t imagine her wanting to risk anything with it.
The album is not about being a democrat?? The man and yntcd are like the “socially charged” songs. Not sure how the rest is, it’s so intimate and her typical work. Artists shouldn’t be activists. Form your own opinions
Wrote my MA thesis on pride campaigns right before all this popped off. Makes me wish I could take it back and write about how cowardly brands can be with this. Either commit to pride campaigns or don't, but your customers will remember.
Hii, I'm sorry if this is weird but I'd be super interested in reading your thesis about pride campaigns!! I'm delivering a ted talk about pinkwashing and holding companies accountable so would love to know your opinions!
the crazy thing with bud light is that they slipped as the number one beer and lost the spot to modelo....who is also under constellation brands same as bud light lmao. they obviously are trying to get bud light to appeal to gen z bc it has such a corny image to young people and, while it may be having this controversial effect now, i think it ultimately is a very good thing that a brand with such a right leaning demographic is doing pr with a trans lady and will likely age well.
As far as the last question. I think it can be good when a celebrity says they support queer people. It’s a public display, and will probably have articles written about or whatever. It seems like more of an “outreach” type idea, kinda just spreading the information to those who don’t know anything about it, or fence sitters. Plus if say most the celebrities you listen to, and or post about are supportive and your not, it could be some-kinda wake up call.
I haven't watched the rest of the video yet, but wow the rainbow Oreo is a throwback! I was in university and newly out when that happened. My school's queer student group made rainbow Oreo buttons (and somebody recoloured the picture to make trans flag Oreo buttons too!) and sold them as a fundraiser.
Let this time be a teaching moment for those of us who have never had to protest when society was already on our side. And let's not take for granted support that might not be perfect and squeaky clean in the future.
I think that "there's no ethical consumption under capitalism" only applies for situations were people have no other resources/options to consume and have needs of first priority, like poor people buying a few clothes from shein because it's cheap. The other case is people being uniformed of something being harmful. Imo it doesn't apply when, for example, you willingly buy a videogame that will benefit a well known transphobe when there's so many other (and even cheaper) videogames that you could play (or atleast pirate). Granted even if you are aware of what are the companies/people you should avoid giving support to, you might still end up giving support to others that are just as bad. But my personal takeaway is to atleast try. Whenever I see that a problematic company/person offers something I can live without, I try my best to avoid it and not consume their content.
Rowling is going to make money wether you buy it or not. It's not fair to bully people online just because they want to play the game. I don't believe people are transphobic for wanting to play the game nor do they agree with what she said. ( They don't want to support her but they can't lie and say they aren't excited about it since Harry Potter was their childhood ) And no ethical consumption means no matter what you buy or do, there's always something unethical behind it. You can think you're trying help the planet by buying a electric car but you don't realize that the magnesium comes from striping materials in Africa. Windmills also benefit the planet but what you don't see is how they are putting it on Native American land without even asking them. Most of the stores you go to give money to anti-lgbtq foundations and/or politicians but wether or not you choose this store or the next they are all still going to make money. It's like when gas companies said its up to the individual to solve climate change and then we found that was not in fact the case. ( And I'm not saying you personally are doing just other people saying someone should be cancelled because they want to play a game )
@@Des17S lol i mean.. there's ways people can play the game without giving money to JK Bowling Pin. I say this as an avid HP fan myself who grew up reading the books and watching the movies. Indeed, she will profit whether I make a purchase or not, but I feel good knowing that I did not personally contribute. And like it or not, giving money to her is inadvertently supporting her views.
@@tunesquicklee Well the ways they could play it without getting it would be pirating which requires someone to buy the game. Sometimes they price the game up more than it would originally call as well. I understand that it's a moral ground for some but not everyone is going to follow and I don't think they are evil just because.
It's really sad that queer people are so used to being hated that any sign of support is considered so profound. Even if it's less than the bare minimum.
Great video! I think we tend to get caught up in thinking issue-by-issue, by seeing brands as individual people, and by seeing celebrities performances the same way we'd interpret a friend's personal conversations. This helps bring a bigger-picture perspective to all of it.
I’ve heard good arguments on both side, but I’ve come to the conclusion that while there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, some consumption is more ethical than others and if you are capable of consuming more ethically, you should be, even if it’s not always the easiest thing to do. Obviously, no one is perfect at this, including myself, but Ive found it to be a much better way to live in alignment with my values and decrease overconsumption.
I can't even TELL you how many good points you made in this video. you've articulated everything I've been thinking but haven't been able to put into words omg
Saying "Is it more about them or is it about you?" In the discussion of celebrities public lgbtq support while showing what appeared to be Abbey Lee from dance moms was perfectly timed, even if it wasn't on purpose.
Eh...I mean, I get where you're coming from, and appreciate your perspective here, but I don't fully agree. I don't think getting companies or celebrities to make statements about the community is worth our primary time or focus, but it matters. A lot of offline people who are neutral to subjects like this can absolutely be swayed positively if pop culture they enjoy reflects certain values, and it can send a message to queer people that they are worth standing up for. Most important through, you're right: it doesn't mean much. It's easy. It's something that takes a startlingly little amount of effort to do. So it does say something, to me personally, when people with platforms don't bother.
What fans don't seem to understand is that Rupaul's platform for speaking out IS drag race, and it wouldn't exist if he didn't work his ass off as an advocate during his entire youth. He's doing more than enough for the community by making sure that a television show that platforms hundereds of international queer artists every year is still airing and growing. Queer youth constantly looking to "cancel" and deplatform queer elders often tend to do more harm than good, but that is imo especially the case with Ru/drag race which does more for racially diverse, queer, drag representation than anything else (also love the analysis wrt powerlessness, consumption & the need for celebrity advocacy)
Kayla, your videos are always so well researched and well put together, but this video in particular, was excellent. This is a serious topic to address and I’m glad that this video exists. Thank you so much. This helps me feel more seen and that my own concerns feel heard. Keep on doing great work.
As someone who is jobless and living in a country which has no social safety measures, donating to a charity monthly for me is too much to ask for. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do my part. For anyone who is in similar situation, changing your attitude and mindset can be helpful too. There’s a lot of pride and prejudice even among lgbtq people, so instead of perpetuating the problem, changing yourself is a very important form of support. For example stop using “personal preference” as an excuse to justify racism, misogyny and transphobia; stop fetishising people; stop profiling people; stop discriminate people based on their lifestyle (eg discriminate against self medicated people) and if there’s any chance that you can make someone’s life easier, even just for a day, then do it! And sometimes having an honest conversation with people around you who are sitting on the fence can really help. They might not be convinced at that time, but they might eventually figure out the reason for a change.
For Taylor Swift specifically, she has profited so much off of the LGBTQ+ community (even co-oping at times our culture like in the “You need to calm down” music video) that her silence in the matter feels telling, especially since 1) pretty much every other pop artist in her cohort that was touring was expressing their discontent with anti-trans legislation, but also 2) she is a truly mainstream artist, with people from all over America (blue AND red states) supporting her, which means she could really send a message that systemic injustices like the harmful legislation are not to be tolerated. She has claimed to be an ally and supporter of the community (and profited due to this) for a long time, so when it came to putting her actions where her words were, her silence is extremely disappointing. i guess artists don’t have the responsibility to speak up, but if you claim to be an ally and supporter, you have to actually be one
Everything is tied to brands even in center left politics. Ppl, just head over to the radical left and organize to enact real change! PS: Great video, Kayla. Happy pride month ❤
I so appreciate this dive! I guess as far as I'm concerned, it's almost better that even if the reason why businesses jumped on the pride bandwagon was to make money, it still shows that LGBTQIA+ people are visible, it showed that its profitable to not keep things closeted, and in this capitalist hellscape, that's something to hold onto. Same for celebrities taking a stand, "picking a side" or whatever you want to call it. People don't always have supportive community around them, so knowing that your fav believes in you having rights is a form of comfort at least. I hope all of that makes sense
I don't want to pile on the Taylor Swift critique (especially as male knowing a lot of hate is based in misogyny), but the fact she only stands up for causes when they benefit her or safe to do so (pro-gay song like "You Need To Calm Down" in 2019 was safer to do then now) contributes to this white feminism/"We Would All Be At Brunch If Hillary Was President" mentality that is harmful to minorities. If a celebrity benefits from or uses an outside culture for monetary gains, speaking up for them is the bare minimum.
Kayla, I came across your channel a few months ago and am SO happy I did. Your content is refreshing, to the point, humour is dry as hell (which as a Brit I love) and I get so excited every time you upload a video. Thanks so much!
I think the general public as a whole has only become more supportive of LGBTQ+ rights, while the minority of people who are homophobic/transphobic have just become increasingly radicalized, aggressive, and violent with each passing year, and that scares companies and brands.
The Rupaul issues are def stemmed from people not understanding how important walking so others can run is. They also see Ru's opinions on trans people and drag that are a bit eh and take that as Ru is a bad example of representation. Yeah Ru isn't great trans rep because he's only a drag queen and is a cis male (as far as I'm aware haha) but that doesn't mean he's not amazing historically gay rep in media, and made room for us trans people to try and carve out a space in meda for ourselves by having a show revolving around drag. It opens the conversation for trans people to have a chance to speak. I'm grateful for what RuPaul has done for both gay and trans people in media.
@@rebeccascott3551 HA I try ;) Fr tho I know a large part is people not knowing just how groundbreaking his efforts were, and combined with black and white thinking it's easy for younger internet users that weren't around for the first like half of his career to judge quickly, especially because that career is Loooong.
RuPaul should be leading the fight for trans liberation and has the platform and all of the resources to do so. People who literally don’t have a dollar to their name are instead leading the fight when they should be the ones we’re protecting. Pre teens speaking in front of a congress of people who are denying them the right to live freely are doing far more than a rich man sitting in his gaudy house filming one TikTok. She won’t even lift a finger even though it genuinely would benefit her and make her more profit, and I think that’s very telling given Ru is willing to harm the planet for profit. The richest, most influential queer person on the planet should be held to the highest standard during times like this ESPECIALLY while also being the person profiting the most off of us. The fact that it took her being actively called out by Ru girls for her to speak up is ridiculous and all of this just reminds me of her blatant transphobic behavior in the past.
I agree with everything except the topic of Gilead and HIV medication pricing. It's not limited to them, but rather the HIV medication pricing structure with all major manufacturers, including Viiv and Merck. Factors impacting HIV medication pricing include no formal income cap for drugs in the United States, needing to compensate for the Medicaid rebate Act or 340B, advertising and education costs, and other factors. It's inherently biased against marginalized groups, I'll give you that In fact, 30 day supplies of medication often run about $40 with insurance, with state programs covering the rest: those high costs actually help meet out of pocket deductibles within the first 2 months of a year. And for those who don't have insurance Ryan White covers the entirety- naturally, there's an income requirement for it, but the affordable Care Act expects people with income to invest in insurance anyway.
While I was in my queer film & television course, Calpernia Adams (the first trans suitor in the first Trans datibg show) came to speak to my class & I asked her “What solution do we see for the queer community amongst the new waves of oppression appearing before us?” and she told us that at first she believed it was about making out presence known and heard, that we are people too whose existence matters! but now she realizes that being seen and heard is not enough! Change starts with us getting into the roles in which we can represent & fight for ourselves instead of leaving our existence to people who would rather we didn’t 🤧
Interesting video. It reminds me of a convo a friend and I about celebrity apologies and the incentive that public figures have to look as morale as possible to their target audiences (pun intended). So even if the celeb or institution is doing saying and doing nice things its always hard to assess how sincere it is and how much help it will actually do. Honestly I suspect a lot of the preoccupation on these matters is for consumers to feel good about their consumption choices. Since we often feel powerless to do any meaningful change in our lives.
The celebrities aren't coming to save us, but a celebrity holding up a pride flag at a show, bringing drag queens on stage, or even showing up to a show in drag lets their fans know that they are loved and cared about and supported by these people who will never know how truly difficult it is for us, but want to let us know that they care anyway. It lets those fans know that when they go to that person's concert, they are in a safe space for a couple hours, which is something that the importance of is incredibly underestimated - my heart goes out to all the young kids living in conservative homes and areas who have to hide and censor who they are at home, but are able to see their favourite artist in concert and can let their truest colours shine, can wear that skirt, can do their makeup, can hold their partner's hand for those few, precious, liberating hours. Our rights are under constant attack, but having even that little bit of comfort and safety in an artist you love can make the difficult times and constant political attacks just a little easier.
Just some thoughts from a tran-comm, but we as a community cannot wait for celebrities or politicians to advocate and make wins for us; we must learn how to organize ourselves, and not just in small groups with limited focus on LGBT identity or personal identity markers. In order to combat oppression of LGBT people, we must recognize the material basis for our oppression; racial patriarchial capitalism (here in America it carries a religious connotation as well). To get to the root of the problem we should focus on material conditions of the working class; construction workers, automotive workers, the railways, the factories where essential goods are produced. We cant jsut focus on helping people like us! There is no way we can affectively combat homophobia, transphobia, racism, ect, through legislation and advocacy alone--it must be done by all people, for all people. We have to get uncomfortable; we cannot remain complacent inside our insular groups.
I was a huge taylor swift fan since I was a kid. But unfortunatly recently something happened that upset me. I'm a LGBTQ gen z fashion designer from Iran and because of where I'm from I don't get a lot of opportunities to show my work. When I was in high school(5 years ago) I sent taylor a bunch of sketches I had done inspired by reputation album and I did it just to say how much I idolize her. I recently saw one of my sketches made into one of her looks from her eras tour and another designer was credited. It made me really sad cause I thought if anyone stood up for young artists and dreamers it would be taylor😔
Other than making drag main stream and commercially viable, what has RuPaul actually done? She's been historically transphobic (if this has changed i have not been able to see proof of this). The people in drag that should be celebrated are those who made sure it was legal to begin with and created spaces for BiPOC communities could be safe and be themselves.
Yes AHB stol is going down but only comparatively to recent years they’ve been waaaaaay lower than this before sooooo nah they didn’t really have an effect on the beer anyway hahahaha
Gay guy here, isn't the Target problem moreso commissioning an artist that was super antagonistic against cishets and having some of that stuff sent out to retailers, rather than the general idea of selling pride apparel? The Bud Light problem was also a huge audience mismatch as the ad was initially on Instagram, something Anheuser Busch doesn't really market on compared to other SNS services. It would be like if you advertised a drag competition on TNT or a monster truck show on Bravo, the audiences would feel super confused and annoyed.
off topic but the videos of musicians with the flag just reminds me of kpop artists being given pride flags when they’re on tour lol big love to ya!!!!
I feel like that's the only way for kpop idols to show support because LGBT people r still stigmatized in Korea so even if some of the kpop idols were LGBT, it's not like they could come out without being harassed, etc.
I grew up attending SF Pride. Maybe it was an after effect of growing up and maturing, but I felt like pride went from celebrating queerness into an excuse for people to go out and dance - bar whatever you felt about queer people. It felt… disgusting. To share a space with someone who if you simply breathed in their direction would easily call you every slur in the book, and it didn’t sit right with me. SAN FRANCISCO of all places. I stopped attending since the early 2010’s and never looked back.
I feel like your points apply to capitalism at large; I genuinely believe most people understand how dysfunctional capitalism and while it feels good to protest and know that other people agree, it doesn't change the fact that governments have a vested interest in maintaining it and the military force to kill and suppress anyone who disagrees
also target backpedaling means less accessible, affordable gender affirming wear for trans kids and that fucking sucks (sorry if u say this later lmao)
Great Video overall. One thing I have a bit of an issue with is your inclusion of “white” people when describing the type of person who had a problem with the Oreo branding ( 1:46 ). White Americans are more supporting and accepting of homosexuality and gay rights than any other American racial group. This is true anecdotally (in my personal life) as well as statistically. There’s plenty of things that White Americans deserve criticism for historically. This isn’t one of them. It feels like the term “white christian heterosexual conservative” (and “male” when it’s appropriate) has just become a blanket Label That people on the Left use to demonize and stereotype anyone they disagree with politically or socially. Edit: Also, there is *literally no* legislature that is trying to cause anyone to not “exist”. The vast majority of conservatives don’t even want to prevent adults from transitioning or make treatment inaccessible. There’s extensive Pew research on this topic which you clearly have not read. Lastly, I’m a Black bisexual woman, so I don’t want to hear any BS in the replies either. And minors ARE getting Trans surgeries. That isn’t “propaganda”. We literally watched Jazz Jennings get surgery on national television, but y’all still deny it. We see the pictures of Dr. Gallagher’s very Young patients on Instagram. We aren’t stupid. This is why Support for the community is down. *People are SICK of the denial of reality.* It’s gaslighting. Do Not Tell us that what we see with our eyes isn’t happening. It’s not just conservatives who have a problem with this. It’s also Former allies. That should tell you everything you need to know.
Re: Taylor Swift, it’s specifically troubling for her to be dating someone who has expressed such violently racists ideas and sexual preferences and refusing to address it. That’s absolutely an area where the public has every right to make noise
I would like to just comment that not all republicans believe in suppressing LGBTQIA+ rights and to say that is a large goal in the entire party is quite generalised and not nessiceraly true…(sorry I can’t spell I have dyslexia)
I cannot emphasize this enough, a lady drank some beer, that's it, that was the catalyst for everything that happened to her
People hate any normal shit she does because they want her to say she’s a man (which literally defeats the purpose of being a trans woman?) It’s literally the act of calling her a woman that pisses people off… They don’t want trans people to exist, period. I wish everyone would be honest, because yeah, it does look like they’re up in arms over a woman drinking beer. It’s embarrassing
what lady?
@@Strange9952 pretty sure they’re talking about a man & his name is Dylan mulvaney
@@nevershoutBrittaget over yourselves
@@nevershoutBritta HARHARHAR HAR 🤣🤣🤣 GOOD ONE BRITTA!!!!! 😭🤣🤣🤣
I agree with your comments that every celebrity doesn’t have to hold up a pride flag and every company doesn’t have to actively support pride with crazy merch no one wants bc that’s not inherently enacting any change.
HOWEVER there is something to be said about the normalization of LGBT people in mainstream society that I appreciate as well as a small form of solidarity. Yea, Taylor swift isn’t making monumental change by holding a pride flag but she is introducing her audience, some of whom might not know anything about LGBT issues, to accept us and educate themselves! Same with large companies engaging in pride / small towns and communities across the country. For some, the only interaction they have to lgbt people at all is seeing rainbow logos or advertisements and I guess that’s better than nothing.
Thissss
As corny and hollow as rainbow capitalism can be, it's reassuring
I’d rather see functional merch, like the tuck-friendly swimsuits that Target got rid of, than random cheap rainbow-decal plastic trinkets that didn’t need to be produced and will ultimately go to landfill. Even focusing on generic practical items like a notebook or tote bag that people will actually use is better. Another good move by retailers would be carrying/ running sales on some of the LGBTQIA+ books that are being banned from schools and libraries.
The exposure, however limited, is worth something, but I look at some Pride displays and really just see future garbage 😬
Please. Taylor does NOT deserve praise for introducing people to LGBT issues, and I say this as a gay person. One day she can go from making a half-assed song with lyrics related to gay rights, and the next she will openly date a homophobic person for clout. The fact that people can't see through her bullshit after so long is beyond me
What is wrong with all these privileged weirdos trying to act like they are In a disadvantage in life lol its pathetic gay asf 😂
@@jaredarenas7542This omg😭😭 I genuinely used to like some of Taylor's album and when I was a younger gay boy I was really comforted by the You need to calm down song cause I live in a very homophobic and conservative country but it does feel like it was all very performative.
My trans kid found a sling pack at Target, not even a trans friendly swimsuit, just a fanny pack with the trans flag on it, and he fell in love it. When we got up the register, the cashier called a manager over and we were told the item had been recalled and they could not sell it to us. I get that the employees felt unsafe due to knuckle draggers threatening violence online, but bending to their demands only emboldens them. The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists, but Target does.
Sounds like you still get the great parent award though. 🤗🤗🤗
@@neznamtija8081 Mind your own business, how 'bout that?
Your trans kid ? Do you hear yourself
The US DEFINITELY negotiates with terrorists; how do you think Bin Laden got NATO weapons in the 90s
you sure have a lot of names for people who you disagree with
Kayla: “A portion of the proceeds of this video will be donated-“
Google: “NOT on my watch!” _de-monetises video and puts right-wing propaganda on everyone’s front page instead_
What is wrong with all these privileged weirdos trying to act like they are In a disadvantage in life lol its pathetic
Exactly what a load of horse shit. LOVE IS LOVE.
I live in a Midwest red state, and while we don’t have a “big city,” I’m in what we consider “the metro.” Y’all its scary out here. After years and years of Fox News being played in every dentist or doctors’ waiting room, the rhetoric is sticking. For the first time in over ten years I don’t feel safe celebrating pride.
It’s frightening as well to see younger people buy into the idea that at least we’re doing better now than ever before… It takes a complete erasure of history to think it’s that simple and linear, and now schools in an increasing number of states are required to engage in that erasure. It’s vital that as many people as possible understand what a backlash is, and that we’re in one.
Yall are forcing the gay and Trans crap on little kids u guys are groomers nasty asf
Because our lgbt movement was kidnapped by the crazy left people indentifying by different pronouns n targeting kids so yeah that’s the issue here people in general don’t care if u gay or not
Good all sic perverted ppl should feel the same..
Its literally a mental illness..
Come to minnesota! Youre safe here
It’s super disappointing to see the fall of queer safety. The radicalization of far right ideas is getting to a truly insidious boiling point that I am nervous about. However, I TRULY have no intent on softening myself. Standing up in the face of adversity is the backbone of our community.
You are litteraly one of the softest types of people there are in this world are you serious right now? U are so privileged 😂
honestly, even though much progress has been made, it feels like it's so much more unsafe today than say, five years ago to be anything other than cis white male (though, really how safe was it before anyways sigh). All the recently amped up threats towards trans people really brought reality back to us.
radicalized? reacting to people who just can't leave our children alone and attempt to turn them against us in school behind our backs. thats where your people crossed the line worldwide. non-American here. the rest of the world is sick of this woke garbage. next pride month is gonna be your month of rage huh? bring it
The thing is: I'm tired of black people having to speak out against racism. I'm tired of queer people having to speak out about homophobia. That's why straight cis people who have high popularity should talk and fight with us because we've fought a lot on our own. Taylor should speak out like any other straight cis celebrity who has a large queer following. We shouldn't be requesting RuPaul, NPH or idk Ellen DeGenerous to speak out. They already did, they already said. Now it's time for straight people and the brands to speak and to fight. I'm tired.
100% agree. any cis straight celebrity who profits off their largely queer following should have spoken out about this AGES ago. hell, any cis straight celebrity who does actually think that LGBTQ people deserve rights should say it. it's the bare minimum yet it's impossible for them these days.
The problem is that any time a straight Cis white person does, there's someone who isn't that who disagrees with what they say or says their opinions don't matter. It's a people issue, where everyone is different and has different opinions but when one person says something people outside a group assume they speak entirely for the group. Even leaders of groups don't speak for every individual but it comes down to how our brains group people together
@@abrawolfI think thats because brands and celebrities don’t speak out on their own free will. They only do it after basically being begged to do so. Then why they do speak out it’s very tone deaf. Some goofy shit like painting their nails and pumping their fist going “ALLY! ALLY!” I’m tired of feeling like a dog being thrown a pity bone by these rich people. I don’t need them to accept me. I know I have my community. I feel comfort in that.
@@abrawolf people with the most privilege and the most platform can and should lend their support on a functional level without getting out of their depth and trying to break down issues that don’t directly affect them. Appearing in an ad for or against legislation that protects or harms LGBTQIA+ communities world be an example.
we're all tired dude. but you can't expect others to fight your battles for you. they won't. they got their own shit, too.
I agree that getting RuPaul to make a statement wasn’t necessary or important to making change…. But it was also super weird she didn’t say something sooner. Doesn’t excuse what people did in trying to pressure her to say something, I just find it odd that someone who so readily proclaims the title of “Queen of Drag” dragging their heels to say something about a drag ban in their own country.
Same thing we saw in our community with OJ, Clarence Thomas, Kanye and all those sorts: When you're rich, you "stop being a minority". As OJ said, " I'm not black, I'm OJ."
Ru is safe now; a household name. Like hell she's gonna put her wealth and her platform at risk.
While ‘there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” is true, it’s not an excuse to ignore things that we can do. It doesn’t mean do nothing. That’s a lazy response, at best (speaking to the trope). - And as an elder, I can tell you that people using their platform, especially one that queer people gave to them, matters. Whether it gives hope to those who need it, or it urges people to show more compassion (the hight of the AIDS pandemic), it all matters. People coming out is the only reason we’ve made any progress. Safe spaces, be it physical or in a fandom, aided in a ton of coming out stories.
We just had Pride in my town (our fourth one!) and it felt more charged, more energetic...like we were revved as a F*CK YOU to the bigots/Republicans. We had politicans and religious folk there to SUPPORT the human beings who were celebrating. Rumor has it there were about 15 protestors but the group was so small and insignificant in comparison that barely anyone saw them. They didn't stay around very long...maybe they realized love is stronger than the hate they embrace.
HAPPY PRIDE, ALL!!! Be you, stay proud, and, stay safe!!! 🏳️🌈💜🌈
Goofy ahh
Yall had a whole parade for being gay that's pathetic 😂
@@noname-zi9xmThese ppl are very deeply mentally and spiritually ill..
I think this year is the first time I've ever been somewhat comforted by rainbow capitalism. It shows that the corporations think our population is worth more to them than the right wing population, even in the face of the hundreds of anti-queer bills and all the grooming rhetoric. Just this once, I'm happy for any display of support even if it's coming from a corporation.
Love your content, here's a take on what the issue with RuPaul has been from someone who watched him come up in the 90's (at least previously, obviously things have changed a lot in recent years):
RuPaul did a lot for gay men and drag performers, it is undeniably true. The backlash queer people had against RuPaul was his unwillingness to show clear support to trans issues despite co-opting our aesthetics in his music, films, and TV shows (the song "Tr*nny Chaser" as well as many other lyrics across his discography come to mind especially, as do TV appearances where he was essentially playing a trans woman). This included his unwillingness to cast trans people on his show if he knew they were trans due to it being "unfair", despite queens like Detox having plenty of feminizing surgeries but still being cast without issue due to being cisgender men. Ru's (and production's) stance ultimately changed, but seemed clearly to be due to the backlash, as he doubled down several times before finally abouting face. RuPaul in particular is one of the biggest faces in queer media with the undeniably most popular show featuring exclusively queer people, so to not have trans women (or trans men or non-binary people) receive proper recognition until recently felt like a stab in the back, a sort of "I got mine, figure yours out on your own, but you should still be thankful for me" kind of mentality.
Things have changed a lot in the years since and I agree with other comments here about how straight and cis people should be promoting queer issues, as I can tell you firsthand that people are far less likely to listen to trans people about our struggles than if they think the person talking with them is cis like themselves. I don't think this excuses other queer people from criticism. Ru has done so much to advance gay rights through visibility and promoting a message of love, but there is still more work to be done and if he hadn't made those changes to allow trans contestants, cut trans slurs from his rolodex of jokes, and wasn't vocally promoting trans women, men, and non-binary folk with our distinct issues the way he does and has for cis gay women and men, I would still be criticizing him.
"And also gay oreos that you can't buy."
'Shows Lady Gaga oreos.' 😂
See, my problem with Taylor Swift specifically is not that she doesn’t speak out about every issue. It’s that she branded an entire album era based largely on the idea of “coming out” as a democrat in support of the queer community and then received god knows how much money for it (when she very much doesn’t need it she literally owns like four mansions). Hell, she even made it a focal point for her entire documentary film on Netflix. This was such a core part of her branding for a year. Yet, the second this “era” of activism ended, she dropped it like a hot potato and has barely spoken up since. The only time she ever speaks out about anything now is when it affects HER, not other people. Now, if she had shown support in a more casual way, I don’t think I or anyone else would be complaining. But she didn’t. She set that expectation for herself and utterly failed to meet it. Now do I think that one rich celebrity is going to completely solve bigotry towards queer people? Absolutely not. But even if she doesn’t hold all the power, she still holds a lot of it. I feel like if you’re a celebrity who wants to participate in some activism, it’s the bare minimum for fans to ask you to be mindful about it.
I feel like the lover era and her Miss Americana documentary is not to center her as an activist, but rather to clarify the things that the media have said about her or coined her as. Miss Americana is so much more about that 5 minute scene of her coming out as a democrat, it delves in to her psyche - how she's always told to be a good girl and stay apolitical since she comes from country music at a young age - and how she copes with music, and the process behind making music. The scene where she argues with her dad and tour manager to speak out about Trump feels more like she's finally breaking free or is trying to break free from that good girl, people pleaser mindset - especially after what her cancellation had done to her. In her 1989 era and 2016 hate campaign, Taylor was coined by Nazis as an Aryan goddess, but she didnt respond as she already went to hiding by that time. Reputation was the era were she's subtly becoming more political but she didnt adresss anything because she's rebuilding her career and people still hated her. Then after her tour and after she stabilised her career once more, she created Lover, and I feel like she made Lover so -in-your-face- about her political beliefs to basically destroy and denounce the things they labelled her as. Idk thats just my perspective.
@@toastedbananas4760 That is a good point. The political part of the documentary, while it was a focal point, definitely wasn’t the only one for sure. And I think that, while it doesn’t necessarily exclude any criticism, it shows that you don’t need to hold her nearly as accountable as a lot of people do (myself included I will admit I’m very much part of the problem). It’s so nuanced and complicated because of the nature of celebrities. They’re simultaneously both very human and very much not because of how they profit off their own personalities. So, when you add activism and privilege to the mix, it’s BOUND to become a little bit of a mess. It’s very very strange and I must admit I’m still in the process of coming to terms with my own relationship to celebrities like Taylor Swift because of it. While I do still think she should probably do more, I definitely get why she doesn’t and I don’t think it’s the biggest issue in celebrity activism by a long shot.
@@margoalex. Oh definitely that there are areas that she could work on. But, i understand why that she doesn't speak up so explicitly despite showing queer visuals in the lover section of the eras tour and donaring privately considering that there's 70k people in one space and more outside with limited security - then there is the fact that America's political climate is unstable and they allow guns. I've also heard that security don't necessarily check fan's bag when they enter, eager to quickly get them inside. And in some states, some fans have said that there are conservative protests nearby as well.
There's a lot of factors that play here, but i do hope Taylor exercises her voice more once she is finished with her US leg of the tour instead of completely blacking out from social media like in the past. I get why she would stop interacting with the internet together since it could get pretty toxic especially for celebrities, and she has to protect her mental state - but maybe a statement and public donation/petition like she did in the lover era and during the folklore era?
@@toastedbananas4760 Oh, I haven’t heard about the bag checking thing. I know it’s such a small thing but for some reason it stands out to me. When I went to her eras tour, we weren’t even allowed to bring bags. The stadium only let me take like a small wristlet. I wonder if that plays a factor at all. Especially because I know Taylor Swift has had quite a few stalkers in the past and I can’t imagine her wanting to risk anything with it.
The album is not about being a democrat?? The man and yntcd are like the “socially charged” songs. Not sure how the rest is, it’s so intimate and her typical work. Artists shouldn’t be activists. Form your own opinions
Did that one guy have a sign that said "Protect children from public schools"? Like...what? Afraid your kid will get educated???
Protect the kids from other kids who say they wanna be trans but just wanna go into the other gender bathroom 🤮🤢
Wrote my MA thesis on pride campaigns right before all this popped off. Makes me wish I could take it back and write about how cowardly brands can be with this. Either commit to pride campaigns or don't, but your customers will remember.
Hii, I'm sorry if this is weird but I'd be super interested in reading your thesis about pride campaigns!! I'm delivering a ted talk about pinkwashing and holding companies accountable so would love to know your opinions!
the crazy thing with bud light is that they slipped as the number one beer and lost the spot to modelo....who is also under constellation brands same as bud light lmao. they obviously are trying to get bud light to appeal to gen z bc it has such a corny image to young people and, while it may be having this controversial effect now, i think it ultimately is a very good thing that a brand with such a right leaning demographic is doing pr with a trans lady and will likely age well.
As far as the last question. I think it can be good when a celebrity says they support queer people. It’s a public display, and will probably have articles written about or whatever.
It seems like more of an “outreach” type idea, kinda just spreading the information to those who don’t know anything about it, or fence sitters.
Plus if say most the celebrities you listen to, and or post about are supportive and your not, it could be some-kinda wake up call.
Nobody died at Stonewall?
I LOVE YOU, DERRICK!!!
🌈💚❤️🧡💙
💜🤍💛🖤🤎🌈
I haven't watched the rest of the video yet, but wow the rainbow Oreo is a throwback! I was in university and newly out when that happened. My school's queer student group made rainbow Oreo buttons (and somebody recoloured the picture to make trans flag Oreo buttons too!) and sold them as a fundraiser.
Ill say this much, I feel like if pop stars can use drag queens in there music videos and profit of them then they can stand up in solidarity
Let this time be a teaching moment for those of us who have never had to protest when society was already on our side. And let's not take for granted support that might not be perfect and squeaky clean in the future.
I think that "there's no ethical consumption under capitalism" only applies for situations were people have no other resources/options to consume and have needs of first priority, like poor people buying a few clothes from shein because it's cheap. The other case is people being uniformed of something being harmful. Imo it doesn't apply when, for example, you willingly buy a videogame that will benefit a well known transphobe when there's so many other (and even cheaper) videogames that you could play (or atleast pirate).
Granted even if you are aware of what are the companies/people you should avoid giving support to, you might still end up giving support to others that are just as bad. But my personal takeaway is to atleast try. Whenever I see that a problematic company/person offers something I can live without, I try my best to avoid it and not consume their content.
i agree with this take!
Rowling is going to make money wether you buy it or not. It's not fair to bully people online just because they want to play the game. I don't believe people are transphobic for wanting to play the game nor do they agree with what she said. ( They don't want to support her but they can't lie and say they aren't excited about it since Harry Potter was their childhood )
And no ethical consumption means no matter what you buy or do, there's always something unethical behind it. You can think you're trying help the planet by buying a electric car but you don't realize that the magnesium comes from striping materials in Africa. Windmills also benefit the planet but what you don't see is how they are putting it on Native American land without even asking them.
Most of the stores you go to give money to anti-lgbtq foundations and/or politicians but wether or not you choose this store or the next they are all still going to make money.
It's like when gas companies said its up to the individual to solve climate change and then we found that was not in fact the case.
( And I'm not saying you personally are doing just other people saying someone should be cancelled because they want to play a game )
@@Des17S lol i mean.. there's ways people can play the game without giving money to JK Bowling Pin. I say this as an avid HP fan myself who grew up reading the books and watching the movies. Indeed, she will profit whether I make a purchase or not, but I feel good knowing that I did not personally contribute. And like it or not, giving money to her is inadvertently supporting her views.
@@tunesquicklee Well the ways they could play it without getting it would be pirating which requires someone to buy the game. Sometimes they price the game up more than it would originally call as well. I understand that it's a moral ground for some but not everyone is going to follow and I don't think they are evil just because.
@@Des17S yeah that’s fair and i agree with you haha. some people don’t care
It's really sad that queer people are so used to being hated that any sign of support is considered so profound. Even if it's less than the bare minimum.
Thank you. Finally someone with a voice who’s able to see the bigger picture.
Great video! I think we tend to get caught up in thinking issue-by-issue, by seeing brands as individual people, and by seeing celebrities performances the same way we'd interpret a friend's personal conversations. This helps bring a bigger-picture perspective to all of it.
I’ve heard good arguments on both side, but I’ve come to the conclusion that while there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, some consumption is more ethical than others and if you are capable of consuming more ethically, you should be, even if it’s not always the easiest thing to do. Obviously, no one is perfect at this, including myself, but Ive found it to be a much better way to live in alignment with my values and decrease overconsumption.
I can't even TELL you how many good points you made in this video. you've articulated everything I've been thinking but haven't been able to put into words omg
they're turning the fricking beers gay
Better start feeding it to the frogs!
Corporations will make their products rainbow colored and will just be like "well. That's enough activism for today I think"
Saying "Is it more about them or is it about you?" In the discussion of celebrities public lgbtq support while showing what appeared to be Abbey Lee from dance moms was perfectly timed, even if it wasn't on purpose.
Eh...I mean, I get where you're coming from, and appreciate your perspective here, but I don't fully agree. I don't think getting companies or celebrities to make statements about the community is worth our primary time or focus, but it matters. A lot of offline people who are neutral to subjects like this can absolutely be swayed positively if pop culture they enjoy reflects certain values, and it can send a message to queer people that they are worth standing up for. Most important through, you're right: it doesn't mean much. It's easy. It's something that takes a startlingly little amount of effort to do. So it does say something, to me personally, when people with platforms don't bother.
What fans don't seem to understand is that Rupaul's platform for speaking out IS drag race, and it wouldn't exist if he didn't work his ass off as an advocate during his entire youth. He's doing more than enough for the community by making sure that a television show that platforms hundereds of international queer artists every year is still airing and growing. Queer youth constantly looking to "cancel" and deplatform queer elders often tend to do more harm than good, but that is imo especially the case with Ru/drag race which does more for racially diverse, queer, drag representation than anything else
(also love the analysis wrt powerlessness, consumption & the need for celebrity advocacy)
Omg I hate that you reminded me of that damn burger king ad with the two top and bottom buns 😭😭😭
Kayla, your videos are always so well researched and well put together, but this video in particular, was excellent. This is a serious topic to address and I’m glad that this video exists. Thank you so much. This helps me feel more seen and that my own concerns feel heard. Keep on doing great work.
As someone who is jobless and living in a country which has no social safety measures, donating to a charity monthly for me is too much to ask for. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do my part. For anyone who is in similar situation, changing your attitude and mindset can be helpful too. There’s a lot of pride and prejudice even among lgbtq people, so instead of perpetuating the problem, changing yourself is a very important form of support. For example stop using “personal preference” as an excuse to justify racism, misogyny and transphobia; stop fetishising people; stop profiling people; stop discriminate people based on their lifestyle (eg discriminate against self medicated people) and if there’s any chance that you can make someone’s life easier, even just for a day, then do it! And sometimes having an honest conversation with people around you who are sitting on the fence can really help. They might not be convinced at that time, but they might eventually figure out the reason for a change.
For Taylor Swift specifically, she has profited so much off of the LGBTQ+ community (even co-oping at times our culture like in the “You need to calm down” music video) that her silence in the matter feels telling, especially since 1) pretty much every other pop artist in her cohort that was touring was expressing their discontent with anti-trans legislation, but also 2) she is a truly mainstream artist, with people from all over America (blue AND red states) supporting her, which means she could really send a message that systemic injustices like the harmful legislation are not to be tolerated. She has claimed to be an ally and supporter of the community (and profited due to this) for a long time, so when it came to putting her actions where her words were, her silence is extremely disappointing. i guess artists don’t have the responsibility to speak up, but if you claim to be an ally and supporter, you have to actually be one
Everything is tied to brands even in center left politics. Ppl, just head over to the radical left and organize to enact real change!
PS: Great video, Kayla. Happy pride month ❤
What a well researched and written video - thank you. I enjoyed it and learned a couple of things too.
I so appreciate this dive! I guess as far as I'm concerned, it's almost better that even if the reason why businesses jumped on the pride bandwagon was to make money, it still shows that LGBTQIA+ people are visible, it showed that its profitable to not keep things closeted, and in this capitalist hellscape, that's something to hold onto. Same for celebrities taking a stand, "picking a side" or whatever you want to call it. People don't always have supportive community around them, so knowing that your fav believes in you having rights is a form of comfort at least. I hope all of that makes sense
Your views honestly are SO accurate
Bud Light is also losing money because of their poor response.
Both sides of the crazy spectrum are after them, you pander to a crazy crowd while also pandering to another crazy crowd they will tear you to pieces.
I don't want to pile on the Taylor Swift critique (especially as male knowing a lot of hate is based in misogyny), but the fact she only stands up for causes when they benefit her or safe to do so (pro-gay song like "You Need To Calm Down" in 2019 was safer to do then now) contributes to this white feminism/"We Would All Be At Brunch If Hillary Was President" mentality that is harmful to minorities. If a celebrity benefits from or uses an outside culture for monetary gains, speaking up for them is the bare minimum.
You're such a good writer!! ❤ Thanks for posting!!
Kayla, I came across your channel a few months ago and am SO happy I did. Your content is refreshing, to the point, humour is dry as hell (which as a Brit I love) and I get so excited every time you upload a video. Thanks so much!
Thank you for covering this! All I've got to say is I'm so tired.
Not here for the celebrity. Here for the quality of writing and content and support women creators on this platform. Stay awesome. Keep uploading. 👍👍
I think the general public as a whole has only become more supportive of LGBTQ+ rights, while the minority of people who are homophobic/transphobic have just become increasingly radicalized, aggressive, and violent with each passing year, and that scares companies and brands.
The Rupaul issues are def stemmed from people not understanding how important walking so others can run is. They also see Ru's opinions on trans people and drag that are a bit eh and take that as Ru is a bad example of representation. Yeah Ru isn't great trans rep because he's only a drag queen and is a cis male (as far as I'm aware haha) but that doesn't mean he's not amazing historically gay rep in media, and made room for us trans people to try and carve out a space in meda for ourselves by having a show revolving around drag. It opens the conversation for trans people to have a chance to speak. I'm grateful for what RuPaul has done for both gay and trans people in media.
Wow, nuance on the internet, it’s a good day 😍
@@rebeccascott3551 HA I try ;) Fr tho I know a large part is people not knowing just how groundbreaking his efforts were, and combined with black and white thinking it's easy for younger internet users that weren't around for the first like half of his career to judge quickly, especially because that career is Loooong.
sorry but i had to pause to laugh at the top and bottom burger buns cause wtf???😭😭 who approved that 💀
I know! So cringe
RuPaul should be leading the fight for trans liberation and has the platform and all of the resources to do so. People who literally don’t have a dollar to their name are instead leading the fight when they should be the ones we’re protecting.
Pre teens speaking in front of a congress of people who are denying them the right to live freely are doing far more than a rich man sitting in his gaudy house filming one TikTok. She won’t even lift a finger even though it genuinely would benefit her and make her more profit, and I think that’s very telling given Ru is willing to harm the planet for profit.
The richest, most influential queer person on the planet should be held to the highest standard during times like this ESPECIALLY while also being the person profiting the most off of us.
The fact that it took her being actively called out by Ru girls for her to speak up is ridiculous and all of this just reminds me of her blatant transphobic behavior in the past.
Wee wee pole Ru would be ashamed
I agree with everything except the topic of Gilead and HIV medication pricing. It's not limited to them, but rather the HIV medication pricing structure with all major manufacturers, including Viiv and Merck. Factors impacting HIV medication pricing include no formal income cap for drugs in the United States, needing to compensate for the Medicaid rebate Act or 340B, advertising and education costs, and other factors. It's inherently biased against marginalized groups, I'll give you that
In fact, 30 day supplies of medication often run about $40 with insurance, with state programs covering the rest: those high costs actually help meet out of pocket deductibles within the first 2 months of a year. And for those who don't have insurance Ryan White covers the entirety- naturally, there's an income requirement for it, but the affordable Care Act expects people with income to invest in insurance anyway.
Love you, Kayla! ♥️ your content and critiques are of the subjective nature we need. Thank you!
While I was in my queer film & television course, Calpernia Adams (the first trans suitor in the first Trans datibg show) came to speak to my class & I asked her “What solution do we see for the queer community amongst the new waves of oppression appearing before us?” and she told us that at first she believed it was about making out presence known and heard, that we are people too whose existence matters! but now she realizes that being seen and heard is not enough! Change starts with us getting into the roles in which we can represent & fight for ourselves instead of leaving our existence to people who would rather we didn’t 🤧
Also a bunch of Targets got bomb threats in Oklahoma on the anniversary of the Oklahoma city bombing.
Loving all the footage from San Diego Pride! I love my city!
really good video Kayla, loving your content lately keep it up queen
Interesting video. It reminds me of a convo a friend and I about celebrity apologies and the incentive that public figures have to look as morale as possible to their target audiences (pun intended). So even if the celeb or institution is doing saying and doing nice things its always hard to assess how sincere it is and how much help it will actually do. Honestly I suspect a lot of the preoccupation on these matters is for consumers to feel good about their consumption choices. Since we often feel powerless to do any meaningful change in our lives.
amazing essay kayla, I love your work!!!!!
The celebrities aren't coming to save us, but a celebrity holding up a pride flag at a show, bringing drag queens on stage, or even showing up to a show in drag lets their fans know that they are loved and cared about and supported by these people who will never know how truly difficult it is for us, but want to let us know that they care anyway. It lets those fans know that when they go to that person's concert, they are in a safe space for a couple hours, which is something that the importance of is incredibly underestimated - my heart goes out to all the young kids living in conservative homes and areas who have to hide and censor who they are at home, but are able to see their favourite artist in concert and can let their truest colours shine, can wear that skirt, can do their makeup, can hold their partner's hand for those few, precious, liberating hours. Our rights are under constant attack, but having even that little bit of comfort and safety in an artist you love can make the difficult times and constant political attacks just a little easier.
not me thinking ur intro was gonna say g-g-g-gaayyyy instead of the channel name HAHA
Just some thoughts from a tran-comm, but we as a community cannot wait for celebrities or politicians to advocate and make wins for us; we must learn how to organize ourselves, and not just in small groups with limited focus on LGBT identity or personal identity markers. In order to combat oppression of LGBT people, we must recognize the material basis for our oppression; racial patriarchial capitalism (here in America it carries a religious connotation as well). To get to the root of the problem we should focus on material conditions of the working class; construction workers, automotive workers, the railways, the factories where essential goods are produced. We cant jsut focus on helping people like us! There is no way we can affectively combat homophobia, transphobia, racism, ect, through legislation and advocacy alone--it must be done by all people, for all people. We have to get uncomfortable; we cannot remain complacent inside our insular groups.
I was a huge taylor swift fan since I was a kid. But unfortunatly recently something happened that upset me. I'm a LGBTQ gen z fashion designer from Iran and because of where I'm from I don't get a lot of opportunities to show my work. When I was in high school(5 years ago) I sent taylor a bunch of sketches I had done inspired by reputation album and I did it just to say how much I idolize her. I recently saw one of my sketches made into one of her looks from her eras tour and another designer was credited. It made me really sad cause I thought if anyone stood up for young artists and dreamers it would be taylor😔
Irreversible hormones? Sign me up
Pard?
That’s sort of the point
Other than making drag main stream and commercially viable, what has RuPaul actually done? She's been historically transphobic (if this has changed i have not been able to see proof of this). The people in drag that should be celebrated are those who made sure it was legal to begin with and created spaces for BiPOC communities could be safe and be themselves.
Great video and funny!
i love me some kayla
Not the 8bit “you need to calm down” 😭✋
Yes AHB stol is going down but only comparatively to recent years they’ve been waaaaaay lower than this before sooooo nah they didn’t really have an effect on the beer anyway hahahaha
the age of awareness and not action
Could you do a How the Internet fell out of lizoo please
I want gay beer. Sounds fun :)
as long as it’s not bud light
I saw San Diego pride in the Pride montage😃
Gay guy here, isn't the Target problem moreso commissioning an artist that was super antagonistic against cishets and having some of that stuff sent out to retailers, rather than the general idea of selling pride apparel? The Bud Light problem was also a huge audience mismatch as the ad was initially on Instagram, something Anheuser Busch doesn't really market on compared to other SNS services. It would be like if you advertised a drag competition on TNT or a monster truck show on Bravo, the audiences would feel super confused and annoyed.
& ME?!
off topic but the videos of musicians with the flag just reminds me of kpop artists being given pride flags when they’re on tour lol
big love to ya!!!!
I feel like that's the only way for kpop idols to show support because LGBT people r still stigmatized in Korea so even if some of the kpop idols were LGBT, it's not like they could come out without being harassed, etc.
I grew up attending SF Pride. Maybe it was an after effect of growing up and maturing, but I felt like pride went from celebrating queerness into an excuse for people to go out and dance - bar whatever you felt about queer people. It felt… disgusting. To share a space with someone who if you simply breathed in their direction would easily call you every slur in the book, and it didn’t sit right with me. SAN FRANCISCO of all places. I stopped attending since the early 2010’s and never looked back.
ouuu that chromatica bit hit a bit too deep for me lmao
I feel like your points apply to capitalism at large; I genuinely believe most people understand how dysfunctional capitalism and while it feels good to protest and know that other people agree, it doesn't change the fact that governments have a vested interest in maintaining it and the military force to kill and suppress anyone who disagrees
I still have my chromatica oreos, yall could never
also target backpedaling means less accessible, affordable gender affirming wear for trans kids and that fucking sucks
(sorry if u say this later lmao)
Ok I cried
It was the wut.jpg for me
Great Video overall. One thing I have a bit of an issue with is your inclusion of “white” people when describing the type of person who had a problem with the Oreo branding ( 1:46 ).
White Americans are more supporting and accepting of homosexuality and gay rights than any other American racial group. This is true anecdotally (in my personal life) as well as statistically. There’s plenty of things that White Americans deserve criticism for historically. This isn’t one of them. It feels like the term “white christian heterosexual conservative” (and “male” when it’s appropriate) has just become a blanket Label That people on the Left use to demonize and stereotype anyone they disagree with politically or socially.
Edit: Also, there is *literally no* legislature that is trying to cause anyone to not “exist”.
The vast majority of conservatives don’t even want to prevent adults from transitioning or make treatment inaccessible. There’s extensive Pew research on this topic which you clearly have not read.
Lastly, I’m a Black bisexual woman, so I don’t want to hear any BS in the replies either.
And minors ARE getting Trans surgeries. That isn’t “propaganda”. We literally watched Jazz Jennings get surgery on national television, but y’all still deny it. We see the pictures of Dr. Gallagher’s very Young patients on Instagram. We aren’t stupid.
This is why Support for the community is down. *People are SICK of the denial of reality.* It’s gaslighting. Do Not Tell us that what we see with our eyes isn’t happening. It’s not just conservatives who have a problem with this. It’s also Former allies. That should tell you everything you need to know.
Re: Taylor Swift, it’s specifically troubling for her to be dating someone who has expressed such violently racists ideas and sexual preferences and refusing to address it. That’s absolutely an area where the public has every right to make noise
❤🧡💛💚💙💜
Algorithm
I would like to just comment that not all republicans believe in suppressing LGBTQIA+ rights and to say that is a large goal in the entire party is quite generalised and not nessiceraly true…(sorry I can’t spell I have dyslexia)
Not all republicans, but the party they're voting for is
Here's one more great video by Second Thought on... American Fascism and the Groomer Panic ua-cam.com/video/frZHD6aITcg/v-deo.html
americans 😂
At 6:00 I've literally witnessed this happen to kids what do you mean "propaganda"