With abortion no longer federally legal, the Christian right is turning its sights on the LGBTQ+ community

Confederate flags offend me.

They represent the violence of slavery and nostalgia for a white supremacist past.

Assault weapons offend me.

They represent death and destruction and the moral bankruptcy of politicians willing to sacrifice American children on the altar of the 2nd Amendment.

But rainbow colored T-shirts, dresses and baby rompers? Greeting cards that say “I’m glad you’re queer”? Who could be offended by items that celebrate and affirm the rights of gay and transgender people to simply live in peace?

Yes, I know: a bunch of people.

As we’ve seen recently with boycotts against somewhat enlightened companies like Anheuser-Busch

InBev

and Target, there is a concerted effort, led primarily by conservative Christians, to penalize companies that embrace the LGBTQ+ community. Anheuser-Busch was then in the crosshairs

the

transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney promoted Bud Light on his social media feeds during March Madness.

Target tapped into the forces of intolerance with its annual Pride Month merchandise display, though it hung rainbows at the end of May

for more than a decade.

Bud Light sales have plummeted; the company did not apologize, but came back saying it never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.

Target said the backlash has endangered its employees and pulled some items from its shelves. In some stores, the retailer said, Pride displays were moved from the front to the back. His stock has taken a hit.

A rapper whose grotesque facial tattoos would terrify any kid I know has dropped a video clip claiming that Target is targeting our kids.

You know, they cut these kids, rap Forgiato Blow, they leave trannies scarred.

It’s remarkable how he could cram so much ignorance and contempt into one sentence.

Even in our own generally liberal community, some parents at North Hollywood’s Saticoy Elementary School caused a stir last week when they urged families to keep your kids home and innocent instead of subjecting them to a Gay Pride and Rainbow Day Assembly on Friday.

The Dodgers invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulggence, shut them down and invited them back.

/

charity group drawing attention to religious intolerance, to be

honored at the team’s Pride Night game on June 16.

Why are we

part

in the middle of a moral panic over sexuality and gender identity? Why now?

Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been submitted to state legislatures this year, according to the Associated Press. At least 17 states have passed laws restricting or prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

It happens because fomenting fears of child corruption is a tried and true technique of rallying the far right.

Because

gay of the same sex

marriage is legal and transgender people have made extraordinary strides.

Because the Christian right needed a new boogeyman after the Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade, neutralizing an issue that has animated the Republican base

and turned out to vote

for decades.

Because Americans have become relaxed about the LGBTQ+ community. A 2020 study conducted by GLAAD, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and

Proctor & Gamble

found that 75% of people who do not identify as gay, trans or queer, a vast majority, were comfortable seeing non-straight people in marketing campaigns.

And, last but not least, it happens

because the number of Americans do

identifying as LGBTQ+ has exploded. A Gallup survey in February, based on data collected from 10,000 people, found that nearly 20% of Generation Z born between 1997 and 2004 identified as LGBTQ+. By comparison, only 2.7% of baby boomers identified that way.

This change is astonishing and proves that the stigma that has rested on gay, non-binary and transgender people for so long is finally starting to fade. Cue the recoil.

The idea that being candid with kids about the range of human sexuality and gender, or that discussions about families that

having two mothers or two fathers is somehow stealing children’s innocence is ridiculous.

As the guardian of a high school student, I can tell you that her peers have been discussing their sexuality and gender since third grade, maybe earlier. They are

a lot of

more comfortable and open than previous generations about these matters. other

while although

they can easily talk about being bi or gender fluid, they don’t equate those issues with actual sexual behavior, which is still too dirty to think about for elementary school kids and young teens.

In any case, it’s a mystery to marketing experts why the backlash against Bud Light and Target has become so intense. After all, in some ways, June Pride Month has been a long time coming

co-opted by companies looking for marketing opportunities. Walmart has a Pride line of merchandise. Like Bloomingdales, Kohls, Hot Topic, Old Navy, and even Michaels, the craft store. Campaigns for Levis featured gay and transgender people. J.Crew has displayed pride flags in the windows. On June 25, Coors Light is sponsoring a Pride Parade in Denver, something it has done for two decades.

It wasn’t that long ago that companies were pilloried by groups like GLAAD

only

show their pro-LGBTQ+ colors

only

washing pink one month a year or for donating money to fervently anti-LGBTQ+ politicians.

Right now, when the bigots are on the rise, they’re starting to feel like the good old days.

@robinkabcarian