Pride or Pandering: How to Tell if a Company Supports LGBTQ 

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Ben and jerry's is a good example of an LGBT+ friendly corporation. They do more than just say, "yeah, gay rights," They're actively spending time and money on helping LGBT+ causes, and have signs and things in their shops year-round, not just June.

Chick-fil-A is definitely pandering

Skittles most definitely is not pandering. The way they took the color out of the candy and said "only one rainbow matters" it's actually really cool!

Ok, so I own a small nail salon, and I make sure EVERYONE who comes in feels safe. I'm lgbtqia+, so is my son. Many of my clients are. What I really want to do is become a recognized safe place for the community, even for people who aren't my clients.

Ngl i saw the rainbow chick-fil-a logo i was immedietly suspicious

Netflix also cancelled production of a show in Turkey, after the government refused to issue a permit due to the fact that the show had a gay character. They refused the solution offered to remove the gay character and getting the permit.

*me wearing my pride shirt my super homophobic parents got me in the pride section not knowing it was gay* : ARE THEY ON TO ME

June 11 was my birthday and I guess my mom somehow found out I was bisexual. My best gift was to know that my mom accepts me for who I am.

The example of adidas (and Walmart)made me really sad cause I'm Russian and it's so terrible when u see companies HELPING THE GOVERNMENT to establish those disgusting anti-gay laws :_(

Amazon has a terrible lgbtq experience for employees. I have a friend who is a trans guy and he works at Amazon. They give him problems about using the bathroom that aligns with his gender and refused to change his name on his ID card until it’s legally changed. From what I know they don’t train their employees on lgbtq respect and friendliness.

Bro Disney put out a tweet that said “everyone is welcome under the rainbow” for Pride month, and Alex Hirsch (Creator of Gravity Falls) came out and said they wouldn’t let Hirsch put in two lesbians in an episode. Disney is an asshole.

I just learned Microsoft is extremely lgbtqia+ friendly.

lol Chick-fil-A made their logo rainbow, we all see right through their crap.

I heard about the things Target did to help the LGBTQIA community! They’ve donated and fought for our rights. But let’s be honest the pride merch is um... tragic- 😟 but they’re trying so props to them!

Being a transgender male myself, it made me really upset to find out that Pink didn’t let transgender people into their annual fashion show. But besides that, your videos are great! Happy pride month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

"How can you tell if it's pride or pandering" You don't even have to learn that you can feel the corporate oder coming from it xD same with media "representation"

thank you for this video! skittles was a really good brand during pride month making the candies without color to show that "only one rainbow mattered this month."

i was recently in an apple store and i saw a couple of staff with pronouns on their tag thingys , sure maybe it wasn’t all staff but the fact that atleast 1-2 staff member had pronouns on their tag thingy is a start

I feel like even 20 years ago Pride merch was only sold at specialty shops like Spencer's and skate shops. Places known for being "edgy"

In my school district during June our province's flag is taken down and replaced with a rainbow flag, makes me happy whenever I see it

Matt, there is no reason for me to test if Matt Haslam Productions is lgbtq friendly. Your whole channel is just queer topics, plus u r a member of the community. I will however do these tests on other companies, thanks. Ur amazing❤️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈❤️ Also, the HRC comes out with a lgbtq rating around once a year for major US companies and their employees. I use this alot when deciding where to shop

As a closeted teen seeing companies openly support lgbtq rights rly warms my heart :) People that run companies like skittles that genuinely support us and don’t just do it for the money are amazing ❤️❤️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 It’s such a good feeling to know that you aren’t alone and that for a time it’s safe for you to speak up about lgbt rights knowing that people will back you up when homophobes are around Edit: yes I know most companies use us for advertising and profits during pride but it’s nice to know a small amount genuinely care :)

I like researching stuff like this because even though I'm straight, I respect everyone that is part of the LGBTQ+ community. Everyone should be treated equally in this world.

Living in an Asian country, its just impossible that I would see ANY sign of rainbow in June. Makes me so sad :(

In my opinion, no huge corporation can ever be "truly" LGBTQ-friendly. Obviously, some companies are way worse than others, but in the end the most important thing for them is making money. I think the best way to go is to buy from small local LGBTQ businesses if you want pride merch, but if that isn't an option, then this test comes in handy. However, many of these corporations, even the ones who sponsored the equality act, do other horrible things like finding the country with the lowest minimum wage and working conditions so that they can pay workers the least amount of money possible or engaging in harmful environmental practices to get their materials.

PetSmart's **PRIDE: You are loved** campaign launched back in April with merch hitting the stores. The company has a LGBTQ associate group which operates all year around. And GLESN is the benefactor of this year's donations. We have associate t-shirts and enamel lapel pins which we can wear year around as well.

I hate the kind of people who are like “yeah but their chicken is good” when talking about chic-fil-a. You would rather indirectly support the people trying to erase your existence for some chicken? It’s not even good, or that good if you like it

Pet smart also has LGBTQ cat, dog and other pet toys years around! I was so happy to see the gay and lesbian flag on a cat toy in December!

Another way to see if they are pinkwashing / rainbowwashing is to see what they do on different social media accounts, like Bethesda being rainbow in places like the US, but not in places like Russia.

in my city, i have not seen that many pride flags but today as i was on my way home from summer school, i saw this house had two rainbow flags, queer flag, and a "we are all human" flag and it made my day so much better. edit: omg thanks for the likes

The irony of having this video interrupted by a pride themed ad from state farm...

i went into a spencer’s one time and there was this homophobic person and they were saying things about the merch until an employee came to tell them off. good memories

11:53 No one: Me:*Sips Pepsi while watching this video* “Yes, very good.”

HP: harry potter J.K is transphobic unluckily for her HP also can be said Happy Pride

Me, a pansexual who works at Chick-Fil-A: *undercover agent mode activated*

Dude all you have to do to see Chick-fila’s real colors is walk in there and be openly LGBTQ+ and you’ll get kicked out real fast. Happened once lol

this is the EASIEST subscribe ive ever done. this is fabulous

Netflix even stopped showing a show from Canada called Heartland (a show my homophobic family liked watching) because the people making it wouldn’t put an LGBTQ character in it

In my country when a corporation or anything really makes a rainbow icon for themselves and promote LGBT+ in any way they get more negative reacts. My country is so homophobic, transphobic etc it's very scary. Anything rainbow related in my country is a small treasure because even if the company isn't perfect the knowledge of us existing is spreading. I'm demi and for the longest time people thought I was closeted lesbian (because I never could truly tell who I find attractive). I'm happy I know who I am now! I don't face as much discrimination as gays or trans people but before I had a boyfriend I had got all kinds of passive aggresive remarks even when I didn't know who I am. Till this day people around me think I "act saint" or "pretend" to be "unique" or "higher" than others. But it doesn't matter to me anymore because I'm happy with who I am. Happy Pride! 💕

Seeing Chick-fil-A with a rainbow/ pride background is just like the name safely endangered

As a head up: Apple is VERY LGBTQ+ friendly, I was very validated when I was an employee there. They may be a souless corporate Hellhole to be a part of, but they at least are SUPER supportive of the community.

Went to Petco and they had this pride stand and the money goes to the Trevor project. They really do care

“Taste the Rainbow” -Skittles

Litterally every company: *has a rainbow on june* Skittles: “you guys are getting rainbows?”

Wow, searched Pride and found this only 15 minutes since it went up. Nice 👍🏻

Here pride just isnt a thing. I never saw flags or merch or anything outside. Its unfortunate.

If i own a business one day, and its like a clothes store, in June (pride month) i change the decorations and its not just the sexualities in the lgbtqia+ title, its ALLL of them lol

I think this is more of a local situation as opposed to the whole company, but the Hot Topic in the mall I work at had all of its LGBT+ employees, including a manager, walk out because the other two managers were discriminating against them, misgendering them on purpose, giving them impossible assignments, writing them up for things they didn't actually do, and even refusing to speak to the nonbinary manager who quit alongside all the sales associates. Also, the managers had to delete their work group chat because they were using homophobic language in the chat. Basically, those two managers deserve to lose their jobs.

Give money to me, a gay, directly.

I think that people don't really acknowledge your first time actually seeing it and realizing that it's in your life. At least for me, it was pretty amazing to see all the merchandise. I'm not out yet, and i'm still only 13 and I know it isn't all great but that first moment of just seeing it was pretty cool.

Disney is definitely pandering. When making The Rise of Skywalker, they had the lesbian kiss. The lesbian kiss was actually cut out for places like China, Russia, and of course Singapore. Because, in Singapore if you feature homosexual content as a subplot, the only people who'd be able to watch it are people over the age of 18. I mean it's ridiculous a film about space battles and Jedi and Sith is considered 18 plus simply because two girls kissed so they edited it out for that. But, suddenly now it's "Everyone is welcome under the rainbow!"

I saw this somewhere so it's not mine but it's exactly me Me: I don't trust companies that have pride stuff out only in June, because it could be just for profit. Also me if there isn't any pride merch: 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨

just came out to my mom. cant tell if she’s supportive or not, but oh well 😼😼

My friend was in a youth drag show on Saturday!!

7:39 Actually the backlas wasn't just for the fact there were LGBT characters, it was because they had nothing relating to the plot and all their personality was is be gay. As someone who is LGBT I honestly understand what they mean.

Most companies: * makes everything rainbow for pride * Some guy that works for skittles: “oh my god guys I just got the best pride idea ever”

I used to be a fan of Hobby lobby 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥 Good thing I don't plan to work for them

7:46 Although amazon and Netflix is a terrible example here I'm a LGBTQ+ person and even I complain about this It's not about if they have characters from our community it's how they're written..and the way netflix series write theirs is just... No, its pure Cishet twitter activist pandering

It's for profit. Where I live supporting LGBT is legally mandatory. Rainbow logo or not. So companies will change their logo for profit. 100% of the time. However we don't have a pride month, Instead there is usually always something somewhere all year round.

If my son ever came out as trans I wouldn’t support him I would support HER🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Easy check - does the company have a rainbow profile pic on their Saudi Arabian or Russian twitter?

First finally! I'm such a big fan! You're such a good person and I want to say thank you.

I brought all my pride merch from a small local shop this year. They arnt donating any money this year (they have in the past) because they are allready really struggling to make a profit thanks to covid, so I'm giving them a pass. They are always nice in their and most of thr staff are lgbtq+

Companies during Pride Month: respect pride! everyone should be accepted! 🏳️‍🌈 Companies after Pride Month ends: Gay? what's that? what does it mean? ᓵ𝙹ᒲ!¡ᔑリ╎ᒷᓭ ∴⍑ᒷリ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ╎ᒲ!¡𝙹ᓭℸ ̣ ᒷ∷ ᓭ⚍ᓭ: ᔑᒲ𝙹⊣⚍ᓭ

Bruh. Chick-fil-a.

the lgbt part of me makes happy noises, but the coder in me screams angrily at your apple products

Damn I love Spencer’s like their clothes are cute af- And also im going to hobby lobby soon so imma wear my trans suspenders that I got from Spencer’s 😍

happy pride!! remember you’re loved, and hella valid!!

i know its been a week since this was posted, but when i saw that Spencers was an LGBTQIA+ friendly company i was very happy because today i bought some pride shirts from one of there stores. don't know why I'm writing this, just happy.

Target has the right idea, but it’s merch needs some help

There's a crosswalk outside my local shopping mall, and for pride month someone spray painted it the ally flag. The flag has since been repainted twice, due to vandalism, and in brighter colours each time, and it's not just random kids doing it, it's actual people who work for the mall. Small good ally story for you all

I really enjoyed this video, I've been going to the store and see a ton of pride items

I automatically assume a company is pandering.. but it’s nice when a company is genuine 🏳️‍🌈

I live in North Carolina sadly- I didn't even know there were possible anti-LGBTQ+ laws

The sad thing about all of this, is there are some companies that pass this test you've made, but the moment LGBTQIA stuff become less profitable they drop and flip. sadly sometimes pandering is super hard to know.

I swear some of these brands just stick a rainbow on everything they own for an extra profit.

I now have an urge to tell my homo-phobic but not disowng mother that she works for a gay supporting company

Oh god not chick fil a the homophobic capital of the food world 😭

This is so helpful and I appreciate it dearly! Last week my mum took me out to buy a few things with my allowance and I dragged her into bath & body works. She was looking around and I found a spot with two types of candles covered in rainbow. The sign above said "pride" or something like that. I picked one up and it smelt like birthday cake so went to tell my mum. Since I'm still closeted, I prayed she didn't notice the promotion and she seemed to either not, or just didn't care. So I got my candle and I'm pretty sure b&bw support. I'll make sure to look into it though! And sorry about my dumb rant about a candle-

I heard that in Africa, pride and LGBTQ is illegal but I will still support you

So far going through the comments, Good companies: Discord, PetSmart, Hot Topic, Microsoft, Target, Netflix, Ben and Jerrys, Spencer's, Skittles, and a few more Bad companies: Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, Disney, and a few others If ya want to correct me on something or add more to the list, please do so. I just want to make sure I can have this list for people who dont want to go through all the comments.

MY BLOOD PRESSURE BLOW UP WHEN I SAW CHIK FIL A

Netflix and Amazon feel more like they’re shielding themselves by feigning support rather than actually being in genuine support Gay characters still need to feel natural, because, to me, they’re just characters

aw man I always loved going into spencer's because it's the few stores that you could physically walk into and feel like you're at home, as someone who never liked a lot of the normal stuff you see in stores, you get to see a wall of shirts from franchises that you like, and they stay with the times.

Once I saw a girl accidentally wearing my flag the pan flag also one of my school projects was next to a pan flag designed project- being pan is my calling

Chick-fil-A changing their logo is the most ironic thing I’ve ever seen

To be honest I understand the need for pride merch and I love that people can wear things / have items that show how proud they are to be lgbtq, but consumerism is awful in general right now. I think that for the benefit of our planet we shouldn't at all be supporting big companies such as walmart or barnes and noble. For example, many locally owned corner stores and book stores are driven away by these massive companies. It is really dangerous if you look into it. Also, many products in these stores are not built to last and are throwaway items that will further pollute the already awfully neglected environment. This isn't meant to shame anyone who enjoys having pride themed things, I also enjoy it. But I think we need to be a lot more conscious of our decisions of where we buy things, how much plastic is on them, and what places we openly support. I understand not everyone has that luxury and that is okay. But we have to realize that these companies are against us no matter what because of the way our late stage capitalistic society functions. And change happens from the ground up. All of your little actions matter. Of course, avoiding buying anything is not only unrealistic but it is also not the full solution. One huge thing you can do is to speak up, join protests, vote, educate yourself on government, wealth distribution, pollution, lgbtq rights, racism and environmental racism. I'm again not saying this to discourage anyone from enjoying their lives. But we also should realize how imminent our problems are and that everyone can benefit if we look at things as connected issues. For example, women's rights has shown to improve economic and quality of life. Education of women is one of the largest factors in improving society because it results in less unplanned pregnancy, less poverty, less environmental degradation, etc. Just wanted to bring all of this up! EDIT: Important also is to see where the item was made. Lots of products are made in sweatshops or by child workers overseas. Take this into account, buy ethically if you can! You shouldn't buy apple products if you can avoid it. Look into fairphone. Their motto is "the most sustainable cell phone is the one in your pocket." Don't buy something you don't need if it can be avoided. Still treat yourself well, but be wary and think of the people who mine cobalt for your phone. Look it up if you can!

There was an ad for Campbell’s soup with two dads and a son. A woman on twitter said “the advertisement makes me sick.” Campbell’s responded with… “Hi! If you’re feeling sick, try some Campbell’s soup! Make sure to enjoy it hot, so it can warm up your cold, dead heart.”

I’m not LGBTQ+, but I do support it!

I live in the UK, and we’ve got a shop called Asda. Every pride month, they sell “pride skittles” which is kind of ironic, considering they’re just colourless skittles so you have to guess what flavour they are.

I'm actually early! I'm a big fan and you're an awesome person!

Yeah there's a really good guide published by the Human Rights Campaign that lists 100 LGBTQIA+ friendly corporations in America. Also, the Wikipedia page for the Equality Act lists some businesses who have funded and sponsored the bill.

"How can you tell if its pride or pandering" Literally 8 seconds later: "Show off your pride by giving me money."

Pride MONTH? no. WE GAY ALL YEAR ROUND!

i know chick-fil-a did NOT try to do something for pride 😭

Love this, gonna test a handful of my local businesses. You are an awesome person, thank you ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 💗💗💜💙💙

hollister and vans are doing their part, i believe hollister is donating to the trevor project or something similar, and their pride line is actually pretty good

I live in a very homophobic city and theres no pride stuff here. Not any piece of merchandise or anything for that matter. Its sad :(

companies : we support LGBTQ+ LGBTQ+ : because you care about us companies : smiling in a greedy way LGBTQ+ : because you care about us right ?