We're NOT Doomed: June 4, 2026
Reminder! Pride is about Protest!
Happy Pride Month! Let’s talk Rainbow Capitalism.
As a concept, it makes a lot of people very angry, and that makes sense.
If a company doesn’t want to acknowledge us 11 months out of the year, why should we give a flying shit if they want to acknowledge us for 30 days?
And I get it, I do, but I don’t agree.
Shocker, right? Ariella doesn’t have the typical reaction.
I agree that it’s fucked that these companies don’t acknowledge us any other time, but it’s incredibly valuable if they acknowledge us at all, even if it’s just for 30 days a year.
We all acknowledge that homophobia and transphobia come from a place of ignorance. It’s easier to hate something you’ve never seen, and don’t understand, right?
So why do we want to make it less visible to people who don’t try to get to know us?
The more visible the better, in my opinion.
That’s true all the time, but that’s ESPECIALLY true now.
Before, it mattered, but it was expected. If you were a company in June that wasn’t doing something rainbow, that was weird. You were side eyed.
But in the past several years, even before Trump took office again, it’s become a real risk.
Conservative organizations will create coordinated campaigns against you that aren’t just strongly worded emails but also bomb threats and other forms of violence.
So for a company to say “we don’t care, we’re showing our support anyway” is HUGE, and should be celebrated.
Before it benefited companies and their bottom line to have a Pride collection.
But now? With a president like Trump?
It’s a real risk to acknowledge Pride at all.
So I look at the new Converse collection and I am overjoyed. It’s not just rainbow, it’s the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag, and the progress flag with patches of the flags of most identities.
Abercrombie & Fitch also came back this year with a pretty inspiring collection. And they are still partnering with the Trevor Project. Their collection has a lot of progress flag hems, but there’s also a Brokeback Mountain shirt and a Stonewall shirt.
Levi’s is continuing the donate to Outright International and their collection is very targeted to the motorcycle and leather queer communities
In a year where it could just be slapping a rainbow on something and calling it a collection, and even THAT would be a risk, they did more.
And some didn’t, and that’s okay too. Petco’s collection is pretty much just rainbow. But they are also donating to the Trevor Project, as is David Yurman and Sky.
We WANT it to hurt a company’s bottom line not to acknowledge Pride. That’s a good thing, that shows progress, recognition and visibility.
But in a time when having a Pride collection can put a target on your back from the federal government, I can’t call any of these collections cringe. Even petco’s “love is love.”
This year, just having a collection at all is a form of protest, and that’s what Pride Month is all about, right?
Now, I don’t usually do this, but it’s my first post of Pride Month, so, here are three very queer very hopeful stories.
Botswana
Thu, March 26 - I know, this was a long time ago, but journalists didn’t start writing about it till April 25, so cut me some slack.
Anyways, six years ago the courts struck down the ban on gay sex that resulted in seven years in jail.
However it was still in the penal code until this year. On March 26 these two sections were deleted ENTIRELY from the code:
Any person -
- who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature
- who permits any person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature
People were criminalized not just for being queer themselves, but also for supporting queer people.
The local LGBTQ+ group LEGABIBO celebrated the removal, saying:
Sections 164 (a) and (c) of the Penal Code have long cast a shadow over the lives of LGBTIQ+ people in our country. Even after being declared unconstitutional, their continued presence in the law has sustained stigma, justified discrimination, and contributed to fear, silence, and exclusion within our communities.
For many, these provisions were not just words on paper - they were lived realities. They affected access to healthcare, safety, employment, and the freedom to love and exist openly.
And, it may just go further. Lesbian couple Bonolo Selelo and Tsholofelo Kumile filed a lawsuit after being denied a marriage license in 2025. They argue that the constitution is not being followed if they are barred from the protections that come with marriage. The case continues in July.
So potentially Botswana could go from queerness being criminalized to at least civil partnership being recognized in six years.
The US might be going backwards, but that’s not the case everywhere and that makes me feel less Doomed
Oregon
Sat, April 18 - Back on Dec 18, RFK Jr announced a new rule to ban hospitals that provide gender affirming care from from getting Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, which is what keeps most hospitals running
On Dec 23, Oregon AG Dan Rayfield led a lawsuit against the rule with 19 other State Attorneys General and Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shapiro.
In March, Biden Appointee, Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai gave his oral decision blocking the rule, and in April he released his opinion
He opened his opinion saying:
Unserious leaders are unsafe. There is nothing more serious than our leaders’ dedication to the rule of law so that we might maintain the integrity of our constitutional democracy.
He continued:
Secretary Kennedy’s unlawful declaration harmed children. This case illustrates that when a leader acts without authority and in the absence of the rule of law.
Well, he’s not mincing words.
AG Rayfield celebrated the win saying:
When families and doctors make healthcare decisions together, no federal official should be able to use threats and intimidation to get in the way. That’s what Secretary Kennedy tried to do – force hospitals and providers to abandon their patients.
This is such an important win, and a reminder that our Dem AG always have our backs. This is why AG races shouldn’t be overlooked regardless of what state you’re in.
The fight is nowhere near over. Republicans will keep trying to ban hospitals from providing care, but our Dems will continue to fight it every step of the way, and that makes me feel less Doomed.
Long Island, New York
Tue, April 21 - Long Island School Districts, Massapequa and Locust Valley, tried to circumvent New York law and changed their bathroom policy. The new policy forced trans people to use the bathroom and lockerroom of their gender assigned at birth. This continues to be one of the most baffling obsessions of the far right to me, but they are determined.
So, NYCLU appealed to the state on behalf of a trans student, and State Commissioner of Education, Betty Rosa wasn’t impressed:
Board members are ‘public officers who ‘take an oath of office to uphold the law and faithfully discharge [their] duties…. Respondents’ conduct – disregarding State law to deprive students of the dignity to which they are entitled – did not satisfy these obligations.
With this decision, these districts had to immediately cease separating trans students and allow them to use the bathroom and locker room that most closely aligned with their gender.
It is so important to have Democratic elected officials. Rosa was appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul. It may not feel like having a Dem governor matters much, especially in states where the legislature is red, but these kinds of appointments are one of the reasons it does.
And decisions like this will always make me fell less Doomed.
I know these stories are all pretty old, but I’m behind cause there are just so many ways we’re fighting back and winning every single day.
Throughout Pride Month I will make sure to have at least one queer story a day, and one day a week with three, cause Pride is a protest month and we need to celebrate that as often as possible.
Remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!