This article is written in honor of PRIDE Month. Here we are in 2023 and everything we have fought for, for SO MANY years is crumbling in front of us thanks to capitalism and its system of oppression in favor of wealth accumulation. Capitalism has no time for expanding personal rights, or, it seems, even keeping the ones we had just a handful of years before. There were many, many articles which debated the existence of both capitalism and LGBTQ+ rights in the same society, so I was able to cherry pick a bit.
From a 2019 article on leftvoice.org in 2019 the future of HUMAN RIGHTS for queer people was pretty obvious.
QueerOppression is Etched in the Heart of Capitalism
Tatiana Cozzarelli July 5, 2019
LGBTQ+ oppression is inscribed in capitalist production and reproduction. Only socialism can create the context for queer liberation and sexual liberation for all.
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Capitalism, a system based on the exploitation of labor, has created extensive possibilities for human liberation. In fact, LGBTQ+ identities, as we understand them today, are a historical creation of capitalism. Yet, this system cannot deliver on its promises of freedom, liberty and justice for the vast majority of people. For queer people, LGBTQ+ oppression is a product of both capitalist production and reproduction, particularly the alienation of labor and the rigid gender roles required by the nuclear family. Thus, LGBTQ+ liberation, and sexual liberation more broadly, are impossible in the capitalist system; our oppression is irrevocably etched into it. Socialism, on the other hand, would provide the material basis for ending LGBTQ+ oppression.
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Engels’ “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State” connects the development of production to the development of the patriarchal family, arguing that private property is central to creating the family unit based on women’s subjugation to men. While Engels based his work on inaccurate anthropological studies, his general reflections on the course of history are correct. Capitalism brings about a new kind of familial relationship, as the workplace replaces the home as a site of production; where once goods needed for the family were produced in the home, they are now produced elsewhere and purchased. The home remains a unit of reproduction of the working class: of making sure workers are fed and clothed and children are raised to join the working class. On the other hand, men became atomized wage laborers, able to leave their hometowns and sell their labor elsewhere. Patriarchy is inscribed in this arrangement, with women responsible for unpaid labor in the home, regardless of whether they are also responsible for waged labor.
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Throughout the history of capitalism, “freedom and equality for all” meant racism, sexism and homo/transphobia inscribed in law and reinforced by the repressive mechanisms of the state. Today, the “freedom” we have is limited by social institutions like schools, families, and churches, which attempt to inculcate people with the “acceptable” sexual and gender norms. Our freedom to make choices is also limited by repressive and racist institutions like the police, prisons, and laws, and confined within the rigid and cutthroat competition of capitalism. It is also as limited by social stigma and oppression.
Engel’s first edition of “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State” was published October 1884 in Hottingen-Zurich, from Marx’s precis of Ancient Society – a book by progressive US scholar Lewis Henry Morgan. They were all ahead of their time, and saw the future coming. The last paragraph particularly stands out to me. The story’s author earns kudos!
Another use of oppressive techniques is to stick makeup on your pig of a corporation to justify your “pro-LGBTQ+” facade is rainbow washing / rainbow capitalism. Too bad it pissed off so many of the MAGA type folks instead of everyone who unknowingly supported these companies thinking they were supporting LGBTQ+ rights. Far from it as these next two sources show:
From teenvogue.com
Target Pride Boycott By Conservatives and the Problem With Rainbow Capitalism
Bex Heimbrock June 6, 2023
This op-ed argues that the queer community must make its own power.
For years, corporations have taken advantage of hard-fought and sorely won LGBTQ+ acceptance. This phenomenon is known as “rainbow capitalism”: Corporations stand to profit from the purchasing power of the pink dollar, so they release targeted campaigns and merchandise to signal their support of the queer community. The catch? They rarely put their money where their mouth is. For example, the “Fab 5” in Netflix’s Queer Eye collaborated with Walmart to release a home goods collection despite the fact that members of the Walton Family Foundation donated $158,000 to Republican causes and candidates in the 2020 election cycle.
Pride month is, at its most basic, a commemoration of the Stonewall Riots of June 1969. By marching through the streets in June, even peacefully (Stonewall was, after all, a riot), attendees re-create part of Stonewall’s power: people power. While corporations such as Target have expanded their presence at Pride festivities across the country, we should remember that their continued presence at Pride isn’t necessary for the continued success of Pride parades or queer liberation.
Target may be burning in its own inept form of rainbow capitalism, but as the queer community demonstrates time and again from Stonewall to legally recognized civil rights, we make our own power.
And from moneyunder30.com, some thoughts on Rainbow Capitalism:
What is rainbow capitalism? (And why you need to stop supporting it)
Christopher Murray | Modified date: Apr. 28, 2023
Rainbow capitalism is how many major retailers up their profits during the month of June. Avoid contributing to the problem by supporting queer-owned companies as well as businesses that have a history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
With Pride month upon us, I’m sure you’ve heard the term “rainbow capitalism” just a few times on TikTok. The term, also often called “pink capitalism,” refers to the adoption and creation of LGBTQ+ stances and merchandise by companies that don’t otherwise actively support the community.
The article has a lot of useful information, including Why rainbow capitalism is harmful, How to spot rainbow capitalism, Companies notorious for rainbow capitalism, Companies that are supportive all year, How to avoid rainbow capitalism, how to Buy from LGBTQ+ artists and creator, and more!
They sum up nicely:
When large companies line their racks with rainbow flags and other merchandise, they’re looking to profit and to profit only. Throughout the year, they may donate to causes or people who are looking to take away the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. Supporting queer-owned businesses is a starting point for putting rainbow capitalism to rest.
Emphasis mine.
Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ rights continue to dissolve…
(Queue Star Wars’ Darth Vadar music — it is more than appropriate as you can see.)
North Carolina GOP censures Sen. Tillis for supporting LGBTQ+ rights, immigration policies
Hannah Schoenbaum, June 10, 2023
Several delegates in Greensboro criticized [Senator Thom] Tillis, who has held his seat in the Senate since 2015, for his work last year on the Respect For Marriage Act, which enshrined protections for same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law.
Both the state and national GOP platforms oppose same-sex marriage. But Tillis, who had opposed it earlier in his political career, was among the early supporters of the law who lobbied his GOP colleagues in Congress to vote in favor of it.
Ominous New Attacks on Trans Rights Remind Us…It’s Capitalism
If the viciousness and hostility against trans people and ultimately all LGBTQ+ people is today open-carried on the Far Right, it is our dependence on fair-weather liberals and the politicians of the Democratic Party that is our Achilles’ heel.
Ian Scott Horst, February 17, 2023
They lead with:
I have a confession to make. Not too long ago, I began to wonder if we had gotten it right with the slogan I used to push: “Lesbian and gay liberation through socialist revolution.” After all, democratic rights for queer people, a revolution in how society understands and accepts LGBTQ+ people: these things seemed on the advance, as they do even right now under global imperialism.
Even though global capitalism seemed as rotten and powerful as ever, we queers here in the belly of the beast were experiencing less of the open disdain we had once felt. Violence against us wasn’t over, but the scorn of the early HIV/AIDS era was tempered; you could watch a sympathetic TV show about gay men living in rural areas; we had open role models in popular culture, even the occasional media celebration of a queer Black man in a dress. We used to argue that capitalism couldn’t do this, that it was so wrapped up in the oppression of women — and by extension queer people — that it would never, could never, fully tolerate us.
If the viciousness and hostility against trans people and ultimately all LGBTQ+ people is today open-carried on the Far Right, it is our dependence on fair-weather liberals and the politicians of the Democratic Party that is our Achilles’ heel, our vulnerability to attack. Wise revolutionaries once said, “The liberation of oppressed people must be the work of oppressed people themselves: we can only win our own liberation.” This is a call for the majority of queer people to find our strength in the class of people who have nothing to benefit from capitalism, and everything to gain from its destruction.
Despite all the bourgeois delusions and promises of equality under capitalism, our only real hope lies in joining with all the other people oppressed and exploited under capitalism, and breaking all the chains and rules that bind us to its cycles of hatred and ignorance and violence.
Amen — I mean, well stated.
On the Human Rights Campaign website I found a couple articles that lend some quality thoughts and information. First:
WeeklyRoundup of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Advancing In States Across the Country
Cullen Peele, May 16, 2023
More than 145 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have passed at least one chamber this calendar year
Looking Back at the 2022 State Legislative Sessions
In a coordinated push led by national anti-LGBTQ+ groups, which deployed vintage discriminatory tropes, politicians in statehouses across the country introduced 315 discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2022 and 29 passed into law. Despite this, fewer than 10% of these efforts succeeded. The majority of the discriminatory bills – 149 bills – targeted the transgender and non-binary community, with the majority targeting children receiving the brunt of discriminatory legislation. By the end of the 2022 legislative session, a record 17 bills attacking transgender and non-binary children passed into law.
Second, we have very important news from the Human Rights Campaign:
For the First Time Ever, Human Rights Campaign Officially Declares ‘State of Emergency’ for LGBTQ+ Americans; Issues National Warning and Guidebook to Ensure Safety for LGBTQ+ Residents and Travelers
HRC Staff, June 6, 2023
HRC’s First-Ever Emergency Declaration Comes After More Than 75 Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Signed Into Law This Year (More Than Double The Number From Last Year), Creating an Imminent Threat to the Health and Safety of LGBTQ+ People and Families Nationwide
They offer resources in the second paragraph:
The sharp rise in anti-LGBTQ+ measures has spawned a dizzying patchwork of discriminatory state laws that have created increasingly hostile and dangerous environments for LGBTQ+ people, prompting HRC today to also issue a national warning and downloadable guidebook for the LGBTQ+ community — including health and safety resources, a summary of state-by-state laws, “know your rights” information, and resources designed to support LGBTQ+ travelers as well as those already living in hostile states. This guidebook will arm LGBTQ+ people with resources and information to help ensure safety in all 50 states.
This article is flush with valuable information – inform yourself! I will offer one last bit from the article:
The 2023 state legislative session was the worst year on record for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation:
• More than 525 bills were introduced in 41 states.
• Over 220 of these bills explicitly targeted transgender people.
• Over 76 bills have been signed into law as of June 5, 2023 — more than any year on record, and more than double over last year.
The trend of corporations’ support of LGBTQ+ rights is disheartening, to say the least.
From The Guardian just 5 days ago:
‘They’re caving to bullies’: queer influencers in the US say brands have gone quiet
In the weeks leading up to June, Rose Montoya noticed something concerning. Pride is usually a busy time for the influencer, who has over 800,000 TikTok followers and posts videos about trans rights and issues. But this year, she says, fewer brands have reached out.
"I've spoken to a lot of my trans friends and colleagues, and we've all noticed less brands seeking partnerships and smaller budgets for Pride campaigns," Montoya said. "It's disappointing."
As Republicans and “No Labelers” are on the warpath, they are increasingly trying to take over school boards across the country. This will facilitate and expedite their warpath to LGBTQ+ book banning (burning coming soon!), violations of equal rights and human rights, and accelerating their “hate what you fear or don’t understand” agendas. WE need to stop this. RUN FOR SOMETHING (like your local school board!!)
Closing thoughts:
The more I hear from different groups being oppressed, the more I realize all of the oppression of people, no matter who they are, or how they are being oppressed, are all fighting for the same thing — equality and equity. Say it with me: “Equality and Equity!!” And we know what stands front and center blocking the way — capitalism. We are all being oppressed, whether we realize it or not. If you think you are rolling in dough, making bank, one of the few, then why do others deserve a million times what you have? How is it right for two people to be born into this world, in the same country, same state, at the same time, but one is already a billionaire while the other faces extreme challenges in order to survive. We were all born with nothing and should be treated the same from that moment on.
Thank you as always for reading my take on things, whether or not you agree. And feel free to post any comment in favor or opposition to these ideas / ideals.