Biden and Trump are using rainbow capitalism to their advantage
Within the last decade, playing the rainbow card has been a cornerstone of partisan politics. Whether it’s Governor Cuomo’s Twitter profile or Susan Collins’ virtue signaling during the Senate’s Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, this superficiality is concerning. The phenomenon of rainbow capitalism – the overproduction of corporate paraphernalia in pride flag colors – is not activism.
Although voters already turned out to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, we continue to remind our community that this “acceptance” or “tolerance” is a thin veil for corporate interest. What has happened is normalization, yes, but only through the translation of queer identity into consumer behavior. Sure, Walmart has floats in national pride parades, but we doubt that the same Walmart executives who gut our local industries are as enthusiastic about queer rights as they say they are on their website. We are not “Walmart Proud.”
Donald Trump and Joe Biden both claim to be allies of the people underneath the LGBTQ+ umbrella, often speaking on our behalf. This support is not genuine. On the campaign trail, both candidates have used this virtue signaling to their political advantage.
Biden, who is considered a “radical liberal” in the eyes of Trump supporters and right-wingers, has had a notoriously centrist stance on LGBTQ+ rights up until the last few years. Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. However, Biden later voted to cut funding from schools who taught about LGBTQ+ equality. Unlike politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been a long-time advocate of queer rights, Biden’s support follows wherever mainstream activism goes. Today, his stances are always safe bets, likening him to an (at-best) milquetoast liberal candidate, which is why many were concerned his platform wouldn’t stand up against Trump’s.
However, Biden hasn’t been the only perpetrator. Trump has a vocally conservative, generally anti-LGBTQ+ voter base, but he has still tried to court the “gay vote.” Famously, Trump held up an upside-down rainbow flag, claiming the support of queer people. That support might be most prevalent with gay men, but it reigns true that the majority of the gay community is politically liberal or left.
The most groan-worthy part of Trump’s alleged support of queer people is shown with his choice for vice president, Mike Pence. An ex-Indiana governor with a history of bashing Planned Parenthood, Pence’s views on queer people are best summed up by his remarks on unions between same-sex couples, which he described as “the collapse of society.”
Additionally, having “ambassadors” and spokespeople representing the LGBTQ+ community does not equate to having actual stakes in issues relating to us. They are not required to care. Tiffany Trump’s recent speech advocating on behalf of her dad for the “L-G-B-I-A” is a blatant example of identity politics and performative wokeness that politicians preach to curry favor with marginalized communities during election cycles. Whether or not she “forgot” the transgender community in her 10-minute speech – which was an extremely thinly-veiled virtue signal – is up for debate, but it left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth regardless.
Rainbow capitalism has exhausted us. We don’t want corporations’ PR teams glossing over the true plight of queer people. We aren’t a culture of commodification. Our heritage spans from the ACT UP groups of the ‘70s to the Queens Liberation Front. Not all of us share class interests, nor the same experience, but we are all tired of the identity politics. We want unionized labor and true leftism. We want support of HIV+ and trans lives, with equitable resources for all of us. We want something more sustainable than a tacky parade float.
Daniel Cody and Yashu Pericherla are student journalists who serve as an Op-Ed Editor and Assistant Op-Ed Editor, respectively.
