Over the past year, many far-right conservatives have made it their mission to protest every image of progress in the media. This has included everything from a children’s animated television series, to beer advertisements and dog food ads. Conservatives are up-in-arms over even the briefest depiction of queer identities. Here are five LGBTQ+ representations in the media that made conservatives go bonkers during the past year.
Dylan Mulvaney’s collab with Bud Light
A social media ad campaign for Bud Light beer with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sent an uproar through conservative communities around the country who love to drink a cold one. Maybe conservatives believe that beer is not for queers, but needless to say, they freaked when they found out the Anheuser-Busch marketing campaign featured a trans person. Luckily, for Mulvaney, the backlash only drew more attention to her content, and just months after she received hate aplenty (April 2023) she was on the cover of Them and featured in Forbes “30 Under 30,” along with various other honors.
Target is one of the U.S.’s most popular superstores. Serving as a grocery, pharmacy, department, shoe, home and tech store, they really can do it all. They also do LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise once a year around June, when Pride comes to town throughout the nation. But over the past year, some Target stores have been dropping Pride-themed merchandise from their shelves for fear of violence from alt-right groups and individuals. Many of these shops have claimed they were hoping to avoid conflict by removing these products from shelves, much to the dismay of LGBTQ+ customers and allies. More conservative hubbub occurred when inclusive holiday products were sold at Target stores.
Even toiletries aren’t safe from right wing hate. When dental hygiene purveyor Listerine released mouthwash with Pride packaging, far right conservative influencers like Chaya Raichik (who goes by @LibsofTikTok on the social media platform) called on other conservatives to boycott brands like Listerine. The bottles depict gay couples holding hands as part of Johnson & Johnson’s (Listerine’s parent company) “Care with Pride” initiative, which raises money for LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations.
Conservatives are now also boycotting Planet Fitness after the gym franchise stuck to its guns on allowing trans women to use their women’s locker rooms. Raichik has also claimed that the loss of far right conservative customers is costing the gym hundreds of millions of dollars, when no evidence supports this. However, LGBTQ+ Nation reports that “Planet Fitness has stood by its trans-inclusive policies and LGBTQ+ support for years despite right-wing backlash.” The newest bout of backlash against the gym began when a woman in Alaska confronted a transgender woman in the women’s locker rooms. The confrontation led to the conservative woman being banned from Planet Fitness. Since then alt right media have popularized the hashtag #BoycottPlanetFitness.
In its most recent season, hit Australian children’s show “Bluey” featured its very first mention of a same-sex couple, after receiving backlash for not being diverse enough in recent years. The show, which follows a family of dogs, saw its third season this spring. The final episode features a new chihuahua puppy who mentions having two moms. Though this moment is quite small, and would probably go over the heads of the show’s primary audience, right wingers have made sure to blow it out of proportion. The Daily Wire reporter, Megan Basham, said “I’ll be honest, sometimes the glee LGBTQ activists take at seeing the destruction of something that was once wholesome, something that championed mothers and father and children’s need for both, is really demoralizing.” Can you tell we’re rolling our eyes?
Featured Image: Dylan Mulvaney (Photo by Lev Radin)
