It’s early, I know.
But I just checked, and Instagram’s logo looks normal. So does Google’s, YouTube’s, and even Facebook’s. Maybe Etsy has me figured out, but I scrolled top to bottom, and it’s a lineup of Father’s Day gift ideas. Not a rainbow in sight.
Isn’t it June?
Usually, by this point, we’ve been inundated with rainbow-colored products, from stickers to magnets to kids’ bathing suits. This year feels tame. There’s a documentary on gay animals narrated by Elliot Page (a female actor who claims to be a man) coming out, and most restaurants in downtown Columbus are decked out in flags. But it feels like they’re doing it out of habit, not out of some militant desire to shove immorality down our throats. (READ MORE: The Purpose of Pride Month)
Thus far, most of the TikToks I’ve seen of Pride parades and celebrations come not from the New York Times (there wasn’t a single Pride-themed article in sight on the front page this morning) or CNN, but from Libs of TikTok. That matters because it means the Left is only half-heartedly shoving those parades down the throats of those who don’t want to go. The way we see them is when the Right exposes them (as it should).
We’re only on day five, so maybe it’s too early. Scott McKay did note on Tuesday at The American Spectator that athletic departments are publishing rainbow graphics, some bar is celebrating the month with a “gender neutral” beer, and the Dublin airport isn’t exactly friendly to “Normies.” But these instances are looking more and more like remnants of past years, rather than part of a militant crusade. And that’s fantastic.
It’s not just that we can hear the sweet bells of a cultural win ringing in the distance, but also that this kind of muted response is exactly what needs to happen to break the positive feedback loop that keeps this kind of perversion “loud and proud.”
Anyone who spent any time with a schoolyard bully knows that bullying is a result of two things: insecurity and a need for attention. If you give the bully the attention he craves (even if it’s negative attention) you, as the victim, create a positive feedback loop that will keep him coming back to get more. The same thing is true for adults who believe the lie that society misunderstands them and their sexuality. They crave attention, even if it’s negative attention, and we’ve been giving it to them for years. (READ MORE: Save the Hollywood Children)
But businesses, even big ones like Bud Light and Target, don’t crave all forms of attention. They signed onto the Pride agenda out of a mistaken belief that it might increase sales while signaling to progressive bigwig cultural fiends that they were on the right side of history. What they discovered is that their customers have no interest in being on the “right side of history.”
It’s possible that the boycotts worked. Maybe Target learned a lesson when Christian moms stopped buying scented candles at Target because they didn’t want to have to walk their brood of children past kids’ bondage wear. Bud Light certainly did when college kids and dads looking for a cheap beer for barbeque night found alternatives — and other companies took note.
I’m not saying we should rest on our laurels. Pride — the rainbow flags, the parades, the public celebration of perverted sins of the flesh — must be eradicated completely from our society. That’s the goal here. I’m just saying that, on day five of my least favorite month of the year, it feels like we’re making some progress.
Here’s to making more in 2024.
This article is an excerpt from The American Spectator’s Spectator P.M. newsletter. Subscribe today to read future letters from our staff!
