A critique of Canadian companies that slap rainbow logos on their products during Pride month but abandon LGBTQ support when the political climate shifts. The monologue traces Canada's LGBTQ history from the 1969 decriminalization of homosexuality through the 2005 legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing that real allyship means embedding support into core values, not treating Pride as seasonal marketing.
Chapters
Everyone loves a rainbow. Until it rains. You know, back when the political forecast was sunny and clear, Canadian companies painted themselves in pride. Bright logos, bold promises. But this year, now that storm clouds are forming in the south, far too many of those same companies are pulling up stakes. They were hoping we wouldn't notice. That we'd be swept up in the planning or the politics. Or the price of lettuce. But we noticed. We noticed how this year that annual news release about how much you support diversity was gone. We noticed that your logo, which was, you know, used to be emblazoned with the Pride rainbow, quietly stayed corporate beige. We noticed when your staff memos said to keep politics out of the workplace. We noticed. And I'll bet the comments here will be full of your company names. I mean, here in Canada, look, LGBTQ rights Rights didn't fall out of the sky like confetti from a party cannon. They were clawed for. The decriminalization of homosexuality didn't happen until 1969. Even in the '80s, police were raiding gay bathhouses. And don't get me wrong, we've made progress here. Same-sex marriage in 2005. We added gender identity to the Human Rights Act in 2017. And today, your passport can reflect who you are. But when companies suddenly go quiet during Pride Month, it is a reminder that for far too many boardrooms, queerness is just a seasonal marketing strategy. Something to cash in on when the winds were favorable and discard when the skies got cloudy. Supporting people who face discrimination isn't supposed to be trendy. It's not a fucking aesthetic. It's a commitment. And if that commitment can't withstand a little rain, then we were never allies of yours. We were props in a PR campaign. So don't just put up the rainbow when it's easy. Hang on to it when it's hard. Write it into your corporate values, not just your ad campaigns. Because if you're not willing to stand with us in the storms, we don't want you showing up in the sun.
