Show caption Auckland Pride Parade, 17 February 2018 Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images Opinion Corporations shouldn't get to decide who is and isn't queer Fury As a trans person I rely on allies. But Pride festivals have become too dependent on funding by big business

@fury_writes Mon 19 Feb 2018 04.27 GMT Share on Facebook

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In many countries Pride festivals are a significant aspect of queer culture. It’s a time where queer people come together, hold events, throw parties and march. It’s a time to remind ourselves that our sexualities, genders and bodies are something to be proud of.

In support of Auckland Pride this year, ANZ recently released a video for its #HoldTight campaign. The video shows a variety of different (presumably) queer people talking about the ways their allies have been there for them.

I don’t dismiss the need for campaigns that normalise ally-ship. As a trans person, I inhabit a statistical minority so I must rely on allies rallying around me in the fight for my rights. However, much of the work I end up doing isn’t about combatting those who think I am a monstrosity, it is about managing the advocacy of allies in order to minimise damage to the community.

A stunning campaign that effectively normalises allies is Rainbow Youth’s recent video “If It’s Not Gay, It’s Not Gay”. There is only one gay character in it and the narrative is driven by allies, showing that gay people don’t have to be front and centre so long as the issues are. Almost directly its inverse, the ANZ campaign puts queer people front and centre but the messaging is wholly interested in shining light on the importance of allies, or “support”. Once you remove sentimental music, it becomes clear that this video is a train wreck. The very first thing said is “Last year the acronym of LGBT expanded … LGBTIQ … A, for ‘allies’”.

This statement is so incorrect it makes me want to melt with frustration.

A does not stand for allies, it stands for “asexual” (and/or “agender”, depending on who you ask). ANZ’s oversight on this matter ties into the ongoing problem of representation of the community. Especially around Pride when the majority of advertisements and events are directed towards a culture of partying and hooking up, to replace asexuals with allies, of all things, is particularly vulgar. Furthermore, by curating a collection of voices that overwrite asexuality, ANZ is positioning itself as the arbiter of queerness; as a corporation that gets to decide who is and isn’t queer.

I am very much in support of a more inclusive community. However, the acronym is important because of how under-represented the community is. Pride can be a difficult time for the greater LGBT+ community. I say “greater” because when Pride shifted its focus from being a protest to a celebration, the people who could afford to celebrate – mostly white, gay men – increasingly became the dominant image and target market for Pride. Because people outside the “G” are poorly represented in these celebrations, Pride functions as a painful yearly reminder of how little support we have from the mainstream LGBT+ community.

It’s also a crucial tool when addressing issues affecting us – like violence, bullying, homelessness and discrimination. As allies are defined by the negative – that is, they are specifically defined by being not the thing they are supporting – including allies waters down the acronym to the point of uselessness. Who are we, if we are not queer?

ANZ chose to include a queer person saying “You don’t have to be part of our community, but you are part of our community”. There is an incredible lack of due care in cherry picking this statement. ANZ has made this person vulnerable to criticism from the community for misrepresenting us while simultaneously watering down queerness to the point that they can include themselves. They may as well have tried to claim the “A” stood for ANZ.

The last shot of the video declares ANZ are “Proud allies of Auckland Pride Festival and Big Gay Out”. Arguably there is no such thing as a proud ally; certainly not a self proclaimed one, as allies are dedicated to the cause, not to their own image. This sort of self-first approach to ally-ship is not unique to ANZ but instead part of a much more widespread problem.

Our media is saturated with depictions of cis, straight people as the heroes so naturally the unconscious bias is that they know what is best. There is not a culture of consultation or reflection in allies, so much of my work involves telling them to take the back seat; to understand their own limitations. This means I am often picking up the pieces after a well-intentioned ally acts like a bull in a china shop. It crushes me to think how much money ANZ poured into this video when LGBT+ services are so chronically underfunded and overworked.

Pride Melbourne, Pride Auckland, Mardi Gras – whatever these festivals are now, they have become the antithesis of its inception. The Stonewall riots were a reaction to violence from police, but also from government and from society. Now, despite ongoing police violence and intimidation towards queer people even at Pride, they are an increasing presence at every parade. So, too, are the appearances from politicians keen to court the pink dollar and the pink vote now that it is increasingly more acceptable to be lesbian or gay.

Fundamentally, this sort of failure is the problem that the LGBT+ community faces worldwide. The more that corporations give money to Pride, the more the festivals grow and, in turn, the more they become dependent on the funding provided by big business. The more they become dependent on funding by big business, the more they are forced to court sponsorship and allow big business to take up space that should be reserved for the community. Pride has, over time, oriented itself away from community and towards money. As such, those of us who don’t make for a glossy, marketable front cover – the trans people, the fat people, the disabled people, the homeless queers, the LGBT+ refugees – we are shuffled away from the spotlight in an effort to preserve the Pride’s squeaky-clean image.