By The Corporate Dilemma
As Pride celebrations continue to expand, we’ve witnessed an unsettling trend: corporate sponsors have increasingly taken center stage, eager to convert their belated support for social issues into profit from the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies.
It’s a sentiment many of us can relate to — a deep frustration with companies seeking social justice accolades while turning a blind eye to injustices within their own operations.
For instance, Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a longtime, major sponsor of Cincinnati Pride, yet is one of the poorest performers in our Keep Forest Standing scorecard on human rights and deforestation.
P&G promotes its commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community as a cornerstone of its corporate social responsibility efforts. This presented the Cincinnati LGBTQIA+ community with a unique opportunity to challenge their narrative and expose their underlying corporate greed.
Our Collective Efforts
Our collective efforts, together with our partners in Indonesia, have been a testament to the power of unity. We’ve spent years trying to convince P&G to use its power for good by demanding its suppliers keep very high standards of protecting human rights, Indigenous land rights, and forest protection in all of their operations.
Despite our efforts and demands from shareholders and descendants of the P&G founders, the company continues to drag its feet on the way to urgently-needed action. We thought showing up at the 2024 Cincinnati Pride Parade would give P&G the motivation it needed to take positive steps in line with the urgency of the situation.
Art as Activism
Art has always been a powerful tool for activism, and our project was no exception. Along with our local partners, visiting artists, and a Cincinnati-based dance crew, RAN made a significant impact. The float was positively gorgeous and maximalist in the best way. The panels, florals, and decorations were almost all reclaimed and will be reused, which was important to our artist and to RAN.
We’ve been inspired by our work with the local community, including Cincinnati artists and activists who have been integral to our campaign in so many ways. Midavi Hayden had the opportunity to shine in this project as an artist and performer, speaking out about their disappointment in P&G’s lack of seriousness in addressing community grievances.
Procter and Gamble pretends to care about human rights, but in reality, it ignores the concerns of communities impacted by its unethical practices.
There was a strong consensus among our team that, had there been a contest, we would have emerged as clear winners. Our presence did not go unnoticed by P&G employees, who observed our booth and the handouts that addressed their practices. We even overheard some of them remarking, “Oh, you’re here too!?”
It was a joy to work together on such a beautiful artistic project and to be grounded in a campaign that is about winning real concrete improvements in the lives of frontline Indigenous communities. We are grateful for the inspiration of both queer and indigenous resistance and that power came through our presence there. We saw our images highlighted by other attendees and media outlets and heard tons of positive feedback both during and after the event, reinforcing the positive impact of our collective efforts.
Credits
Wearable artwork, costuming + float design by @__moreferalthan__
Performers/ organizers: @cloudy__queer @maxmaxmaxxoxo @dm.lichen @realicide @znikbewgirl @salembholden @midavihayden @urbloodyyvalentine @nikitagross @saladshrimp
Guest photographer: @robwoodcoxphoto
Build crew: @dsgn_cllctv
Choreography design: @massage.by.marrow
Creative direction: @cleobarnett
Video: @greenchessprod
