Wall Street Journal [New York, NY]
June 22, 2001

Commercialism at Gay Pride Parade Causes Alienation
Among Activists

By RONALD ALSOP, Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET
JOURNAL

This Sunday, 750,000 spectators are expected
to turn out for the colorful six-hour procession that is New York's
annual gay-pride march. Far from a closeted event, the parade will feature
commercial sponsors such as Anheuser-Busch Cos., FleetBoston Financial Corp. and
Viacom Inc.'s Showtime Networks in full force along with participants
ranging from gay parents, politicians and church groups to leather-clad
musclemen and topless women.
But across the Brooklyn Bridge, a much
smaller group will assemble for a Gay Shame rally to protest the
commercialization of the pride parade by these corporate sponsors. The renegade group, whose slogan is "It's a movement, not a market," will stage a more sober
affair, with speeches about prison reform and civil rights for transgender
people.
What began as a protest march to bring gay people together has become
a divisive event for some. Pride marches were first organized to
commemorate the landmark gay uprising against a police raid at New York's
Stonewall bar in 1969. They now number in the hundreds, and some have grown
into big-budget extravaganzas supported by dozens of corporate patrons --
and boycotted by disillusioned gay activists.
Critics complain that pride parades are more about partying and
selling rainbow-colored flags and teddy bears than about protesting
continued discrimination. "A political movement simply can't have corporate
sponsorship," says Sarah Schulman, an author and lesbian activist who
stopped attending pride parades a few years ago when she saw a Coors beer
float pass by.
Organizers of pride events contend they aren't selling out, but can't
raise enough money without corporate donors. "Commercialism is not a big
price to pay to enjoy these events free," says David Schneider, media
director of Heritage of Pride in New York. Some pride events also generate
a surplus that benefits gay community centers, AIDS organizations and other
charities.
Protests against the marketing of gay pride
have spread from New York to Toronto, San Francisco and other cities. In
Denver, a "radical queer" group plans to dress in pink and protest at
Pridefest this weekend. Alternative "dyke marches" that shun corporate
sponsors will be staged in San Francisco and elsewhere.
While critics object mainly to the marketing at pride events, some
also oppose other trends they perceive as further assimilation into the
mainstream heterosexual culture. For example, some people resent attempts
to make the parades family-friendly by censoring bare skin and bawdy
behavior.
A growing focus on "commitment ceremonies" also irks activists. At
Capital Pride in Washington earlier this month, for example, Red Bull Energy
Drink flew in a minister from Las Vegas who united 50 same-sex couples in a
commitment ceremony. Each couple received a certificate and two cans of Red
Bull. "We just wanted to support the community in a romantic, fun
atmosphere," says company spokeswoman Emmy Cortes.
Activists face a daunting challenge in trying to change gay pride,
which has become a growth industry in itself. InterPride, a group of pride
coordinators, estimates there may be as many as 500 celebrations around the
world, with total attendance of about 16 million.
Despite the dissension in the gay community, corporate interest in
the events continues to grow. The San Francisco pride festival says
sponsorship revenue is up 8% this year and will cover about a third of its
$1 million budget. Hewlett-Packard Co. stepped up its support this year
through sponsorship of pride events in San Jose, Calif., Denver and Atlanta,
and the participation of its gay employee group in other local parades.
PlanetOut Partners Inc., an operator of gay Web sites that will have booths
at 16 pride festivals this year, has contracts to promote International
Business Machines Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and US Airways Group Inc.
But pride events may be getting too costly for some marketers.
Kobrand Corp.'s Alize liqueur, for example, created a float with a towering
martini glass and a singer perched on top for Chicago's pride parade last
year. This year, it's only doing promotions in gay bars and hanging posters
in liquor-store windows. "The prices for sponsorships and vendor booths are
just too much," says Paul Poux, a marketing consultant for Alize.
Ironically, pride events have become too expensive and crowded for
some of the gay businesses that helped start them. In Washington, the gay
bookstore Lambda Rising dropped out of Capital Pride because it could no
longer justify the expense of a booth. Deacon Maccubbin, Lambda's owner and
a founder of Washington's gay-pride movement, says, "When small gay
businesses are priced out of gay pride, you lose a lot."
. Write to Ronald Alsop at ron.alsop@wsj.com