Navy Removes Pride Month Posts Amid Right-Wing Backlash— Nascar, Major League Baseball Also Targeted

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by Lindsey Francy Jun 3, 2023 News
Navy Removes Pride Month Posts Amid Right-Wing Backlash— Nascar, Major League Baseball Also Targeted

There was a new update on Jun 2, 2023.

The Navy was forced to remove its Pride posts due to online attacks from right-wing social media users.

US-POLITICS-SOCIETY-HOLIDAY-LGBTQ+-DEMONSTRATION

The U.S. Navy deleted posts from its social media accounts. The photo was taken by Allison DINNER.

AFP via Getty Images

On June 1, the first day of Pride Month, the U.S. Navy uploaded a Pride-themed Facebook cover photo, and replaced it with another one less than 12 hours later, and it deleted posts for Pride Month from its social media accounts.

The NASCAR and MLB posts were filled with replies and quotes from angry right-wing users who called for boycotts of companies who celebrate Pride or engage in LGBTQ-inclusive marketing.

On Thursday, the MLB briefly changed its Facebook profile picture to a Pride-themed logo, but reverted back to the original on Friday after receiving a lot of hate mail.

Matt Bernstein, a popular queer content creator, was the first to notice the MLB's switch: "the brands really aren't hangin w us this year"

Many corporations have adopted rainbow logos as a show of support during Pride Month, which some have praised for increasing the visibility of the LGBTQ community, which others have criticized as insufficient and symbolic, sometimes deeming it "rainbow capitalism."

According to email correspondence obtained by Fox News, Navy officials considered disabling comments on its Pride Month post to avoid comments from bigots.

Crucial Quote

Some see a reduced number of companies marketing Pride support this year as a result of conservative boycotts. We are back to normal.

Chief Critics

I celebrate America, the Declaration, the Constitution, capitalism, my mom and dad and family, the men and women in our military, our first responders, this month and every month, unlike Nascar, which only celebrates capitalism. The organization was criticized by other conservatives.

Contra

Thanks to Nascar for showing that in America we value freedom and let Americans be who they are. Mark Pocan mocked conservatives threatening to boycott the "woke" Nascar. That's a good thing. Conservatives shouldn't be surprised that Nascar is turning left, because that's the whole sport. Cars are only turned left by Nascar drivers.

Tangent

Major League Baseball has come under fire for its Pride Month efforts. The Los Angeles Dodgers were criticized by conservative and religious organizations for inviting a charity that uses religious-themed drag to its Pride Night. The Dodgers outraged its other partner groups who threatened to pull out of the event if they weren't reinstated. The Dodgers apologized after the Sisters were invited back. The Sisters have been criticized by some MLB players, including the Washington Nationals pitcher and the Dodgers pitcher. Mike Pence, a non-Catholic, called the Sisters anti-Catholic and demanded an apology from MLB. Anthony Bass apologized Tuesday after sharing a post on social media urging consumers not to shop at companies that support the gay community. The crowd booed him at the game.

Key Background

Right-wing social media users have used the backlash against Bud Light to threaten boycotts against companies that market to the gay community. Target and Kohl's have been criticized for their Pride collections which include items for children. Target's boycott was aided by misinformation that a "tuck-friendly" swimsuit for trans women was only available for adults. Other companies, including The North Face and Jack Daniels, sparked backlash for their marketing campaigns that feature drag queens, another community that has been the subject of legislation that threatens to restrict where they can perform, based on misconception that drag queens are sexualizing children. Miller lite was criticized for its ad for Women's History month which criticized the sexist history of beer advertising.

There are all the others, from Bud Light to Target.

The Dodgers made a reverse decision regarding the Pride night.