So we come to the end of Pride month. We’re all now familiar with the rituals: the rainbow flag plastered across everything from sandwiches to mouthwash, the vapid statements of obeisance from big businesses and institutions. 2022 has seen a bumper crop of these. Rainbow bullets displayed on Twitter by the US Marines. Central London bedecked with the ‘progress Pride’ flag and its ever-expanding mysterious arrows and circles. Even the Halifax piled in, suggesting its customers close their bank accounts if they oppose a policy allowing staff to display their personal pronouns on name tags.
This week, protesters gathered on Whitehall to declare that ‘Boris Johnson is a fascist’, presumably in response to his recent, grudging acknowledgement that there are two sexes. The footage shows them smiling, laughing and having a great old time while doing this, something one wouldn’t expect from people standing against brutal authoritarianism.
Pride now signifies a very different thing from its original purpose: a simple refusal to be ashamed of homosexuality
It’s tempting to sit back and laugh, but there is also something increasingly sinister about it all.
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