It’s not even June, and yet corporate America is already reeling from an unprecedented
conservative backlash over the annual Pride Month celebration. The changing climate on gender issues caught the nation’s marketing gurus by surprise, as evidenced by the recent consumer takedowns of Bud Light and Target; the flip-flopping over drag queens by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the outcry over male models in Adidas women’s swimwear. Much of that shift can be attributed to the rise of the “T” (transgender) in LGBTQ.