Michelangelo Signorile: Last News

Donald Trump's Pride range of merchandise resurfaced on social media.In 2020, the former president sold rainbow-colored "Make America Great Again" t-shirts and caps in his campaign store so that people could show their "support for the LGBT community and the 45th president."Its re-emergence follows backlash against several brands in recent months including Bud Light, which partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which came under fire for its LGBTQ+ Pride Month merchandise.While experts have said such campaigns provide an opportunity for brands to appeal to consumers in new markets, critics have accused those companies of alienating their traditional customer base. The controversies sit at the heart of a culture war and feed into a broader debate about the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in public life.Trump has previously appeared supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, writing in May 2019, on the eve of that year's Pride Month, that he recognized "the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great nation," and urged supporters to "stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation."At the time, his detractors described such support as "cynical," with political commentator Michelangelo Signorile writing for NBC News that his LGBTQ+ merchandise was "monumentally hypocritical and insulting."Hey Republicans, Why didn’t you care when Donald Trump sold pride merch? You claim Target and other brands with pride collections are “targeting kids” and are “satanic” but your cult leader did it and you had no problem with it.