Brace yourselves, everyone. June is coming, and in the world of politics, sports, and retail marketing, that means Pride Month.

But is this year’s Pride Month going to be like the ones of years past? We all should remember last year’s Pride Month backlash, which has definitely tempered some people’s enthusiasm and expectations. If you’ve forgotten, Pride Month followed the epic Dylan Mulvaney/Bud Light backlash, which continued to see Anheuser-Busch try to salvage their sales and branding, but Target decided to jump into the fun with a Satanist transgender designer items along with “tuck-friendly” swimsuits. Target has tried to distract from what happened next to their sales, but their reaction this year to Pride Month is a whole lot more muted.

Target will no longer sell its Pride Month collection in all stores after conservative blowback over LGBTQ+ themed merchandise, including bathing suits designed for transgender people, harmed sales.

The retailer told USA TODAY the collection will be available on its website and in “select stores” depending on “historical sales performance.”

Target – which has a decade-long track record of featuring LGBTQ+ merchandise during Pride Month – was one of the corporations assailed for “rainbow capitalism” last June during Pride Month.

Target said that this year it will carry adult apparel, home products, and food and beverages in its Pride collection that it has curated “based on guest insights and consumer research.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that this year’s Pride collection is smaller.

The Pride merchandise will be sold in half of Target’s nearly 2,000 stores, Bloomberg reported. Usually, Target sells the collection in all of its stores.

Target said in a statement to USA TODAY that it remains committed to “supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round.”

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said Target’s decision “is disappointing and alienates LGBTQ+ individuals and allies at the risk of not only their bottom line but also their values.”

“Pride merchandise means something. LGBTQ+ people are in every ZIP code in this country, and we aren’t going anywhere,” Robinson said in a statement.

Well, if the merchandise was selling well enough to balance out other losses, then Target would be putting them in the stores. But the Pride Month devotees will have somewhere else to go. It seems that Walmart is ready to lean heavily into the Pride Month merch game.

Walmart promoted its new Pride apparel on social media ahead of Pride month on Saturday, writing on Instagram, “Not just a slogan. #PrideAlways is a reminder to lead with love.​”

The company’s promotion comes just weeks after Target said its Pride collection would only be available in “select stores” following a major backlash by conservatives last year.

Walmart’s new “Pride Always” collection promo includes products like a notebook that says “beyond gender” a tote bag that says “totes gay,” a fanny pack with “I heart gay people” on it and rainbow-colored products like a pool floatie and an apron.

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Now, will Walmart face the same level of backlash that Target did last year? I honestly don’t think they will. Last year’s reaction to Target was very much fueled by the Bud Light boycott, and as of right now, there is no grassroots movement that could be easily redirected toward a different mark. Walmart may very well slide under the radar this year, because of the sheer exhaustion that seems to be swirling around Pride Month as a whole. And it is exhaustion. Even local governments, who are used to simply doing little “performative” votes to “recognize” Pride Month, are just done with pretending that it should be a big deal once a year.

The Yakima City Council rejected a proclamation declaring June Pride Month in the City at its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 21.

The City Council unanimously passed resolutions honoring missing and unidentified persons, a draft resolution proclaiming May “Mental Health Awareness Month” and the draft of an ALS proclamation. The May 21 Yakima City Council meeting is available to view online.

However, the City Council rejected a proposed proclamation declaring June LGBTQ2S+ Pride Month in Yakima by a 5-2 vote.

Councilmember Janice Deccio was one of two to vote in favor of the proclamation and provided NonStop Local News with the following statement on May 22.

“It is unfortunate that the majority of the Council chose to reject the Pride proclamation. It has been approved by council every year since at least 2016. The proclamation meets all the criteria needed for approval. Our job as council, or as decent human beings, is not to judge the legitimacy of a law-abiding group who requests a proclamation through the proper channels. There are thousands of citizens in this town (gay and straight) who celebrate pride month each year and this is being seen as a betrayal to a wide swath of our citizenry.”

Councilmember Matt Brown voted against the proclamation, saying it was against Council policy and issued a statement which read, in part:

“As a member of the Yakima City Council, I believe our government functions best when we prioritize our primary responsibilities: public safety, infrastructure, roads, and the overall quality of life for our residents.”

“Pride Month suggests that individuals with different sexual preferences are unwelcome or discriminated against, which is simply not true. The people of Yakima are loving and accepting. We see neighbors looking out for each other, volunteering, and praying for those in need. Love and acceptance are core values of our community.”

Councilmember Reedy Berg voted against the proclamation, stating in part:

“I support all demographics of people and represent them all as a city councilmen, which is an honor. In the case of the LGBTQ2S+ proclamation vote, again, I believe there are 2 genders and science would not support their claim that there are expanding and infinite gender orientations to identify as.”

“I have friends in the pride community who I get along with well. I have spoken to many people within that community who agreed with my stance and supported my decision behind closed doors saying a proclamation was unnecessary and that their ability to celebrate pride isn’t hindered by the 5-2 vote at all.”

Wait, you can have Pride Month WITHOUT proclamations??? Who knew???

But think about the worldwide backtracking that is currently underway regarding the transgender movement. The publication of the Cass Report, noting that the mental health issues that children have been presenting with have been ignored in favor of shoving “puberty blockers” and other hormone treatments into them, has begun a sea-change in the United Kingdom and in Europe. But in the meantime, the trans advocates in the United States are still trying to double down on their agenda – maybe because they just can’t accept that they were so very wrong, maybe because these treatments and surgeries are just so dang lucrative. The trans movement really should be separate from the LGB crowd, because they are supporting two completely different claims. The LGB crowd claims they were “born this way,” and the public should accept them as they are. The transgender movement says they were born into the “wrong” body, they need to be surgically altered in order to be who they truly are, and then we end up with transwomen (also known as biological males) telling lesbian women that they are “transphobic” for not wanting to date them. A split is coming, and it might be coming sooner rather than later if the transgender movement begins to lose clout.

There’s still going to be plenty of “Pride Month” stuff being pushed on the public come June 1st. We’re still going to see plenty of performative “allyship” and flags. But for the first time in a while, it seems like the attempt to shove it all down our throats has taken a small step back. Let’s see if it lasts.

Featured image via Lisett Kruusimäe on Pexels, cropped, Pexels license