Kiantha Duncan: Cancel fear and focus on inclusivity

Dear Kiantha,

The most recent canceling of Bud Light beer and the current fight with Target stores over the Pride clothing and LGBTQ product placement has me all confused. These two situations leave me feeling unclear about who is in the right and who is in the wrong.

I also don’t feel sure about participating in any Pride celebrations even as an ally as the likelihood of me being canceled by my conservative friends and colleagues seems eminent.

Dear Friend,

Let’s start with a little more context. In early April, there began a backlash or cancel campaign against Anheuser-Busch’s popular brand Bud Light after well-known transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney promoted the beer on Instagram. The social media promotion incited upset among some well-known conservatives and celebrities, causing Bud Light sales to slump and thrusting the brand into another one of our nation’s culture wars.

In the case of Target, the large household retailer has for many years increased its commitment to supporting diversity by offering products related to the diversity being celebrated nationally. June is national Pride month and as the displays and product for Pride began to roll out in May, Target suffered backlash for its LGBTQ+ support and product sales and placement.

We have an opportunity to focus on something deeper than right or wrong, something deeper than to cancel of not to cancel. We have an opportunity to focus our thoughts around creating a culture of belonging, one in which varying beliefs can be present and neither dismisses the other.

What if we lived in a world where a brand like Bud Light could be marketed using music and sports, as conservatives suggest, and could also be a brand that values partnerships with the LGBTQ+ community?

What if a brand could be inclusive of all who enjoy their brand? What if brands were not forced to choose based on what groups held more social power to cancel them?

We live in a culture of fear and intimidation. A culture that tells us that there has to be a winner and a loser.

The loser is not wrong, per se. The losers typically have less resources and less power, hence causing them to not measure well against the power or intimidation of the winner.

Your fear of being canceled for supporting the LGBTQ+ community as an ally is an example of this fear in action. I am sorry that you have to experience that sentiment. I feel more sorrow for those who would choose to persecute you for supporting members of our human family.

Soul to soul,

Kiantha

Dear Kiantha can be read Fridays in The Spokesman-Review. To submit a question, email DearKiantha@gmail.com.