Rainbow capitalism was good actually, for many reasons.
It wasn't that long ago that banks and companies would refuse to serve gay people. People are going all the way up to the Supreme Court to enshrine the right not to serve LGBTQ people in their business. Rainbow capitalism showed which companies were safe to do business with and it pressured other companies to do the same.
Likewise, companies did and do try to discrominate against LGBTQ employees. Rainbow capitalism let employees be open about their identities and feel safe. The 50 year old gay man marching with Bank of America may have hidden his sexuality for decades because it wasn't safe to come out at work.
It helped set top down societal values and norms that LGBTQ people are a welcome part of society.
It pressured companies to adopt nondiscrimination policies and DEI policies.
It made companies donate to pride celebrations and LGBTQ causes.
with mixed success, it provided powerful and visible allies for political change, like the Respect for Marriage Act. Businesses pulled out of North Carolina and forced it to go back on a bathroom bill.
The drawdown of rainbow capitalism has real consequences. Pride celebrations losing corporate sponsorships means they are not able to hold those celebrations. DEI programs are being rolled back. Companies are buying less from queer owned businesses. Support for gay marriage is actually decreasing in polls.
Are these all cause and effect? No. Is it sometimes just a lagging indicator? Yeah. Are fair weather allies like big corps really not great? Yeah.
Like we're seeing greater threats to LGBTQ people and rights now than in 20 years and if you're still complaining about rainbow capitalism or having to qualify it by saying "I know rainbow capitalism is bad but" then I think you've lost the plot as surely as we've lost some of our biggest most powerful and most visible allies
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