What’s changed? Perhaps brands have realised that the cynicism of these tokenistic gestures is almost as blatant as the garishness of the rainbow. Brands see our potential buying power (we don’t typically tend to have children, and the white gay men among us don’t always do too badly, income-wise) and want a slice. Now, lucky us, LGBTQ+ people are a defined and targeted market for advertisers, with legions of friends and allies desperate to flag their support. The uprising became a launchpad for America’s gay rights movement. Starting on 28 June and lasting for five nights, LGBTQ+ New Yorkers stood up to the police, who had made a habit of raiding gay bars and arresting punters. Pride is meant to commemorate the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Even though – as I’m rudely reminded every cold, dark mid-February when my toes freeze to the bone – LGBTQ+ people exist all year round. Harder to swallow, though, is that this, the symbolic apex of corporate piggybacking of Pride, a perfect demonstration of how far brands had gone in their quest for the pink pound, was only around for a month. Launched in June 2019, it was like a fresher, less salty BLT, incredibly easy to gulp down on the go. No, not the community rather, the M&S lettuce, guacamole, bacon and tomato sandwich.