Corporate sponsorship of Lexington Pride Festival needs more action, less branding

A rainbow-emblazoned Listerine bottle would not have been possible 50 years ago. Fifty years ago, in what many consider the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, LGBTQ+ individuals rioted outside New York’s Stonewall Inn. Fifty years ago, these pioneers protested a nation that denied them their rights and made their existence a crime. Fifty years ago, Lexington’s own LGBTQ+ community existed much like their counterparts around the world — in secret.

A vibrant gay and lesbian community (recently commemorated by the installment of two plaques) has existed in the Lexington area since the 1930s. However, the Lexington Herald’s first stories about homosexuality were not published until the mid-1970s, and Kentucky’s Supreme Court did not decriminalize homosexuality until 1992. Lexington passed its own Fairness Ordinance seven years later, which protected sexual and gender minorities against discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation. In passing it, Lexington established its relatively progressive status in a state where LGBTQ+ people had just secured the right to exist.

Continuing with this comparatively progressive tradition, the Lexington Pride Festival began in 2007. Since its start, the Festival has allowed the nearby LGBTQ+ population to express themselves freely and come together in celebration and protest. Now in its twelfth year (and on the 20th anniversary of the Fairness Ordinance), the Festival continues to grow and attract thousands of patrons.

But like LGBTQ+ Pride events around the world, the Lexington Pride Festival has been commercialized. This commercialization disrupts the very nature of Pride and forces us to reconsider what Pride means, in Lexington and around the globe, 50 years later.

Corporate sponsorship of pride events is a key component of commercialization and an integral aspect of the funding for the Lexington Pride Festival. One of the festival’s most prominent sponsors in 2019 was Gilead Sciences, a “research-based biopharmaceutical company” that also sponsored World Pride NYC: Stonewall 50.

Gilead Sciences controls the U.S. market for Truvada, a pre-exposure prophylaxis (commonly referred to as PrEP) that is up to 99% successful at blocking HIV infection. But despite this incredible drug’s existence, new HIV transmissions remain stagnant at nearly 40,000 a year. In 2018, only 10 percent of the over 1 million Americans who could benefit from PrEP actually used it. Why? People couldn’t afford it.

One month of generic Truvada costs less than six dollars in other countries. But in the U.S., Gilead Sciences has raised the price by 25,000% to a staggering monthly cost of $1,600. As a result, only a privileged few within the LGBTQ+ community can afford access to this life-saving medication. African American and Latino individuals represent the majority of new cases of HIV transmission yet suffer especially from low access to PrEP. Transgender community members are also disproportionately impacted by PrEP’s inaccessibility. By drastically upcharging Truvada, Gilead denies medication to the very people who could benefit from it the most, making a negative HIV status a literal status symbol.

So how can Gilead position itself as a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community? Why doesn’t it act like it does in June for the rest of the year? And how do we interpret its support of the Lexington Pride Festival, an event which welcomes recommendations to improve inclusivity?

The LGBTQ+ community has made immense progress in Lexington and around the world over the past 50 years. This progress — the Pride Festival’s growth, Lexington’s first rainbow crosswalk, the two new historic plaques — means something; it makes me as an LGBTQ+ Lexingtonian feel more welcome. And commercialization is undoubtedly a part of progress, informing consumers and providing funds for LGBTQ+ organizations. But there are still battles left to fight. HIV transmission, especially within more vulnerable subsections of the LGBTQ+ community, is one of those battles. We have the necessary resources to win this fight and others. But we need to demand more of our corporate allies like Gilead—more than just performative products or once-a-year sponsorships.

Lewis Hart Hallos is a lifelong Lexingtonian, current Columbia University freshman, and inconsistent collage artist. He can be reached at lhh2129@columbia.edu.

This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 7:20 AM.