What is rainbow hushing? Everything you need to know

Examples of rainbow hushing

In recent years, several businesses have come under scrutiny for rainbow hushing, including:

Mastercard

The New York City Pride March has long been sponsored by large corporations, but in 2025, organizations including Mastercard, Sony, Pepsi and Nissan are rethinking their involvement and pulling back their sponsorship of the event. Like other companies, Mastercard will continue to support the event, but they are not renewing their corporate sponsorship. As a result of decreased corporate sponsorship, the New York City Pride March has suffered a $750,000 budget shortfall, which means that the event had to be scaled back to some degree.

Starbucks

In 2023, Starbucks employees took to social media to accuse company management of ordering the removal of pride decorations from stores across the U.S., despite external messaging continuing to celebrate Pride Month. The union "Starbucks Workers United" went on to organize a strike in response to these allegations. The "Strike With Pride" event involved over 3,000 workers and 150 Starbucks stores. Starbucks denied these allegations, citing no changes to official corporate policy.

Target

In 2023, Target pulled its Pride merchandise from a number of stores after facing backlash -- including physical attacks -- from customers in stores, leading to members of Congress encouraging a boycott of the range. In the years since this incident, Target's Pride collections have grown smaller, and in 2025, the collection faced backlash, with Pride.com publication labelling the collection "pathetic."

Why are companies participating in rainbow hushing?

According to a Gravity Research survey of over 200 corporate executives, in 2025:

• 39% of executives plan to reduce pride-related engagement.
• 61% of respondents cite the Trump administration as a reason for pride rollbacks.
• No respondents reported plans to increase pride engagement.

As demonstrated by this survey, 2025 is seeing a notable withdrawal of Pride support. There are several reasons for this detachment from pride celebrations, including the following:

• Economic uncertainty. As the economy continues to suffer, businesses must make tighter decisions about spending, and budget cuts are likely to occur. Fear of boycotts, which can result in monetary loss, is also rife as economic uncertainty continues to put pressure on businesses across the country. This is evident with customers boycotting Target in February 2025 because of DEI rollbacks. The company faced "economic blackouts" and reported a sales decrease of 3.8% in the first quarter. With budgets being slashed nationally, companies fear revenue loss from unhappy customers who may disagree with their ethos/behaviors.
• Political ecosystem. Trump's anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders, including "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism" and "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," as well as wider DEI rollbacks across the U.S., have set the tone for businesses across the country. In a White House media briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that there are no plans for the White House to release a proclamation celebrating Pride Month in 2025. Businesses that may fear political retaliation are responding to the government's shift away from pride celebrations.
• Reputational risk. Businesses that fear backlash or accusations of performative allyship may choose to avoid action at all, in exchange for not appearing false in their support for the LGBTQ+ community. Similarly, businesses that are caught making false or over-exaggerated claims about their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community are likely to experience backlash, so they choose to stay silent altogether. In 2025, the fear of reputation damage and balancing a more conservative political atmosphere is seeing businesses opt for silence and even DEI rollbacks.

What is the impact of rainbow hushing?

Rainbow hushing can be damaging for both the LGBTQ+ community and the organization itself. Examples of its negative impact include:

• Loss of brand loyalty. Businesses that once aligned themselves with LGBTQ+ causes but then abandon them due to outside pressures are likely to face backlash and damage brand loyalty. Shifting messaging can feel inconsistent and boost competitors who maintain their view on social causes.
• Decreased employee retention and talent acquisition. Employees, and specifically those who identify as LGBTQ+, want to see themselves represented and supported at work. Research by myGwork, a business community focused on supporting the LGBTQ+ community, 8 out of 10 LGBTQ+ students and graduates indicate a reluctance to join companies that have withdrawn support for the LGBTQ+ community.
• Public scrutiny. Companies found guilty of rainbow hushing are likely to face backlash from the public online and on social media. In 2023, Starbucks and Target both experienced large amounts of scrutiny, including calls to boycott. Target also experienced boycotts in 2025 as a result of DEI rollbacks, after a memo was sent to staff explaining that they were ceasing their "three-year diversity, equity and inclusion goals."

Best practices for authentic LGBTQ+ support

Supporting the LGBTQ+ community goes beyond displaying rainbow flags during Pride Month and requires dedication all year round and across all business layers. Examples of authentic LGBTQ+ support include:

• Aligning internal action with external action. The first step toward supporting LGBTQ+ employees is creating an inclusive environment, with dedicated leaders and inclusive hiring practices, where all employees feel supported and valued. An internal-first approach is essential, as this can help avoid accusations of being performative, where an organization's internal actions fail to match the image presented to the outside world.
• Extensive training. Training should be ongoing and address inclusive language and unconscious bias. By keeping up with training and education, businesses can help build understanding and signal to current and prospective employees a dedication to learning. Ultimately, when employees feel supported through initiatives like training, they are more innovative and more likely to feel connected to the organization's ethos.
• Remain consistent. Maintaining a steady commitment to core DEI principles amid the outside noise of varying perspectives and changing political landscapes reflects a commitment to DEI and employee advocacy.
• Transparency. Owning up when things go wrong and publicly outlining goals to be held accountable demonstrates true commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.

 Rosa Heaton is a content manager for the Learning Content group at Informa TechTarget.