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Pride Month is Nintendo's Shameful Secret

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P-Tux7

P-Tux7

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Mar 11, 2019
1,344
Thread making privileges suspended: Cavalier approach to sensitive thread creation
As a preface, forgive me for not saying this during June. I thought Nintendo had put this on their Twitter, but they haven't and I'm here to set the record straight.

So everyone remembers about two months ago when some Nintendo of America employees went to a pride parade in Seattle, right? They were even holding a Nintendo banner - surely this meant a bold new era for Nintendo in celebrating this wonderful month of remembering how people should unapologetically be themselves!

Article - Nintendo Takes Part in the Seattle Pride Parade 2019



However, something I noticed. I can't link this because there's no way for me to link a whole month of tweets, but just check for yourself. Do you see any tweet by @NintendoAmerica mentioning this parade, or Pride Month in general?

It's not like the Nintendo Twitter accounts shy away from celebrating other holidays - there's been several tweets this June about Father's Day, such as this one:


So what am I saying?
I'm saying that, if I'm assembling these puzzle pieces together, that Nintendo is ashamed of being a Proud company.
They don't want people to look on their Twitter and see them openly celebrating Pride Month.
This pride parade is almost a smokescreen - Nintendo wants to be seen as Proud by a small niche of people who Pride Month affects (the LGBT community), but they won't openly and Proudly admit on their main social media pages that they support the LGBT acceptance movement.

If I'm right, this is a dirty, duplicitous move. Shame on you, Nintendo. You cowardly refused to be known across the internet and world as the company that supported the LGBT community. You thought that this parade would satisfy us, but you refused to honestly tell people that you were in it. You said "I do not know the queer!"

I think I'll add in a few Bible verses that show exactly how since Nintendo has denied us inside the Internet, we should deny them inside our hearts.

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
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OldLogos

OldLogos

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Oct 27, 2017
64
I wouldn't go so far as to say their afraid of being a proud company. Their position is like a lot of companies - adjacent and limited engagement.
 
Xbudz

Xbudz

Member
Oct 27, 2017
160
As a gay male, I can't say this bothers me in the slightest. Seems like you're digging for something to be outraged about.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
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Oct 17, 2018
44,176
Companies only care about pride month insofar as they can capitalize on consumers for it.
 
Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,378
P-Tux7 said:
If I'm right, this is a dirty, duplicitous move. Shame on you, Nintendo. You cowardly refused to be known across the internet and world as the company that supported the LGBT community. You thought that this parade would satisfy us, but you refused to honestly tell people that you were in it. You said "I do not know the queer!"

I think I'll add in a few Bible verses that show exactly how since Nintendo has denied us inside the Internet, we should deny them inside our hearts.
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This kind of thing just reads like some kind of agenda. Totally takes away from the point you were trying to make.
 
Roo

Roo

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Oct 25, 2017
1,049
Just for comparison's sake.. what PlayStation/Xbox twitter accounts say/did for Pride Month?
 
jediyoshi

jediyoshi

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Oct 25, 2017
5,126
I see tons of people complaining about companies participating in Pride month because it's an empty gesture, so this is a great counterpoint to show.. hmm.
 
kirbyfan407

kirbyfan407

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Oct 25, 2017
2,114
I sort of compare Disney and Nintendo often, as I think they target the same demographics in a lot of ways and I think hold similar meanings to people. I also see overlap in the fans. As far as I know, Disney did not tweet about Pride Month either, though I'm sure they have internal LGBT groups, they celebrate being rated highly as an LGBT-friendly company, they have many LGBT employees, they increasingly include LGBT content in their products, etc. This only provides context, however, and not a justification. Perhaps we should expect both Disney and Nintendo to tweet about it.

My personal opinion is that I'm indifferent. I'm more invested in seeing LGBT content in their games than on their social media channels. As long as the company is supporting its queer employees, I don't mind if they don't tweet about it. There are other historical months that I would like Nintendo to tweet about as well if they were to start being active in that way.

But I also don't put much significance on Nintendo letting its employees march in the Seattle Pride Parade. It's a pretty minimal thing in my book, given how Seattle Pride Parade is. So I guess I don't feel like there's any deception going on.
 
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higemaru

higemaru

Member
Nov 30, 2017
4,104
companies that do pride month celebrations only do so to up their sales and couldn't give less of a shit about the rights of the people they're celebrating. Marching in a parade is more legitimate than a tweet.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

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Oct 27, 2017
11,579
Why is a tweet the sole determining factor here? It's not exactly a secret that Nintendo had a presence at the pride march.
 
Coen

Coen

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Oct 25, 2017
721
Antwerp, Belgium
Mekanos said:
Companies only care about pride month insofar as they can capitalize on consumers for it.
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I really can't stand these types of replies. Companies consist of people. People care about these issues. Therefore, companies care issues. Sure, companies benefit from the positive PR generated by a Pride, but claiming that that's all there is to it, is disrectful to the employees.
 
MrConbon210

MrConbon210

Member
Oct 31, 2017
7,649
kirbyfan407 said:
I sort of compare Disney and Nintendo often, as I think they target the same demographics in a lot of ways and I think hold similar meanings to people. I also see overlap in the fans. As far as I know, Disney did not tweet about Pride Month either, though I'm sure they have internal LGBT groups, they celebrate being rated highly as an LGBT-friendly company, they have many LGBT employees, etc. This only provides context, however, and not a justification. Perhaps we should expect both Disney and Nintendo to tweet about it.
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I would agree that I see Nintendo and Disney in the same light however Disney is not afraid to push LGBT topics. At Disney World they have pride ears, pins, shirts, lanyards, etc. Disney officially calls them, "the rainbow collection" but it's pretty obvious it's LGBT pride related since they release all of it in June.

Disneyland Paris actually had a Pride Night private event last year with a pride parade, meet and greets with characters in Pride attire, and decorating the Tower of Terror in rainbow lights.
 
enzo_gt

enzo_gt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,299
Something about publicly displaying a banner at a parade expressing your support.. yet somehow simultaneously being "ashamed" of it seems incompatible to me. It sounds like shades of "if you don't constantly post pictures with me online and tag me in all of them, are we really friends/going out?"

I'm not LGBTQ+, but this kind of allyship that isn't draped in a multimedia marketing campaign is kind of refreshing too. Any support is good support IMO, at least I can't tell what the threshold for supporting but not being embarrassed about it is.. or what you're really getting at, OP. I also slightly feel like this is a troll thread but I'm not sure.

mescalineeyes said:
Nintendo is an aggressively apolitical company.
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Also, this. I'm not discounting the possibility that the employees took it upon themselves and it wasn't an officially organized thing.
 
Lady Gaia

Lady Gaia

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Oct 27, 2017
2,479
Seattle
mescalineeyes said:
I mean this sucks, but I wouldn't personally read too much into it. Nintendo is an aggressively apolitical company.
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Framing civil rights for LGBT folks as "political" is a huge part of the problem. It makes it sound like a simple difference of opinion, when in any other context that would be incredibly insulting. Is letting women drive a legitimate political issue? Is denying housing based on race something politicians should decide? The answer in each case should be a resounding NO, these are fundamental human rights in our society. The answer should be no different for celebrating love between consenting adults regardless of gender, and respecting the gender identity asserted by an individual over some arbitrary decision at birth.

Companies that continue to pander to oppressors by accepting theirs as a worthy perspective are complicit in the culture of hate. Inaction is a choice, of course, but it's subject to scrutiny and criticism like any other.
 
Gundam

Gundam

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,801
Historically, Nintendo is the worst of the big 3 in regards to LGBTQ representation in general, whether it be in their products or on their social media pages.

It's a shame, and I hope they get better, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd fight harder for in-game stuff than things like this.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

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Oct 17, 2018
44,176
Coen said:
I really can't stand these types of replies. Companies consist of people. People care about these issues. Therefore, companies care issues. Sure, companies benefit from the positive PR generated by a Pride, but claiming that that's all there is to it, is disrectful to the employees.
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Companies aren't people. Nintendo's actions speak louder than the words of a few employees.

Lady Gaia said:
Framing civil rights for LGBT folks as "political" is a huge part of the problem. It makes it sound like a simple difference of opinion, when in any other context that would be incredibly insulting. Is letting women drive a legitimate political issue? Is denying housing based on race something politicians should decide? The answer in each case should be a resounding NO, these are fundamental human rights in our society. The answer should be no different for celebrating love between consenting adults regardless of gender, and respecting the gender identity asserted by an individual over some arbitrary decision at birth.

Companies that continue to pander to oppressors by accepting theirs as a worthy perspective are complicit in the culture of hate. Inaction is a choice, of course, but it's subject to scrutiny and criticism like any other.
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I would argue the vast majority of politics is composed of liberating people who do not have fundamental human rights.
 
Instro

Instro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,018
Up front I would guess that their presence in the parade was employee motivated/lead, rather than an official company initiative, so that's probably the reason for the apparent dichotomy. Regardless, their lack of acknowledgement/celebration on the main account is rather sad, particularly considering how good Sony is about it.
 
Swiggins

Swiggins

was promised a tag
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Apr 10, 2018
11,452
Arthands said:
outrage culture is really getting out of hand
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This is kinda a reach tho...
 
HardRojo

HardRojo

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
26,133
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So I did a quick check and PlayStation did post on Twitter about the parade. Did Nintendo seriously not post shit at all? Like AT ALL? For real? Damn...
 
MrConbon210

MrConbon210

Member
Oct 31, 2017
7,649
Lady Gaia said:
Framing civil rights for LGBT folks as "political" is a huge part of the problem. It makes it sound like a simple difference of opinion, when in any other context that would be incredibly insulting. Is letting women drive a legitimate political issue? Is denying housing based on race something politicians should decide? The answer in each case should be a resounding NO, these are fundamental human rights in our society. The answer should be no different for celebrating love between consenting adults regardless of gender, and respecting the gender identity asserted by an individual over some arbitrary decision at birth.

Companies that continue to pander to oppressors by accepting theirs as a worthy perspective are complicit in the culture of hate. Inaction is a choice, of course, but it's subject to scrutiny and criticism like any other.
Click to expand...
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I mean yes LGBT should have the same rights as everyone. I'm a gay guy myself. But it is most definitely a political issue and that's not something that will be changing soon. Nobody is arguing women shouldn't vote but that was a huge political issue in the early 1900's.
 
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