This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is facing controversy as a conservative group is calling for a boycott over the event’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ performers.
Earlier this month, conservative group One Million Moms launched a petition calling for a boycott of the parade over its opposition to the event’s inclusion of two non-binary performers.
“Justin David Sullivan, who personally identifies as non-binary, will be featured in the & Juliet parade performance. On stage in the musical, Sullivan plays the role of “May,” a non-binary friend of Juliet,” One Million Moms said in a statement. “Alex Newell, a biological male who also identifies as non-binary, won a Tony Award this year for his starring performance in Shucked, playing the female role of Lulu.”
“Shame on Macy’s for promoting and sponsoring this type of entertainment.”
Yana Paskova/Getty Images
The petition, which has received over 39,000 signatures as of Tuesday, comes as many conservatives have continued to criticize members of the LGBTQ+ community. Several have disagreed with the inclusion of transgender women participating in female sports, while some Republican-led states have sought to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors.
Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch faced a widespread boycott earlier this year after they decided to partner with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer and activist.
This is also not the first time the parade has been targeted. In 2018, Linda Harvey, creator of the Mission America conservative organization, called for a boycott after two females kissed on TV during the parade.
Scott Galloway, marketing professor at New York University Stern School of Business, told Newsweek on Tuesday: “This is an opportunity for Macy’s to say to the world, ‘Please, judge us by our enemies. We will not be bullied into in any form or employee discrimination. See you at the parade.'”
A spokesperson for the Macy’s parade told The New York Times that the company plans to hold the event and declined comment on the One Million Moms petition. Newsweek reached out to the Macy’s parade via email for further comment.
New York discrimination attorney Andrew Lieb told Newsweek that the U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled in favor of laws that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and said, “Macy’s should respond that they follow the law as one of the largest employers in our country. One Million Moms is free to boycott the parade and my guess is that their hate isn’t wanted in a celebration of love anyway.”
“That said, it’s sad when someone is triggered by someone else’s existence when that someone else is doing absolutely nothing to them. It raises the question as to whether we should have empathy for the One Million Moms folks behind this boycott push because their struggle in staying gender conforming must be real,” Lieb told Newsweek.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Sarah Wilson is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
