People are waking up to the cynical way big business grandstands on “social justice”

Big business grandstands on “social justice” when there’s a buck to be made – but the cowardice kicks in when it actually matters.

Rainbow flags are flying high in June to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community but the “rainbow-washing” won’t clear the stench of hypocrisy from the likes of the AFL.

Pride Month has seen some truly vapid virtue signalling from the corporate world, from Burger King’s Pride Whopper to Mercedes-Benz’s selective activism that conveniently bypasses regions where the LGBT community face genuine discrimination. The car giant is happy to add a LGBT rainbow to its famous three-pointed star symbol in countries where people enjoy equal rights; its official social media accounts in the UK and US were altered for Pride but not Mercedes’ official Middle East Twitter account.

Of course that’s precisely where such activism would be useful, given the persecution many face under sharia law with a number of Muslim-majority countries even carrying the death penalty for homosexuality.

Not to be outdone, the US military beclowned itself with the elite Marine Corps posting an image of a combat helmet bejewelled with rainbow-coloured bullets. It was so idiotically tone-deaf that the gesture was attacked by all sides. Responses included: “China is laughing at us,” and “if the Afghanistan pullout was a tweet, this would be it,” and “it’s so much more progressive and empowering to be shot by rainbow bullets.” Others noted that veterans were honoured with just a day while the LGBTQIA+ community had a whole month.

Sporting organisations outdo all others in their hypocrisy around Pride Month. Picture: AFP

More and more people are waking up to the cynical manner in which big business grandstands on “social justice” issues when there’s a buck to be made – but the cowardice kicks in when it actually matters.

You won’t find Nike, Apple or Disney making a statement about human rights abuses in China where the Communist Party is currently committing ethnic genocide against the Uighurs but they are very loud and proud when it comes to supposed systematic racism in the West.

Locally, we’ve seen ANZ announce during Pride Month that they will provide six weeks of paid leave for staff seeking gender affirmation whether they are undergoing a medical transition or just a social or legal change. Six weeks leave to change your birth certificate or adopt new pronouns seems excessive but who am I to argue with the country’s wokest bank?

The Swans running through a Pride Game banner. Picture. Phil Hillyard

When it comes to pure hypocrisy, it is hard to go past sporting organisations both here and overseas. FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, is flying the rainbow flag at its Zurich headquarters and put out possibly the most absurd statement ever released: “Pride Month during June is a celebration for the LGBTQIA+ community … FIFA is working to ensure the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, will be a celebration of unity and diversity. #Pride2022”

Now, consider the sheer lunacy of that statement given FIFA opted to hold their biggest event in a country where homosexuality is illegal. Talk about an own goal.

Only last month a number of Qatar hotels said they will deny accommodation to same-sex couples. And local officials have confirmed any rainbow flag will be confiscated in the interests of safety.

The AFL is also guilty of massive hypocrisy despite its endless moral preening. The Sydney Swans will host the Pride game later this month against St Kilda and on their website they brag about how the event celebrates “diversity and inclusion” and “is also an opportunity to listen, learn and highlight stories from the LGBTIQA+ community.” But the Swans also proudly trumpet Qatar Airways as a “premium partner” and the “club’s official international airline partner”.

So, while the AFL club boasts about inclusion it maintains a corporate deal with the state-owned airline of a country where homosexuality carries a three-year prison term and in some cases the death penalty.

Our ‘justice’ system prioritises interests of offenders over victims

THE Victorian justice system is one in name only. There are too many cases of the system prioritising the interests of violent offenders over what’s best for victims and the wider community.

This week a Victorian judge gave a paedophile guilty of horrific abuse a reduced jail term due to concerns over Covid-19. Trevor Dunmall was found guilty of abusing young children including two counts of sexually penetrating a person aged under 12. But he’ll walk free from jail sooner than he should because he is a diabetic and at greater risk of having an adverse reaction to a Covid-19 infection.

Read the full column here.