Converse, the latest brand to jump on the LGBTQ marketing train, last week launched a new line of footwear labelled the ‘Pride Collection.’
The 24-billion dollar company announced on Twitter that they had partnered with six individuals connected to the LGBTQ+ community who “show the power of expressing one’s true self.”
We're happy to launch our Pride Collection, partnering with six individuals connected to the LGBTQ+ community who show the power of expressing one's true self. Contributions are supporting @ItGetsBetter @OutMetroWest & @FenwayHealth. https://t.co/N7VTHLhf98 pic.twitter.com/ip2GGhtCE9
— Converse (@Converse) May 6, 2019
The new line is designed to mark the 50 year anniversary since the Stonewall riots of 1969. “What started as a rebellious fight for equality has since grown into a loud, proud assertion of true self-expression,” the brand’s website states.
“Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride with a glitter-dipped collection of parade-worthy sneakers, including our first-ever trans flag design. Because equal rights are for everyone.”
One of the six individuals partnering with the Converse brand is 11-year-old drag kid, Desmond Napoles, also known as ‘Desmond Is Amazing’.
Desmond, who according to his parents is autistic and gay, first came into the spotlight in 2014 as the first widely recognised “drag kid”. Since then, Desmond has made headlines for his LGBTQ+ activism and controversial drag performances which were widely criticised as the sexual exploitation of a child.
Last year, Desmond performed on stage at a New York gay bar, as adult male patrons tossed money at him as if he were a male stripper.
“The Left is applauding the sexual abuse of this child,” Matt Walsh from the Daily Wire wrote. “This is why decent and rational people want nothing at all to do with Leftism. It openly promotes, advocates, and celebrates child sexual abuse.”
According to Life Site News, a patron at the bar said: “I left after seeing a child dance on stage for money at nighttime. This was on Saturday night and I have been feeling disturbed ever since.”
Last year Jordan B. Peterson criticised organisations that use Desmond to advance their branding: “If you don’t see that this child is being exploited then ideology has possessed you to the core,” Peterson said.
“In what moral universe is it acceptable to encourage an [11] year old boy to dress like an adult male mimicking a sexualized adult female, use that as a ticket to fame and then claim it as a virtue?”
The Converse website claims the brand is “committed to supporting movements for positive social change and amplifying youth voices as they spark progress to build the future they believe in.”
This is where the future is headed, according to Converse. This is the message they’re amplifying and the future society they’re attempting to build. So, the question is, is this the sort of society you would want your children living in?
Richard Baxter, an English Puritan from the 17th century, once said, “Parents! It is in your hands to do your children the greatest kindness, or cruelty, in all the world! Help them to know God and to be saved, and you do more for them than if you helped them to be lords or princes.”
Baxter’s contemporary, John Flavel an English Presbyterian minister, rightly warned: “If you neglect your children in the way of holiness, will the devil neglect to instruct them in the way of wickedness? No; if you will not teach them to pray, he will to curse, swear, and lie; if ground uncultivated, weeds will spring.”
Our children may be forced to live in a godless society, but we as parents can make sure the godless society does not live in them.
