We Won’t Sell You a Fake Rainbow: What We’re Doing About Pride in 2026
Every June, it happens like clockwork.
Suddenly, the rainbow products appear. Logos change colour. Big brands release limited-edition collections wrapped in slogans about love and inclusion. Store shelves start to look like a bag of Skittles exploded in the seasonal section.
And we think a lot of queer and trans people are feeling the same thing this year:
Tired.
Not because visibility is bad. Not because celebration is bad. But because the gap between rainbow branding and real support is even more impossible to ignore than ever.
Across North America, queer and trans people are facing growing attacks on healthcare access, education, public life, and basic safety. Many people in our community are exhausted, scared, and burnt out from having to constantly defend their right to exist while watching political debates turn their lives into headlines.
Consistently, queer and trans communities are treated like a marketing demographic instead of people who need real protection, support, and investment. Companies show up in June draped in rainbows, but disappear the moment our rights become politically inconvenient. Turns out, a lot of “allyship” only lasts as long as it’s profitable.
Origami Customs Stands Behind Boycotting Corporate Pride Celebrations
For the last couple of years, Origami Customs has decided to boycott corporate Pride events in Montreal. Not because we don’t believe visibility matters, and not because every company involved is automatically acting in bad faith, but because we’ve increasingly felt the disconnect between what Pride was created for and what many large-scale festivals have become.
Montreal has a long history of queer resistance, from the Truxx raids in 1977 to the protests following the police assault on Sex Garage in 1990. And in 2026, that fight is still ongoing. Against anti-trans organizing. Against rising fascism. Against legislation targeting our communities. Against the pinkwashing of violence and oppression under the banner of “inclusion.”
We stand with organizers who are choosing to build something different. Something not funded by corporations complicit in harm, occupation, pipelines, or performative allyship. Something rooted instead in accountability, mutual aid, accessibility, and community care.
At Origami Customs, we don’t want to sell you a fake rainbow. We want to help people survive this moment.
That means focusing on tangible support. Mutual aid. Education. Free community programs. Gender-affirming care that remains accessible to people who need it most. Because queer and trans people deserve more than seasonal marketing campaigns. We deserve a community that shows up year-round.
The Reality Queer People Are Living Through Right Now
Part of why Pride feels so different right now is obviously because the political climate surrounding queer and trans people, especially in the United States, has become impossible to separate from everyday life.
These aren’t abstract policy debates happening somewhere far away. They are decisions that affect whether people can access healthcare, whether young people feel safe at school, whether families are forced to move across state lines to continue receiving gender-affirming care, and whether queer and trans people can exist safely in public at all.
At the time of writing this, there are hundreds of anti-trans bills being introduced and debated across the U.S. In fact, 778 anti-trans bills are currently under consideration in 2026 alone. More than half of trans youth in the United States now live in states with active anti-trans restrictions impacting healthcare, education, sports, bathrooms, or legal recognition. And even for those not directly targeted by legislation, the emotional toll is enormous.
According to The Trevor Project, 90% of LGBTQIA+ youth say that recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws and political debates have negatively impacted their well-being, causing stress, anxiety, or fear. More than half of trans and nonbinary youth say these political attacks have directly harmed their mental health. At the same time, 44% of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted access to mental health support were unable to get it.
Because when politicians and media outlets spend years framing your existence as controversial, dangerous, or up for debate, it changes how safe you feel walking through the world. It impacts housing. Employment. Healthcare access. School environments. Family relationships. Community safety. Survival.
And while all of this is happening, many massive corporations that actively back politicians who pass these laws are still asking queer and trans people to buy limited-edition Pride merchandise from them. Only for the rainbow marketing campaigns to quickly disappear on July 1st.
So we say, FUCK THAT. People don’t need rainbow capitalism right now. We need tangible support.
We need community care. Access to affirming healthcare. Housing support. Mutual aid. Safe spaces. Education. Protection. Resources that exist beyond branding exercises and performative allyship. This isn’t a culture war being watched from a distance. It’s literally our lives on the line.
So, How Do You Actively Help Queer and Trans People During Pride?
If Pride began as a protest and a survival movement, then mutual aid has always been part of its DNA.
Long before corporations discovered rainbow branding, queer and trans communities were already finding ways to keep each other alive. Sharing resources, raising money for emergency housing, trading clothes and care information, and driving each other to appointments. Teaching each other how to survive systems that were never built with us in mind. That’s still where some of the most meaningful support is happening today.
Not in rainbow storefronts or seasonal ad campaigns, but in the quieter acts of community care happening every single day behind the scenes.
Because the reality is: community care has always filled the gaps left behind by governments, institutions, and corporations. That’s why we keep coming back to mutual aid. Not because it’s trendy language, but because it’s one of the oldest and most effective survival tools queer and trans people have ever had.
We’ve already put together extensive lists of community resources available in the USA and Canada. If you need support, OR you want someone to donate to, you can find those here:
The Giant List of 2SLGBTQIA+ Support Resources in the UNITED STATES
The Giant List of 2SLGBTQIA+ Support Resources in CANADA
But we also wanted to highlight some amazing mutual aid resources that we’ve seen happening this year.
Incredible Mutual Aid Programs For LGBTQIA+ Individuals
The GSA Network
The GSA Network is a youth-led organization helping queer and trans students build safer, more supportive schools and communities across the United States. Through student-led GSAs (Gender & Sexuality Alliances), leadership training, advocacy programs, and grassroots organizing, they empower LGBTQIA+ youth to fight for real change inside their schools and beyond.
What we especially love about their work is that they don’t just approach queer and trans youth as people who need protection, but as powerful community leaders already shaping the future. Their work focuses heavily on racial and gender justice, supporting young people navigating discrimination, anti-trans legislation, unsafe school environments, and barriers to care.
At a time when queer and trans youth are increasingly being politicized and targeted, organizations like GSA Network are creating something incredibly important: spaces where young people can find community, resources, support, and the tools to advocate for themselves and each other.
Youth Empowerment Performance Project (YEPP)
YEPP is a Chicago-based organization creating radically affirming support systems for LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Through community care, arts programming, mutual aid, leadership development, and trauma-informed support, they help young queer and trans people access not just survival resources, but spaces where they can heal, create, and build community.
What we especially appreciate about YEPP’s work is that it recognizes something many systems fail to understand: housing insecurity doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s deeply connected to family rejection, transphobia, racism, poverty, mental health struggles, and barriers to affirming care. Instead of treating queer and trans youth as problems to “fix,” YEPP approaches them as whole people deserving of safety, dignity, creativity, leadership opportunities, and long-term support.
Their programs include everything from community meals, clothing support, showers, and resource advocacy to healing-centered arts programs, performance spaces, mentorship, and mutual aid distribution through Chicago Youth Mutual Aid (CYMA). Their work is deeply rooted in harm reduction, restorative justice, transformative justice, and collective care.
At a time when queer and trans youth homelessness continues to rise, organizations like YEPP are doing the kind of work that actually changes lives: building spaces where young people can access support, process trauma, find community, and imagine a future for themselves beyond survival.
The Okra Project
The Okra Project is a Black trans-led mutual aid organization focused on supporting Black trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people across the United States through direct, tangible care. Their work centers around something that feels especially important right now: the understanding that survival itself is community work.
Originally founded to combat food insecurity by providing home-cooked meals made by Black trans chefs for Black trans people, The Okra Project has grown into a much larger network of support rooted in nourishment, safety, wellness, and mutual aid. Their programs include grocery support, rental assistance, rides and meals funds, mental health care access, and direct financial aid for Black trans community members navigating systemic barriers.
What we especially appreciate about The Okra Project is that their work doesn’t frame care as charity. It’s about solidarity. Their approach recognizes that food insecurity, housing instability, transportation access, mental health support, and personal safety are all deeply interconnected, especially for Black trans people who continue to face disproportionate levels of discrimination, poverty, and violence.
At a time when so many queer and trans people are being asked to survive increasingly hostile political and social environments, organizations like The Okra Project are doing the kind of work that actually keeps communities alive: direct support, mutual aid, and care that exists beyond performative allyship or temporary visibility.
Love Letters to Trans Texans
Love Letters to Trans Texans is a project created by the Transgender Education Network of Texas that collects messages of love, solidarity, artwork, and encouragement for trans people living in Texas during an increasingly hostile political climate. The idea is beautifully simple: reminding trans Texans that even through fear, political attacks, and isolation, there are still people around the world who care deeply about them.
Over the last few years, the project has gathered thousands of handwritten and digital letters from supporters across the U.S. and beyond. Some are drawings. Some are short notes. Some are deeply personal stories. But all of them serve the same purpose: creating moments of connection and care for people navigating an environment where anti-trans legislation and political rhetoric can make everyday life feel exhausting and unsafe.
What we especially love about this project is that it recognizes something really important: support doesn’t always have to be huge or institutional to matter. Sometimes care looks like someone taking ten minutes to remind another person that they are loved, valued, and not alone. Especially right now, when so many trans people are being politicized and targeted simply for existing, those reminders can carry enormous emotional weight.
The International Trans Fund
The International Trans Fund is a global trans-led funding organization focused on delivering resources directly to trans communities worldwide. Instead of treating trans people as passive recipients of charity, their work is rooted in the idea that trans communities already know what they need, and deserve the funding, autonomy, and decision-making power to build it themselves.
What makes their work especially important is their focus on supporting grassroots, trans-led organizations in regions that are often overlooked by larger funding systems. Through participatory grantmaking, trans activists and organizers are directly involved in deciding where funding goes, helping support community projects focused on healthcare access, housing support, legal advocacy, education, safety, cultural preservation, anti-violence organizing, and collective liberation.
The organizations they support span across dozens of countries and reflect an incredible range of lived experiences and community needs. Some focus on access to affirming healthcare. Others fight anti-trans violence, support unhoused trans people, preserve trans history, or advocate for legal recognition and human rights protections. What connects all of them is the understanding that lasting change happens when trans people are trusted to lead their own movements.
Donate here (funded by the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice)
Origami Customs Community Program
And of course, we have to mention our own, because we’re so proud of what we do!
Our Community Program exists for one simple reason: to get FREE gender-affirming garments to anyone who needs them. Through partnerships with more than 100 organizations across five continents, we help distribute thousands of free gender-affirming garments every year to trans and gender-diverse people facing financial, geographic, or safety barriers.
That includes our free binders and gaffs, all made ethically by our small queer and trans team in Montreal. The organizations we work with support people navigating homelessness, immigration barriers, racism, healthcare inaccessibility, family rejection, and other overlapping systems that make access to affirming products difficult or impossible.
Over the years, the program has grown far beyond just us. It’s become a massive network of mutual aid, community partnerships, and grassroots care involving organizations like Point of Pride, youth shelters, queer health centers, trans support groups, universities, and local community organizations around the world. Together, we’ve helped get affirming products into the hands of thousands of people in more than 160 countries.
Last Minute Add On: Pattie Gonia
We just found out yesterday that the corporation Patagonia is suing environmental activist and Drag Queen Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement over using “their name” (even though Patagonia is a place). This will not only cost the creator millions in legal fees to fight but will also destroy their ability to do their work.
Pattie Gonia is a drag climate activist using queer joy, performance, and community organizing to make the outdoors and environmental activism more inclusive for marginalized communities. Through drag performances in national parks, fundraising campaigns, storytelling, community initiatives, and activism, Pattie challenges the idea that outdoor culture only belongs to white, cis dudes. Their work creates needed visibility and belonging for queer people in conversations they’ve historically been excluded from.
Pattie Gonia has raised over 4.7 million dollars for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and environmental non-profits and has consistently used visibility to advocate for inclusion, accessibility, and climate action. What makes this lawsuit especially painful is the contradiction at the center of it: a queer climate activist whose work aligns deeply with environmental advocacy now being threatened by one of the world’s most recognizable “ethical” outdoor brands.
We’re not sure of the tangible ways we can support Pattie Gonia yet, other than making some noise about it and letting Patagonia know that we’re boycotting them. But we just wanted to put this incredible activist on your radar if you don’t know of them already!
Thanks For Being Here
If there’s one thing queer and trans communities have always known how to do, it’s take care of each other when nobody else will.
Long before corporations discovered Pride marketing, our communities were already building networks of survival. We were sharing resources, creating chosen families, and protecting each other. And despite everything happening right now, we still see that same care showing up everywhere.
We see it in mutual aid organizers running community funds with almost no resources themselves. In grassroots groups helping people access gender-affirming care, housing, food, and affirming spaces. In queer and trans artists, educators, makers, and organizers who continue to create support systems even while facing instability and political attacks.
We believe in our capacity for collective action and the power we hold as a community.
So if you’re wondering how to meaningfully support queer and trans communities right now, (or if you need support) our answer is honestly pretty simple:
Support mutual aid programs. Donate directly to grassroots organizations when you can. Share community resources. Volunteer. Support queer and trans creators year-round instead of only during Pride Month. Boycott crap companies. Check in on your people. Help make affirming care more accessible, however you’re able.
Because at the end of the day, people don’t need another fucking rainbow water bottle.
We need each other.
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