It was a case of deja vu on social media as conservatives lashed out at a major brand collaborating with an LGBTQ+ person for Pride Month and called for its boycott. In March 2023, a months-long furor started when the beer brand hired transgender influencer to promote its March Madness campaign. It also sent Mulvaney some personalized, not-for-sale cans of Bud Light with her face on them to commemorate the first birthday of her gender transition journey.
This year people are unhappy that footwear brand UGG has teamed up with gender non-conforming comedian and actor, Alok Vaid-Menon, for its URSeen collection. The aim of the collaboration was to create footwear that reflects authentic style, and confidence in dressing for yourself. Alok, who uses they/them pronouns, also designed the limited edition URSeen dress after growing up in a small Texas town where it was not always safe to dress in gender non-conformist fashion.
"So much of my childhood was about hiding myself, having to cover up, disappear, to not draw attention to myself," they said in a statement on the UGG website. "My goal with this was really to create a garment that actually celebrated queer bodies." Alok also had a message for LGBTQ+ communities this Pride season and that was to "maintain their joy, despite and alongside everything.
" contacted UGG and Alok by email for comment. Despite announcing the new partnership in early May, conservatives caught wind of the campaign and complained about it on social media.
