Hi.
I'm Jaboukie Young-White,
the Daily Show's senior Rust Belt correspondent.
J.K. I'm gay.
And so is Pittsburgh.
-♪ ♪ -It's Pride Month,
and Equality March is the original Pittsburgh pride.
It has bikers, pups,
pups, furries,
queens, twunks,
drunks, cops,
bears, and fish creatures.
But there's one group that not everyone is happy about.
A lot of corporations are capitalizing off pride
and off LGBTQIA, plus, like, merch.
I don't know. They're just making a lot of money off this.
-It's kind of bullshit. -That's what the "Q" in "LGBTQIA"
stands for, "qorporations."
-Okay. -Yeah.
But, surely, discriminating against
our pride-loving corporations can't be the answer.
Pittsburgh Pride Equality March is for everybody.
It doesn't matter who you are,
where you work, or who you love.
And just so you know, we love corporations.
Viacom, you're great.
Keep doing what you do.
We're really big fans here at The Daily Show, Viacom.
Mwah. Love you.
So the answer is, obviously,
to hug these corporations close.
And corporations are hugging right back.
Google, KPMG, Aetna,
Lyft, not Chick-fil-A,
and here comes the true slay queen,
Walmart.
-(cheering) -♪ ♪
Is Walmart gay?
Walmart does take pride in their gay associates.
As a company, I don't think you can label a company
with a sexual orientation.
Walmart seems like a top to me.
-I-I would-- I would agree with that. -Yeah.
I think it's amazing that so many people could come out
and just live their truth as a marketable demographic.
For sure. And they've really made it, like,
a safe place for everybody, I think.
-For us, too, so... -Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%.
It's like, "Here I am. I'm queer!
-I have a debit card!" -Yeah. Everyone's gay as hell now.
-That's what... -And gays love money, bitch.
-Right. Right. -You know that, so...
So queer capitalism is totally chill?
Actually, there is a specific issue
with corporate sponsorship in Pittsburgh,
and it involves the F-word.
No, not that.
Fracking.
There's a lot of corporations that are seemingly buying.
Last year, this march was called the EQT Equality March.
"EQT" doesn't stand for "equality."
It stands for they're a fracking company.
Do you think that it's appropriate
that a fracking company is a sponsor for Pittsburgh Pride?
Lol. Um, I think that it is completely inappropriate
that a fracking company is a sponsor for anything.
EQT doesn't just shoot hot liquid
deep into holes in the ground.
They also swing both ways
by supporting pride and various anti-gay politicians.
So what are people supposed to do,
have a separate pride without corporate sponsors?
Some say, "Frack yes."
This pride event represents, uh, the people,
um, non-corporational pride,
something that centers, uh,
our TLGBTQ communities of Pittsburgh.
Do you think corporations can be gay people?
No, corporations cannot be gay people.
The People's Pride is non-corporate,
has more color in its rainbow,
and I found someone who can keep up with my moves.
But are they turning their back on progress?
Don't you think it's beautiful that queer people
have been able to come out and live their truth
as a marketable, capitalizing demographic?
-No. (chuckles) -No?
I think it would be beautiful if those actions were genuine.
They want to be a part of what's trending right now.
And, right now, being gay is trendy, you know?
Pose is out, and there are lots of gay celebrities now.
-Could you name a couple, by any chance? -Yeah.
-If there's any... -So, off the top of my head right now,
-Big Freedia, uh, there's Dashaun Wesley -Okay.
-and Leiomy Maldonado... (chuckles) -Okay. All right.
They don't even want my brand?
This is where I draw the line.
There has to be some way for corporations like EQT
to prove that they're really committed
and not just experimenting.
Like, maybe they just need to show
that they're really about queer subculture
in, like, a more inventive, creative way.
-So... -I'm afraid where you're going with this.
I thought that maybe this could really get across
the message of what EQT stands for.
It's, like, drilling but also...
-It's a little fast. -...with a-- with a...
Could you slow it down j-- (chuckles): Oh.
Eh, maybe that.
That's right.
Progress takes time.
50 years ago,
corporations wouldn't touch the gay community.
And now they can't wait to show their love in public.
And what better way to reciprocate that love
than with the EQT Vary-Speed Deep-Fracking Drill-do?
Brought to you by EQT.
(cheering and applause)