Shoe brand UGG has partnered with LGBTQ activist Alok Vaid-Menon for Pride Month.
“We collaborated with our creative partner (and creative genius) to co-create an expressive collection with and for the LGBTQ+ community,” UGG’s website reads.
The website for Pride materials includes models from the LGBTQ community.
“We are here today to talk about my UGG Pride collaboration. We live in a world that often has taught us that we can only belong if we minimize ourselves. But I love being queer. I love having a body. I love being alive. You get to be different and you still get to belong. My hope is that Pride can be experienced by everyone, everywhere, everyday,” Vaid-Menon said in a video posted on UGG’s website.
Vaid-Menon has come under fire in the past over comments referring to “little girls” as “kinky.”
“There are no fairy tales and princesses here. Little girls are also queer, trans, kinky, deviant, kind, mean, beautiful, ugly, tremendous, and peculiar. Your kids aren’t as straight and narrow as you think they are,” Vaid-Menon wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post, reported Reduxx.
However, Vaid-Melon subsequently accused people of misrepresenting the substance and context of the post, claiming that they did not write the sentiment themself.
“These forces have misattributed a 2016 Facebook status about girlhood to me that I did not write. These words, ideas, and life experiences are not mine. This status — an analysis of a film I haven’t seen — was written by a former colleague who was born female. The author states this in the text (‘I have been a cute little girl’). This has been glossed over and erased in order to demonize and discredit me,” Alok wrote on their blog, Newsweek reported.
Vaid-Menon was also criticized when an Indian bridal magazine made them the cover model for its digital publication.
“I wish I could post an image of myself online without being inundated with hate mail. I wish I could be seen as a human being … But I’m not going to wait for that future, I’m going to build it now, here, with the people who are ready for love,” Vaid-Menon said, according to the New York Post.
Vaid-Menon is also the author of the book Beyond the Gender Binary, which challenges gender roles and their binary structure.
UGG’s decision to partner with Vaid-Menon was met with backlash from some corners.
“We officially have the Bud Light of 2024. UGG just partnered [with] Alok Vaid-Menon for Pride Month 2024,” End Wokeness posted on X.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Bud Light was criticized for partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The controversy led to significant declines in Bud Light sales.
“The new face of UGG #BoycottUGG,” Libs of TikTok wrote on X.
Despite the backlash, some argue that such partnerships are about acceptance and protecting the LGBTQ community from discrimination.
“When brands authentically embrace diversity, they’re not just advertising; they’re creating bonds that truly matter. It’s like saying, “Hey, you belong here, just as you are,” and that feeling is pretty special,” wrote Buzz Dealer CEO Uri Samet, the co-founder of an LGBTQ ad agency, per Forbes.
