In this Based Camp episode, Malcolm and Simone Collins break down the rapid decline in support for Pride events and LGBT causes. From NPR reporting on corporations pulling sponsorships to Gallup polls showing consistent drops in approval for same-sex marriage and especially gender transition, they explore why public opinion has shifted so dramatically.

They discuss cultural overreach, grooming concerns in schools, transgender issues and violence, the “groomer” label’s effectiveness, and why even many Democrats are turning away. The Collinses offer a nuanced conservative perspective: supporting gay rights as a private matter while rejecting enforcement on others, and arguing why keeping competent gay conservatives in the broader movement makes strategic sense.

Plus: family moments with Octavian, the evolution of Pride from fun to corporate/ugly, birth rates and political heritability, Don’t Say Gay bill realities, and a deep dive into the Bricks & Minifigs scandal.

Episode Transcript

Malcolm Collins: Hello, Simone. I’m excited to be here with you today. Today we are going to be talking about how corporations- Oh ... have stopped supporting sort of the wider gay and LGBT agenda, to the extent that NPR, NPR of all places, wrote an article titled, and I just have to show you the cover image on this article.

It’s hilarious.

Simone Collins: Okay.

Malcolm Collins: Pride celebrations struggle as corporate sponsorships dry up.

Simone Collins: Oh

Malcolm Collins: Oh, yeah, also, also

Simone Collins: in this And this coming at Pride Month when like... Yeah,

Malcolm Collins: sad ‘Cause it’s exactly who you expect.

Just like the image, the people in the image is like, oh my God, I wanna hate

Simone Collins: these people so much.

Oh, hold on, I’m looking. Oh, boy. No, if that’s what Pride is now, let’s just let it go. Sorry though, we loved the glasses. We loved the glasses, but we,

Malcolm Collins: you know. This is w- hold on, it’s not just that. This is the only other picture in the article, too.

Fat old women is, is what I guess Pride is now. Oh,

Simone Collins: no, [00:01:00] no.

It’s- No ...

Malcolm Collins: fat misshapen old women

Simone Collins: No. I will nev- the first time I ever came across, across a Pride parade, I was in Cape Cod I think it’s Provincetown, or Princetown? Provincetown. But yeah, in Cape Cod, and I didn’t, we didn’t know that there was a Pride parade. We were camping there I was camping there with a, a friend and her dad.

And then just on the main street of Provincetown just was this really cool parade, and the most beautiful women I had ever seen. And I was stunned and amazed, and I, I didn’t know why all these beauty queens were suddenly marching along this picturesque New England street. And it turns out they were just all drag queens, and that was it.

I loved, I loved it. I loved it all. I thought it was the best thing in the world. And what has it become now? I mean, like in the past 10 years it’s been like the Bank of America float, and then a bunch of like ugly people on it. Like that, what is that? Who made Pride ugly? Like, no, Pride was always hot.

Pride was always fun. Pride meant like f- [00:02:00] cool, fun, entertaining, sometimes salacious stuff, but often like more wholesome than anything else. I’m kind of glad that whatever Pride become is dying, and I think that’s kind of how everyone feels, which is why it’s plummeting in popularity.

Malcolm Collins: So we’re going to be talking about this, and the other thing we’re gonna be talking about is some recent statistics that came out that show a rapid reduction in the support of things like gay marriage across the United States.

A rapid reduction in... I mean, we’re not even, you know, talking about, like, broader trans stuff here, just, like, support for gay rights more generally in the United States. This is something that I personally find you know, is interesting for me to come to because historically I’ve always been pretty pro maintaining gay rights, even just as, like, a...

Well, most Republicans are for gay rights these days, and with the majority of Republicans being pro-gay rights, it doesn’t make sense to even, like, bring up a question of, like, should that be something that we’re against, gay marriage, for example. Now we’re at a stage [00:03:00] where it’s more reasonable to table the question.

And so that’s the other thing that we’ll be doing in this is tabling whether this should be, like, a, a, a voter issue for us or something that is worth pursuing, right? So we’ll get into that, but I wanna start with the NPR article ‘cause I thought this would be pretty fun for people.

Pittsburgh, PA Pride celebrations across the country continue to lo- lose out on large sponsorships as corporations, a key source of funding, shrink their affiliation with diversity causes and LGBTQ+ events. Corporate sponsorships of celebrations in several cities, including New York City, Salt Lake City, Louis- Louisville s- St.

Louis, Orlando, and Pittsburgh are down from previous years, organizers said. Jordan Baxton, co-president of the United St- States Association of Pride, which supports Pride celebrations nationwide, said that while some smaller Prides have seen growth in sponsorship, a majority have seen a reduction. She said [00:04:00] that the Trump administration dismantling of the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives has scared corporations away from sponsoring Pride celebrations.

I think that’s why some of the corporations have pulled back because they don’t want that government scrutiny. I don’t think that that’s it. I just think it’s, it’s a wider cultural thing. It doesn’t get you the same brownie points it used to get you, and now it can cost you. And we’re- I

Simone Collins: do feel like Trump’s second term gave people who were uncomfortable with it, but doing it because they felt they had to fit in, a license to express themselves more freely.

There was an impact.

Malcolm Collins: Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, it, the, the, it’s like the, the wind really changed. The culture really changed.

Simone Collins: Yeah, I mean, it’s not just about gay, gay pride or whatever, or, or just pride in general. It’s also people suddenly started using the word retarded. Like, things just changed in many ways.

Malcolm Collins: Yeah, there was actually a piece on us recently that was like, well, when we go to their older podcast, you know, they’ll be like, “Well, the red pill makes some points here, and the people against the red pill make some points here.” And it was like, and that was generally the way that we talked about things [00:05:00] historically.

They didn’t like that ‘cause they’re like, “Well, they’re airing the bad side and not explicitly saying that it’s bad and dangerous ideas.” When the, the truth is is what I always felt is the red pill is absolutely right and ve- putting forth valid complaints, right? Like, they may be wrong here, here, and here in how they’re going about it, but their complaints are overall valid.

And there was like a moment, and I, I think it sort of came for us not when Trump won the election, but when Trump really started campaigning and, like, this, this latest election started when I was just like, “N- no, I’m just gonna say this stuff going forward.” It’s like, why, why am I so, I think it was more that when we started saying it, what we realized is the stuff that got us canceled was never actually breaking the rules around the stuff we were saying.

It was, like, ancillary stuff that had nothing to do with anything. Fair

Simone Collins: enough. Yeah ...

Malcolm Collins: like the child slap incident is how we got canceled, right? Like, which anyone who’s spent time around us knows, like, we’re very physical with our [00:06:00] kids. We play fight all the time. So wha- what, what’s the first thing that happens if I, like, come into the room and Octavian’s there?

Simone Collins: He immediately attacks you.

Malcolm Collins: Yeah, yeah. Like, the way we interact with him is very rough and tumble. It’s just natural. Yeah,

Simone Collins: and by, by attacks, I mean, like, huge smile on his face, laughing and giggling. It, it’s violence is our love language.

Malcolm Collins: Yeah, I had to explain that to him. I’m like, “Well, you know, most people don’t love fighting.”

“But our people were known for loving fighting.”

Octavian Collins: The queen- Speak

Simone Collins: of the devil ...

Octavian Collins: dude, here’s this one. I got this one

Malcolm Collins: Where did you get an egg?

Simone Collins: The chicken coop. Where do you think he got an egg? He went to take care of the chi- Chickens do

Malcolm Collins: not break them, Octavian. Why, why are you getting eggs?

Simone Collins: Go, go go put them in the wooden one. By

Octavian Collins: the way, by the way, if they are clean, then that means they’re real.

Simone Collins: Yeah, ‘cause we have fake eggs.

Octavian Collins: The ones that are really dirty are not real.

Simone Collins: Yeah.

Malcolm Collins: This is kind of- no, I mean,...