The meanings of lesbian and gay pride day - Resistance through consumptionand resistance to consumption

Lesbian and Gay Pride Day (LGPD) is investigated as a collective ritual of consumer resistance. Over the period of four years, five LGPD festivals wer e attended and participant observed. Furthermore, to provide a more in-dept h perspective on the meanings of this celebration for consumers, forty-four gay men were interviewed about the festival. Emergent findings reveal the festival as a carnivalesque celebration of excess, a construction of authen ticity, and a contested commercialized experience. Overall, we interpret LG PD as a complex, multilayered form of consumption-related cultural resistan ce that raises awareness of social injustice and discursively informs socia l meanings in everyday life outside the festival.