Since 1999, June has served as National Pride Month in the United States, and to celebrate this year, Lucasfilm has unveiled a brand new rainbow logo to honor of the LGBTQ community.
The company, which is best known for producing the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises, changed all of their social media profile pictures to a brand new rainbow logo, drawing praise from many of its fans. As of writing, the image has received 18k likes on Facebook, as well as garnering 1,000 shares and nearly 2,000 comments. Many of these responses are from Star Wars fans that thanked the company for its progressive solidarity.
J.J. Abrams, director of 2015’s The Force Awakens and the upcoming Rise of Skywalker, has previously gone on the record to say he hopes to introduce an openly gay character into the franchise sooner rather than later:
“Of course! When I talk about inclusivity it’s not excluding gay characters. It’s about inclusivity. In fact, I would love it. To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”
Of course, as with everything on the Internet, the image has also angered some fans, who feel like politics and Star Wars shouldn’t mix—unless, for some reason, those politics are about trade blockades. Since Disney, which purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion, debuted its latest trilogy of the Skywalker saga, a vocal minority of fans have blasted the series for its inclusion and focus on female characters and people of color. These comments have divided the franchise’s fanbase, unfortunately turning it into a hotbed of criticism and toxicity.
June was first declared National Pride Month by Bill Clinton to honor the memory of Stonewall Riots that took place thirty years earlier, and many companies have introduced new pride-themed logos to show their support. While some feel this is capitalizing and exploiting the gay community to spread their brand, others believe it’s a welcome stance in solidarity.
In any case, Lucasfilm has a relatively busy slate coming up over the next few years. A brand new Indiana Jones movie is ramping production for a 2021 release date and before that, we’ve got the debut of the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, set to hit theaters on December 20th.
