As people celebrate Pride Month in June, the proliferation of Pride flags and rainbows cropping up at corporate businesses can be a bit of an inner-community joke among LGBTQ+ folks. The big question being, of course, how much is this company or mega-corporation actually helping LGBTQ+ folks with their dollars? Is their workplace actually queer-inclusive? That said, when small businesses make an effort, that tends to be heartwarming on another level. For one bakery in Lufkin, Texas, called Confections, however, its initial Pride offering of rainbow cookies was met with some very disappointing backlash.

On June 2, Confections shared to social media that it had “lost a significant amount” of followers after sharing an image of heart-shaped cookies with rainbow icing on social media. The post included the text: “Happy Pride to all of our LGBTQ friends! All lovers of cookies and happiness are welcome here.” Far from a controversial rallying cry, and yet, according to the bakery, people not only unfollowed but someone actually sent a “hateful message” canceling a large cookie order. The good news? In response to the backlash, people are really showing up to support the bakery, as reported by The Guardian.

The bakery is run by its co-owners, sisters named Dawn and Miranda. Within a day of the happy Pride post, a status came sharing the disappointing backlash from customers. “My heart is heavy,” a June 3 status from the bakery reads on Facebook. “Honestly I never thought a post that literally said more love less hate would result in this kind of backlash to a very small business that is struggling to stay afloat and spread a little cheer through baked goods.”

“We lost a significant amount of followers because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted,” the status reads. “We received a very hateful message on our business page canceling a large order (5dz) of summer themed cookies for tomorrow morning (that we just finished decorating) because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted.” Canceling orders is, of course, always a blow to small businesses, but especially so during the pandemic, when places are struggling to stay open.

The bakery quickly got attention on Twitter, with people both horrified at queerphobia and eager to support the independent east Texas business.

This photo shows a line out the door of people waiting to get in and support the bakery.

Come Friday and Saturday, though, the bakery actually sold out two days in a row. According to co-owner Miranda Dolfer, customers offered to donate funds instead of buying baked goods, as none were left. According to an Instagram post, $600 so far will go toward Blue Collar Mutts Rescue, a local animal rescue. The bakery also plans to send cookie donations to nursing homes and charities.

In the big picture, LGBTQ+ folks face a number of barriers, discriminations, and violence year-round. Sadly, this does include Pride Month. Just look at the number of anti-trans bills pushed on the state level in the past few months alone. One such bill has already been signed into law, courtesy of Republican governor Ron DeSantis, this June alone. Support for the LGBTQ+ community must come from all sides—including local, state, and federal governments because protections shouldn’t vary based on where you live or how much privilege or power you have. 

Want to support LGBTQ+ folks during Pride? Here are five ways you can support transgender loved ones, a basic guide on how to use gender-neutral they/them pronouns, and a round-up of free mental health and suicide prevention resources. You can also check out some recent author Q&A profiles done here at Daily Kos, where openly LGBTQ+ writers discuss their books, living in a red state as a queer person, and writing amid the pandemic.

How are you celebrating Pride this year? Feel free to share in the comments!