By Sophie Englezos
Decline of Valentines day celebrants between 2007-25. (Graphic/Statista.com)
Overpriced candy boxes, booked out restaurants and students ridingLime electric scooters while balancing bouquets of flowers were among the most common sights to be seen in Boulder this last Friday. All these less-than-beautiful festivities really make me grateful that I am single and Valentine’s Day is just another day for me.
However, for the other 56% of consumers in the United States, this day is important. From chocolatiers to florists, both small and large-scale businesses are expected to contribute to the $27.5 billion in consumer sales on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytic.
While the retail value of the day of love has been rapidly increasing year by year, LGBTQ+ representation has remained scarce in the marketing surrounding the celebration.
Skylar Standen, a senior at the University of Colorado, Boulder who planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her girlfriend, expressed skepticism of the holiday for its heterocentrism.
“Me and my partner decided not to spend any money this year because we’re going against the commercialization,” she said. “All the commercials and like, all the advertisements, you just see, like, straight couples.”
The lack of LGBTQ+ media representation in Valentine’s Day cards, chocolate boxes and movies has been a consistent issue for the community and its advocates. According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s 2024 annual studio responsibility index, only 27.3% of films released in 2023 included LGBTQ+ characters.
While little data exists on LGBTQ+ representation in Valentine’s Day merchandise, the lack of inclusive options is clear while browsing the aisles in most stores.
Sonja Benton, Program Manager at the Pride Office in the Center for Inclusivity and Social Change at CU said, “I’m in a [polyamorous] relationship or a throuple. So, yeah, I would say most Valentine’s Day activities that are, like, organized don’t really work for the type of relationship that I’m in.”
Benton and their partners planned on staying in, cooking dinner, and watching Studio Ghibli movies which they felt portrayed characters’ relationships as, “different or kind of queer.”
Benton keeps the love with their partners sparking by making them feel valued year round, not just when the calendar dictates
“I really love to buy things for people that they’ll love and give that to them kind of whenever I buy it,” Benton said. “Like it doesn’t need to have an occasion for that, and that’s one of the ways I show love to my partners, to my friends, to my family members, to kind of everyone in my life.”
“That’s something that I think is really missing from, from, Valentine’s Day in general,” Benton said. “I think we should also use it to celebrate our friends, our coworkers, our, you know, everyone.”