Queering the Audience Commodity: Political Economy and the Articulation of Desire in NHL Pride Nights.

This article focuses on Queering the concept of the audience commodity within the political economy of communication in Canada, using the 2023 National Hockey League (NHL) Pride Nights controversy as a case study. It argues that while Pride Nights and similar corporate initiatives employ rainbow symbolism to articulate heteronormative bourgeois desires for tolerance, acceptance, and representation, they primarily serve to (re)produce heteronormative audience commodities rather than genuinely reflecting or satisfying distinct Queer desires. The article highlights the need to develop a distinctly Queer political economy of communication (QPEC) that critically examines how Queer audiences and desires are commodified differently from heteronormative ones. It concludes by calling for future research to better conceptualize Queer desire in capitalist media and to advocate for Queer media that prioritize community over commercial interests.