Companies celebrating Pride Month busted for giving millions to anti-LGBTQ politicians
On Thursday, as Pride Month is kicking off, Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby flagged 25 corporations who have donated millions to anti-LGBTQ politicians even as they publicly celebrate LGBTQ pride and acceptance, for the investigative blog Popular Information.
"Major corporations ... are eager to communicate that they are allies of the LGBTQ community. They are plastering their social media avatars with rainbows and sponsoring Pride parades. It's part of a strategy to attract the best employees and the widest range of customers. In short, being perceived as welcoming of the LGBTQ community is good for business," they wrote. "A Popular Information investigation, however, found that 25 major corporations have donated more than $13.2 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians since the start of 2021."
The money counted by the investigation includes donations from corporate PACs to anti-LGBTQ members of Congress and their leadership organizations, governors, state legislators, and political organizations supporting them.
Among the 25 corporations singled out is the telecommunications giant AT&T. "Last June, for example, AT&T tweeted, 'We can #TURNUPTHELOVE for LGBTQ+ youth together.' The company has asserted that it 'recognizes, embraces, and stands with LGBTQ+ people' and claims to be committed to addressing the 'mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ youth," they wrote. "But since 2021, AT&T has donated at least $1,052,000 to anti-LGBTQ politicians. That includes at least $598,000 to the campaigns and leadership PACs of members of Congress that have received a zero rating from HRC and $250,000 to the RGA."
They even contributed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has tried to get parents of transgender teenagers classified as child abusers.
Other corporations that have similarly made public pro-LGBTQ statements while backing anti-LGBTQ politicians include Deloitte, Charter Communications, Verizon, General Motors, Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon, Google, American Airlines, Toyota, and Allstate.
This is not a new phenomenon.
A year ago, Popular Information highlighted another group of 25 corporations who were "pridewashing" their image while also contributing to anti-LGBTQ politicians who were benefiting their bottom line.
You can read more here.
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