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John,
We have a message to corporations that publicly claim to celebrate Pride as a marketing ploy, but then donate millions to anti-LGBTQ+ candidates: Put your money where your mouth is!
In a recent analysis, Popular Information exposed just over two dozen companies that talk the talk but don’t always walk the walk. Four companies top the list with over a million dollars each in donations to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians in the last year: AT&T, Charter Communications, UnitedHealth, and Comcast NBCUniversal.
All these companies understand that the LGBTQ+ community has a purchasing power of over $1 trillion a year. They want a piece of this pie, so they claim to support Pride goals, but when we look at their actual donations to campaigns and candidates, every one of these 25 companies is sending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to anti-LGBTQ+ causes.
Sign the petition to tell these companies: Don’t claim to support Pride and Diversity, while you donate millions of dollars to legislators seeking to trample LGBTQ+ rights!
These 25 companies all donate large sums to PACs for Congressmembers with ratings of zero from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an organization which advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. The companies also donate to legislators and Governors from states that have voted for or signed into law anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the last year (Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas).
Comcast NBCUniversal puts on a Proud face with its slogans, “Pride is Loud and Powerful,” “Pride is Quiet and Thoughtful,” and “Pride is many things. Pride is Universal.” They have signed onto the HRC’s Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ+ State Legislation, stating their “clear opposition to harmful legislation aimed at restricting the access of LGBTQ people in society.” But in the last year, Comcast donated at least $1,046,000 to the campaigns, PACs, and associations of legislators and governors who voted for or signed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
AT&T states on its website it is “committed to standing behind the LBGTQ+ community” and that it “support[s] organizations and projects that strengthen the LGBTQ+ community.” They signed a 2021 letter by HRC stating they oppose state bills that “single out LGBTQ individuals - - many specifically targeting transgender youth - - for exclusion or differential treatment.” Yet since 2022, AT&T has donated at least $1,396,650 to anti-LGBTQ+ legislators.
Charter Communications says it is “committed to #LGBTQ acceptance & equality... so that everyone feels valued and empowered to bring their best ideas forward,” and they offer a slate of LGBTQ+ movies for Pride month. But they have also donated at least $1,167,000 to anti- LGBTQ+ lawmakers in the last year.
UnitedHealth has pledged $2 million worth of grants to the Rainbow Health nonprofit, to improve access to medical and mental health care for LGBTQ+ youth. They stated, “Pride Month is all about embracing your uniqueness and individuality.” So why did UnitedHealth also support anti-LGBTQ+ legislators with at least $1,139,050 in donations last year?
The other 21 companies in the analysis each donated anywhere from $200,000 to $846,000 to anti-LGBTQ+ legislators last year. Clearly, these companies want to have their cake and eat it too. Either their political strategists are unaware of the marketing/PR efforts, or more cynically, they consider these stated values irrelevant to their actual political engagement.
We must hold these corporations to integrity: if they claim to hold these values, and they seek the business of LGBTQ+, then they should not be donating to politicians who want to remove LGBTQ+ voices from the public sphere.
Click here to sign: Demand corporations stop funding politicians who seek to further marginalize and limit the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
Thank you for calling out these corporations and holding them accountable to their stated ideals of supporting a more loving world.
- Amanda
Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund
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