CORPORATIONS’ GOOD DEEDS ARE OFTEN JUST PR
Corporate good deeds and words are often just for public relations (PR) and do not represent any real commitment to good causes. Many corporations, despite statements and some token actions supporting the LGBTQ+ community, are making significant political contributions to politicians promoting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Combining state and federal level political giving, since Jan. 2022, 25 of these corporations have given $13.5 million to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians or their committees. Over 50 corporations that have actually signed the Human Rights Campaign’s LGBTQ+ pledge have, since Jan. 2020, contributed over $2.4 million to state legislators promoting bills deemed anti-LGBTQ+.
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Corporate executives are totally focused on the bottom line – profits. Good deeds and words from them and their corporations are often just for public relations (PR). Actions speak louder than words and in terms of money, token spending on bits of PR is outweighed by significant money going elsewhere, such as to political contributions.
Recent examples relate to the LGBTQ+ community. Corporations, their executives, and their websites and social media communications claim sensitivity and a commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. Despite statements and some token actions supporting the LGBTQ+ community, many corporations, nonetheless, are making significant political contributions to politicians promoting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Here are two studies that document this.
First, a study by Popular Information of 25 corporations that had excellent ratings on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) annual Corporate Equality Index (which rates over 1,200 companies on their treatment of LGBTQ+ employees and customers) found that, since Jan. 2022, they or their political action committees (PACs) have given $13.5 million to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and their committees at the state and federal levels. HRC’s methodology for calculating its Corporate Equality Index has NOT to-date taken political donations into account. The top ten corporate contributors to state and federal anti-LGBTQ+ politicians are: [1]
AT&T $1,396,650
Charter Communications $1,167,000
UnitedHealth $1,139,050
Comcast/NBC Universal $1,046,000
Home Depot $ 784,200
General Motors $ 767,350
Deloitte $ 669,800
Walmart $ 650,250
Amazon $ 488,000
CVS Caremark $ 479,500
Other corporations in the top 25 are: UPS, Wells Fargo, Delta, Aflac, Verizon, Fed Ex, Cigna, Google, Toyota, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Visa, Anheuser Busch, American Airlines, and Capital One. Each of these gave $200,000 or more to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians.
Second, a study of state-level campaign finance reports by Open Secrets found that over 50 corporations that have signed the HRC LGBTQ+ pledge (or their political action committees) have, since Jan. 2020, contributed over $2.4 million to state lawmakers promoting bills deemed anti-LGBTQ+ by the American Civil Liberties Union. [2] As-of June 1, 2023, 323 corporations have signed the HRC pledge “stating their clear opposition to harmful legislation aimed at restricting … LGBTQ people in society.”
In the first six months of 2023, these state lawmakers have played key roles in passing 62 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 18 states. There are at least another 270 anti-LGBTQ+ bills under consideration in 33 states.
Nine corporations accounted for 83% of the $2.4 million in contributions to anti-LGBTQ+ state politicians:
AT&T $517,550
Altria (tobacco) $362,260
Amazon $273,993
Union Pacific $188,750
Disney $166,991
Pfizer $163,525
CVS Caremark $137,550
Merck $105,800
General Motors $100,750
The state lawmakers receiving these contributions have passed bills that include bans or criminalization of gender-affirming medical care, requirements to use bathrooms and pronouns based on biological sex at birth, restrictions on transgender youth participating in sports, and banning events where people are dressed in drag.
Corporations that appear to have a real commitment to the LGBTQ+ community have often capitulated when faced with pushback from right-wing extremists. Target, for example, unveiled a Gay Pride product line for Gay Pride month in June this year with prominent displays in stores and on its website. It had signed the HRC pledge two years ago and had not contributed to any of the anti-LGBTQ+ state lawmakers. Nonetheless, in the face of right-wing extremists’ attacks, it pulled back on displays in some stores and on products featured on its website.
My next post will describe how financial corporations are using an anti-wokeness campaign to fight efforts to reduce credit card fees, despite their past pledges to support LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity.
[1] Legum, J., Zekeria, T., & Crosby, R., 6/5/23, “These 25 rainbow flag-waving corporations donated $13.5 million to anti-gay politicians since 2022,” Popular Information (https://popular.info/p/these-25-major-corporations-donated)
[2] Ratanpal, H., & Giorno, T., 6/9/23, “Companies that publicly condemned legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community send political contributions to state lawmakers who advanced anti-LGBTQ+ bills,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/06/companies-that-publicly-condemned-legislation-targeting-lgbtq-community-send-political-contributions-to-state-lawmakers-who-advanced-anti-lgbtq-bills/)