The bar where police raids sparked the 1969 Stonewall uprising has revealed why it stopped serving Bud Light – and it has nothing to do with calls for a boycott over the beer brand’s collaboration with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Co-owners of New York’s Stonewall Inn, Stacy Lentz and Kurt Kelly, have revealed that the bar turned its back on Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, in 2021.
At that time, the bar staged a “Keep Your Pride” campaign, which involving refusing to serve products of companies that claimed to be allies of the queer community but which also donated funds to anti-LGBTQ+ individuals.
“The reason we did that… was because they were out there waving the rainbow flag very vehemently, then turning around and contributing to anti-LGBTQ legislators, which can’t happen,” Lentz told Newsweek. “Our communities are fed up with that.”
Lentz said Bud Light’s collaboration with Mulvaney, who has 12 million followers on TikTok, “makes sense” and warned other businesses: “If you don’t market to Gen Z, then in 20 years or 30 years, your business will not exist because Gen Z is all about equality. Your consumer is ageing out.”
The backlash to the collaboration “was ridiculous,” and “the fact that they catered to it was alarming,” she added.
“But at the same time, they at least made an effort. I thought it was a great campaign.”
Dylan Mulvaney was the victim of a transphobic backlash over her social media collaboration with Bud Light. (Credit: Getty Images)
Anheuser-Busch faced a deluge of attacks from anti-trans people after they sent Mulvaney a single personalised can to celebrate the first anniversary of her “Days of Girlhood” TikTok series.
However, despite Target, Bud Light and Innocent Drinks being among the brands to face boycott calls over LGBTQ+ inclusion, stats show that most Americans appreciate and value queer people being featured in advertising.
According to GLAAD’s Accelerating Acceptance survey, 75 per cent of straight people feel comfortable seeing LGBTQ+ in advertising, while 60 per cent of heterosexuals agree that seeing queer people in ads makes them more comfortable with those who are different to themselves.
A survey has found that a slim majority – just over half – of LGBTQ+ people in the UK feel comfortable being “out” in the workplace.
The study by consultancy firm Deloitte found that 52 per cent of the 402 LGBTQ+ Brits polled were comfortable being openly queer at work, compared to 43 per cent of the 5,474 LGBTQ+ people polled worldwide.
The survey also found that 43 per cent of LGBTQ+ people in the UK fear being seen differently by their straight, cisgender colleagues, compared to 39 per cent of respondents globally.
Deloitte polled queer people from 13 countries for the survey, and nearly half of the British respondents (49 per cent) reported being discriminated against at work due to their sexuality or gender identity.
Thirty-eight per cent said they had come up against homophobic or transphobic behaviour – including sexual jokes – at work.
Phil Mitchell, co-lead for the Deloitte LGBTQ+ staff network Proud, said: “When people feel that their employers aren’t doing enough to support inclusion or are not taking non-inclusive behaviours seriously, many instances go unreported.
“Employers should take action to ensure that they provide a positive culture of LGBTQ+ inclusion, underpinned by respect.”
Of the LGBTQ+ 18 to 25-year-olds polled for the survey, 19 per cent added that they had been bullied in the workplace, while the study also found that LGBTQ+ young people are paid less than their straight, cisgender peers on average.
Amy Ashenden, interim CEO of Just Like Us, said: “Our research shows that the treatment of LGBT+ people in British society today is preventing young adults from thriving at work.
“LGBT+ young people deserve to safely be themselves at school, home and work – there must be no exceptions.”
Some corporate sponsors have kept lower profiles at Pride celebrations this year, but most have not tightened their purse strings or ditched LGBTQ causes in the face of conservative blowback, event organizers and advocates say.
Nearly 78% of U.S. Pride organizers surveyed this year by InterPride, a network of Pride events around the world, said their corporate sponsorships either rose or held steady since last year — higher than the 62% global figure — while 22% reported declines.
Indy Pride, which organizes official celebrations in Indianapolis, faced new difficulties in the run-up to this year’s festivities. One corporate sponsor pulled its logo from an event, and another raised questions about a youth Pride carnival it had agreed to sponsor after getting “blasted” on social media, said executive director Shelly Snider.
Most of the Pride organizers NBC News spoke with, including Snider, declined to identify corporate sponsors that shrunk their involvement or visibility, concerned about alienating important financial backers. Like Indy Pride, Pride organizations are typically nonprofit organizations that also offer year-round services to the LGBTQ community, such as grants, educational events and support for political activism.
“We’ve hired extra security, gone through ‘stop the bleed’ training in case there is an active shooter,” she said. “This is new to this year. I didn’t think when I took this job that we would have to [learn how to] use a tourniquet, but here we are.”
Even so, Indy Pride raised a record $641,000 and saw crowds swell to an estimated 60,000 at its festival and parade last weekend, putting the event at full capacity.
Indy Pride-goers shared a kiss on June 10 in Indianapolis, where organizers said festivities this year hit maximum capacity.Clare Grant / IndyStar / USA TODAY
The mix of changes Snider and other organizers described paint a more complicated picture than recent headlines around brands’ scrambles to respond to anti-LGBTQ backlash — like that faced by Bud Light and Target — may suggest. While some businesses have walked back their ties to LGBTQ events and causes, including Pride-related marketing, many more have maintained or increased their support.
We’ve seen an uptick in support throughout the year. More people are showing up and out, including allies.
JOSH COLEMAN, PRESIDENT OF CENTRAL ALABAMA PRIDE
Josh Coleman, president of Central Alabama Pride in Birmingham, said some longtime corporate sponsors dropped out this year, including Wells Fargo. Others have demanded more input on where their branding appears. But donations have held steady this month, he said, in part because more local and regional sponsors have filled the gaps left by larger companies’ retreats.
“It’s been a little frustrating,” Coleman admitted. “Some folks use allyship when they want to.”
Overall, though, “we’ve seen an uptick in support throughout the year,” he said. “More people are showing up and out, including allies.”
In Tennessee, where a federal judge recently rejected a drag ban that state Republicans enacted earlier this year, corporate backing for Memphis’s Mid-South Pride hasn’t suffered.
People at a Pride event in Franklin, Tenn., on June 3, the day a court overturned new limits on drag shows enacted by state Republicans. George Walker IV / AP
“We had issues,” festival director Vanessa Rodley said in an email, but after the judge temporarily blocked the measure from taking effect in late March, “we saw a wave of new sponsors that wanted to show support. There are a few we never got back, but thanks to our community stepping up and new sponsors, we were able to make it.”
A handful of major brands, including Kroger and Terminix, didn’t return as Mid-South Pride sponsors after making $7,500 and $3,500 contributions, respectively, in 2022, the group’s public sponsor listsin recent years show.
But others, such as Nike, Ford, Charles Schwab and Tito’s Vodka, either matched or upped their previous-year investments, which ranged from $5,000 to $10,000 apiece. And regional businesses, including a mortgage brokerage and a dentistry practice, jumped in this year with $5,000 sponsorships.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the bank “is a longstanding supporter of the LGBTQ+ community” and still “sponsoring parades in cities across the country.”
After being contacted, a Kroger spokesperson said the grocery chain “discovered a recent retirement left the [Memphis] parade without a contact at the company” and reached out to Mid-South Pride organizers. “We provided a contact from which to request support for this year or a future event.”
Some advocates warn that any pullback in the visibility of corporate support during Pride Month — especially by the most well-known brands — risks signaling that LGTBQ consumers are expendable. Others have long called for fewer rainbow-slathered logos and more substantive, if quieter, support from private-sector allies.
“Visibility is the least important,” said Bruce Starr, CEO of the marketing agency BMF. “What are you actually donating and giving” to support LGBTQ causes year-round matters more, he said.
In Auburn, Alabama, Pride on the Plains President Seth McCollough said one of the group’s three corporate sponsors gave money this year but asked to not be thanked or recognized publicly.
“It was kind of surprising to me,” McCollough said, but added, “I guess I understand where they are coming from.”
Among them is Target, which drew national attention for pulling some Pride merchandise last month after store employees were threatened. The retailer continues to be a top sponsor and provides volunteers to Pride on the Plains, McCollough said. But while big businesses can often contribute larger sums, the group relies on smaller companies for most of its funding anyway.
Target has continued to provide financial support to Pride events following uproar and threats against store workers over some of its merchandise.Seth Wenig / AP file
Many Pride celebrations facing difficulties are in the Midwest and South, regions that have seen a wave of Republican-led anti-LGBTQ legislation this year. Organizers in bluer states haven’t experienced much difference.
Pride officials in New York City, home to the first Pride March, in June 1970, said this year would be on par with last in terms of arranging sponsors and security. But Pride organizers in Charleston, South Carolina, said they’ve seen a significant drop in funds and sponsorships post-pandemic, after setting records in 2019.
Kendra Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said threats against the community and Pride events have risen dramatically throughout North Carolina.
“I’m 52 — I’ve never seen it like this,” Johnson said, citing threats of violence and cases in which she said organizers were doxed. Johnson’s LGBTQ advocacy group doesn’t plan Pride festivities, but she said some organizers in the state have told her of sponsors pulling out of local events.
Ron deHarte, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, an umbrella group representing nearly 100 organizers across the country, acknowledged that many groups face growing challenges.
“We’re hearing that there are a few organizations that have made their own decision to modify their programs or cancel based on legislation, out of fear of government action” by some state authorities, he said.
But many sponsors remain committed after years of support for the LGBTQ community, despite the criticism that often comes with it. Tense political climates, as well as presidential election years, tend to drive enthusiasm and attendance at Pride celebrations because many people become more engaged, deHarte said.
“This certainly isn’t the worst we’ve seen,” he said, “and we’ve continued to survive for decades.”
It’s Pride Month and as more and more businesses have climbed on board the rainbow train, Republicans are running out of places to dine out.
“Rainbow washing” and “rainbow capitalism” have become common refrains from some in the community who are weary of corporations slapping a rainbow on their logo without supporting the community during the other 11 months of the year. But with over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ laws proposed at the federal and national levels by Republicans and the religious right, this is the year to overlook that in favor of just making them squirm.
But as the far-right boycotts Disney, Target, Budweiser, and any other company they can, the perpetually angry are quickly running out of options. Even Chick-fil-A, the right’s bastion of fast food righteousness, has been deemed too “woke” for waffle fries after they hired a vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
So where is a Republican supposed to go on Sundays after church like God intended? Not these restaurants. They’re not offering a side of hatefulness to their menus.
Click through to see some of the brands celebrating online
A $100,000 donation from HBO was announced on Wednesday for regional, national, and local LGBTQ+ organizations in conjunction with the Emmy, Peabody, and GLAAD-award-winning unscripted series We’re Here. The donations will benefit LGBTQ+ non-profits in the locations where the show recorded its third season.
PFLAG Fort Worth, MS Capital City Pride, Pride of Southern Utah, TriVersity Pride Center, Equality Florida, and Lambda Legal are among the organizations receiving the donations, according to HBO.
During season three, Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara, and Shangela toured Texas, Utah, Florida, Mississippi, and New Jersey, bringing together a range of residents to promote acceptance and raise awareness. In each town, the queens support their “drag daughters” by empowering them to express their true selves and to encourage acceptance and tolerance in their communities, despite increased opposition from state governments in Republican-controlled states nationwide.
The season was shot during the beginning of a fraught period for LGBTQ+ people as right-wing extremists and conservative Republican politicians targeted the community with a particular disdain for transgender people and drag queens.
Queer people, especially those who are trans, have been falsely accused of grooming children by the far-right.
In the show, local groups protested the production happening in their towns due to these conspiracies.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/9ghvJYFxt-0?rel=0&start=85We’re Here Season 3 | Official Trailer | HBOwww.youtube.com
This donation will benefit organizations supporting or advocating for the LGBTQ+ community in their state.
Dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV and AIDS, Lambda Legal focuses on impact litigation, societal education, and public policy nationwide.
Using lobbying, grass-roots organizing, education, and coalition building, Equality Florida protects the LGBTQ+ community from harassment and discrimination, particularly in the face of an all-out assault by the state’s Republican governor and 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis.
As a community-based organization in Mississippi, MS Capital City Pride provides safe spaces for LGBTQ+ communities and mentors emerging leaders. Among the many services the TriVersity Pride Center offers to the LGBTQ+ community in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are events, educational programming, a media center, and support groups.
PFLAG Fort Worth provides confidential peer support, support for families, education, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ people in that part of Texas. As a community-based organization in Mississippi, MS Capital City Pride provides safe spaces for LGBTQ+ communities and mentors emerging leaders.
All major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming, the advocacy group GLAAD said Thursday. But Twitter is the worst.
In its annual Social Media Safety Index, GLAAD gave Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter low or failing scores, saying the platforms don’t do enough to keep their users safe. That said, most improved from a year ago.
Twitter, which was acquired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk last October, was the only exception. GLAAD’s scorecard called it “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people” and the only one that saw its scores decline from last year.
Twitter’s communications staff was eradicated after Musk took over the company and for months inquiries to the press office have been answered only an automated reply of a poop emoji, as was the case when The Associated Press reached out to the company for comment.
LGBTQ advocates have long warned that online hate and harassment can lead to violence offline. But even when it does not, online abuse can take a toll on a person’s mental health.
“There isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t have a doxxing situation for somebody in our community that we have to come in and help them stop it and stop the hate, stop the vitriol and stop the attacks,” said GLAAD CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis referring to the malicious practice that involves gathering private or identifying information and releasing it online without the person’s permission, usually in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge. “It’s really been amped up to a level that we’ve never seen before.”
On Twitter, attacks on LGBTQ users have increased substantially since Elon Musk took over the company last fall, according to multiple advocacy groups.
A big part of the reason is the drastic staffing cuts Musk has enacted since his takeover — there are simply not enough content moderators to handle the flood of problematic tweets that range from hate speech to graphic material and harassment. Musk has also described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” who believes Twitter’s previous policies were too restricting.
In April, for instance, Twitter quietly removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” raising concerns that the platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups. Musk has also repeatedly engaged with far-right figures and pushed misinformation to his 143 million followers.
Twitter, as part of the same retooling of its site policies, also changed how it responds to tweets that violate its rules. While in the past, offending tweets were removed, the company now says it will sometimes restrict a tweet instead of removing it from the platform altogether.
“Twitter is is largely a cesspool now. You can’t post without getting attacked. There’s no room for conversation. It is just about hand-to-hand combat,” Ellis said. “And that’s what it is. It’s like backyard dogfights.”
Ellis lamented that before the takeover, Twitter was a “leader” among major social media platforms when it comes to protecting LGBTQ users.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, saw a 15 percentage point score increase for both its platforms, to 61% and 63%, respectively. GLAAD’s index measures 12 LGBTQ-specific indicators, such as explicit protections from hate and harassment for LGBTQ users, offering gender pronoun options on profiles, and prohibiting advertising that could be harmful or discriminatory to LGBTQ people.
While Meta has improved and has strong policies in place, GLAAD says the company does not consistently enforce them. For instance, the group says for many abusive posts that it reports, Meta will send an automated response stating that due to the high volume of reports it receives, it is not able to review the post.
Meta said in a prepared statement that it works with “civil society organizations around the world in our work to design policies and create tools that foster a safe online environment,” including getting input from LGBTQ safety and advocacy organizations.
TikTok, which saw its score increase from 14 points to 57%, said it is “proud to have strong policies aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from harassment and hate speech, including misgendering and deadnaming, and we’re always looking to strengthen our approach, informed both by our community and the advice of experts, such as GLAAD.”
Google’s YouTube, meanwhile, scored 54%, up nine points from 2022.
“Our policies prohibit content that promotes violence or hatred against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Over the last few years, we’ve made significant progress in our ability to quickly remove this content from our platform and prominently surface authoritative sources in search results and recommendations,” said spokesperson Jack Malon.
Musk, in tweets and public statements, has repeatedly said he supports freedom of speech and calls himself a “free speech absolutist” who wants to turn Twitter into a “digital town square” where people with differing views can debate freely. The company’s newly installed CEO, Linda Yaccarino, also tweeted recently that “you should have the freedom to speak your mind. We all should.”
But GLAAD and other organizations advocating for marginalized groups note that unfettered freedom for one group can infringe on the free speech of others.
“Freedom of speech does not mean I get to, you know, bully and harass people relentlessly,” said Jenni Olson, GLAAD’s director of social media safety. “And that is why companies have hate speech policies, because … if someone is bullying and harassing me that actually means that I don’t have freedom of speech because I’m afraid to say anything.”
Bud Light and Target were not always political punching bags. But both companies have been drawn into the center of a long-brewing conservative battle after the brands released campaigns supporting or featuring LGBTQ people.
Target announced Tuesday it was pulling some LGBTQ-themed items from stores following what a company spokesperson described as “threats” to employees over this year’s line of Pride Month merchandise. In interviews, Target customers and employees at stores in North Carolina and Texas said the company moved Pride collections away from the front of the store.
Bud Light, meanwhile, drew backlash from right-wing commentators after partnering with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on a marketing campaign in April. Influential conservative figureheads called for a boycott, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a contender for the GOP presidential nod — said he would never drink Bud Light again. Sales have continued to plummet.
But several mainstream brands have publicly supported LGBTQ people for years. So what’s different now? Advocates and marketing experts say it’s the growing power of a vocal minority of far-right political commentators, conservative politicians and religious legal groups, which have led the calls to boycott the companies while these right-wing groups and individuals also support a historic wave of state legislation that seeks to restrict LGBTQ rights.
Yet another recent uproar centered on the Dodgers, which faced pressure from conservatives such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to disinvite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a decades-old LGBTQ nonprofit, from the team’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night. The team later reversed course, re-inviting the group, and drew more criticism from conservatives.
The most protracted battle of all concerns Disney, which has been locked in an increasingly bitter feud with DeSantis. The root of the conflict: Disney’s decision, under former CEO Bob Chapek, to publicly oppose Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill restricting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis hit back, targeting the media giant’s special self-governing status in Orlando, home to Walt Disney World.
The firestorm around these brands stems in part from efforts made by corporations to be more inclusive. In recent years, against a backdrop of growing cultural visibility for historically marginalized communities, consumer-focused companies have increasingly featured LGBTQ people in advertising, marketing and other public-facing initiatives, such as Pride events.
Of course, major companies also saw a clear capitalist incentive: LGBTQ people in the U.S. collectively represent roughly $900 billion in annual purchasing power, according to a 2019 report from LGBT Capital, a financial services company.
That hasn’t made them immune to backlash that has been intensified in part by internet-fueled conspiracy theories and a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills in statehouses.
Ari Drennen, the LGBTQ program director for Media Matters, a liberal watchdog organization, said a common thread connecting firestorms around Target and Bud Light’s campaign with Dylan Mulvaney is Matt Walsh, a political commentator for far-right website the Daily Wire.
“He’s been one of the most strident voices pushing this forward,” Drennen said. “Now, they’ve been picked up kind of more broadly throughout the right-wing media from people following that lead, but he’s been the person who’s really been pushing this kind of aggressive boycott tactic.”
She noted that Walsh declared victory over Target on social media, where he has 1.9 million followers on Twitter.
“The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands. If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they’ll gain,” Walsh tweeted on Wednesday.
“First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress,” he added. “Let’s keep it going.” Walsh did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.
An anti-Bud Light sign hangs on a country road in Arco, Idaho, on April 21.Natalie Behring / Getty Images file
Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch, distanced the company from Mulvaney and said in the days after the backlash that it “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.” Roughly a week later, Anheuser-Busch confirmed media reports that two of the marketing executives who worked on the campaign were taking leaves of absence.
Drennen said that part of what is allowing Walsh to get traction is his increased national recognition in efforts to restrict transition-related medical care for minors. In February, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves invited Walsh to speak ahead of Reeves signing a bill to ban transition-related care for minors in the state. Earlier that month, NBC News reported that Walsh’s advocacy also influenced Tennessee’s decision to reject more than $8 million in federal funds to combat HIV.
“All of this is a coordinated attempt to make it untenable to be specifically trans in public,” Drennen said. “And one of the ways that they’ve attempted to do this is by removing any kind of political support, any kind of corporate support — just basically making it untenable to be an ally to the trans community. And I think that’s the real connective tissue between these.”
She added that Fox News covered a new North Face campaign that featured drag performer Pattie Gonia during a segment on Wednesday. On Thursday, conservative commentator Candace Owens announced during her Daily Wire show that, due to the campaign, “there will be nothing in my home that is from the North Face.”
Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, a firm specializing in LGBTQ marketing, said that while the controversies surrounding Bud Light and Target were “created” by a small number of people, they were amplified by social media and some news outlets.
“The kerosene just carries a lot further today,” Witeck said of how controversies sparked by a small number of people spread further more quickly. He added that the conservative response to Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney campaign was ignited, in part, by commentator Ben Shapiro, and then picked up by other right-wing voices and news. Shapiro did not immediately return a request for comment.
Conversations about LGBTQ people, at a time when LGBTQ issues are more visible than ever, “become distorted quickly,” he said. Witeck added that LGBTQ advocates are likely to continue filing legal challenges against anti-LGBTQ laws because they violate the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, a 2020 ruling holding that gay and transgender employees are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The decision galvanized many grassroots conservative activists.
“Trans people have been dehumanized, people are defining them in political terms that are dehumanizing, and so it’s much easier for these media influencers to line up those things in front of people,” he said of the backlash to Target and Bud Light, even though “these aren’t the motivating issues in their lives.”
Laurel Powell, director of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S., said “far-right extremists sense an opportunity,” and that is why there has been a more intense response from conservatives to Target’s Pride Month collection, for example.
“We’re coming off of the most hostile and dangerous state legislative season when it comes to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation,” Powell said. “We are existing in a country right now where one of our major social media networks has essentially become an alt-right platform. They see an opportunity, and what they’re going to find out is that they are out of step with most Americans; they are out of step with the vast majority of people who believe that LGBTQ+ people should be able to live lives free from discrimination.”
In 2016, a slew of major corporations, including American Airlines, Apple, Microsoft, eBay and Nike, signed on to an amicus brief supporting the Justice Department’s efforts to block North Carolina’s “bathroom bill,” which barred trans people from using restrooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificate.
Seven years later, the American public and U.S-based companies have only become more accepting of LGBTQ people, the latter with both their internal policies and via public marketing campaigns. However, Witeck said the difference between then and now is that lawmakers have proposed nearly 500 bills to restrict LGBTQ rights in dozens of states.
“In 2016, you had just one state doing something novel that other states weren’t doing,” Witeck said. To take a stand on even 10 of the bills proposed this year would be a challenge, “and most major corporations are based in all of those states.”
Witeck said he expects Pride Month this year to be “militant,” because LGBTQ people are anxious and worried.
“Corporate allyship is going to be tested like we’ve never seen,” he said. “Allies have got to really be prepared to grow spines, to really stand by their values.”
Canyon Club Brewery in California announced on Monday that it was cutting ties with a professional fisherman after he expressed support for a new anti-gay law in Uganda.
“We learned of Mr Dyer’s view this morning and immediately severed our relationship with him. We could not disagree more strenuously with Mr. Dyer’s view and the abomination that is going on in Uganda,” the Canyon Club Brewery in California said in response to a tweet that shared screenshots of Blake Dyer’s support of the new law.
Dyer’s Twitter account has been deleted, but screenshots posted on social media showed him responding to a tweet from Texas Senator Ted Cruz discussing the new anti-gay law. “With Uganda on this one,” Dyer reportedly said in response to the law.
Read the full article. Dyer has deleted most of his social media accounts and made his Instagram page private.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth.
The organization is suing alongside other groups and law firms on behalf of two families who believe the law violates the U.S. Constitution. It is the eighth lawsuit filed by the ACLU and its affiliates against trans health care bans, according to the Los Angeles Blade. Lawsuits have also been filed in Arkansas, Nebraska, Montana, Oklahoma, Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
“This law is a dangerous intrusion upon the rights and lives of Idaho families,” said Amy Dundon, a Legislative Strategist with the ACLU of Idaho. “Our state should be a safe place to raise every child, including transgender youth, and HB 71 threatens to deny them the safety and dignity they deserve. We welcome this opportunity to defend the transgender youth of Idaho and their families from this discriminatory political attack and we won’t stop defending them until each one has all the care and support they need to thrive.”
The lawsuit calls the legislation “an unprecedented intrusion into families’ fundamental autonomy” and says it “preempts Idaho parents’ (and doctors’) judgment about what is best for their own children.”
One of the anonymous plaintiffs, a 16-year-old trans girl, said it has been a “long journey” to living as her true self.
“My medical care has been an important part of that journey,” she said. “My family, my doctors, and I have worked together to make decisions about my medical care, and it’s shocking to have politicians take those decisions away from us. Trans people like myself deserve the same chance at safety and liberty as everyone else, but this law specifically targets us and our health care for no good reason. I’m 16 – I should be hanging out with my friends and planning my future instead of fighting my State for the health care I need.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed H.B. 71 in early April. It is considered one of the nation’s most punitive bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth. The bill made providing such care to a trans person under the age of 18 a felony with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Only one other state, Alabama, has made it a felony to provide gender-affirming care. The 11 other states that ban such care have imposed administrative penalties like the loss of a healthcare provider’s medical license.
The Idaho bill bans gender-affirming surgery from being performed on trans minors, though such surgeries aren’t performed on minors. The bill also bans doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy to people under the age of 18.
Puberty blockers are reversible, life-saving medications that delay the permanent effects of puberty so that young people and their families have more time to understand their identities. Puberty blockers don’t work if they’re taken years after the onset of puberty.
“We are determined to protect the transgender youth of Idaho, their families, and their medical providers from this unjust and dangerous attack on their rights and lives,” said Li Nowlin-Sohl, a Senior Staff Attorney at the LGBTQ & HIV Project with the ACLU. “This health care is supported by every major medical organization in the U.S. and is critical for the futures of transgender youth across the state. We will not rest until this unconstitutional law is struck down.”
With Pride Month officially underway, businesses will be finalising their plans to celebrate and support their LGBTQ+ employees and colleagues. We share some suggestions on how to truly champion LGBTQ+ employees beyond the standard gestures of solidarity.
The month of June serves as a time when the entire LGBTQ+ community can unite and remember the progress made, all while addressing the ongoing issues that are impacting the community. As this year has already been plagued with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and homophobic rhetoric in the news, Pride should also serve as a time to stand up and against the bigotry that has reared its ugly head.
For employers, Pride Month is low-hanging fruit when it comes to supporting LGBTQ+ employees, and the recent hasty retreats of brands like Target and Bud Light after their LGBTQ+ inclusive marketing efforts attracted bigoted hate are examples to brands and businesses of how not to handle Pride Month.
Offering honest support and a commitment to LGBTQ+ people at work goes beyond hanging some rainbow flags and putting on a Pride-themed event. While these are admirable gestures, LGBTQ+ employees value more than these surface-level actions.
To make an authentic difference and celebrate LGBTQ+ employees during Pride Month (and beyond), here is a list of meaningful ways employers can support their LGBTQ+ employees.
Update what is currently being done
Simple steps like encouraging the sharing of pronouns in emails and on name badges and offering gender-neutral bathrooms is a great starting points, but companies now need to refine and assess how inclusive those things are.
Do the company’s internal systems offer pronouns outside of the binary? If a colleague uses they/them pronouns then they should exist identically in HR documents. How accessible are those gender-neutral bathrooms? If a key is needed, then it may not be that accessible.
This approach also applies to the imagery that is on display throughout the workplace and in communications: If the company flying the Pride flag, consider updating it to the Progress Pride flag, which more explicitly represents queer people of colour, the trans community and intersex people.
Offer diversity training
Providing diversity training that specifically addresses LGBTQ+ issues can help educate employees and create a more inclusive workplace. Training like this increases awareness of unconscious biases, promotes respect and provides practical tools for fostering an inclusive environment.
When employers invest in ongoing diversity training, they are demonstrating their commitment to creating a broader atmosphere of understanding and acceptance throughout the year.
Re-examine benefits and how they are written
Nothing says “lack of inclusion” like employer benefits and policies that don’t reach everyone within the business. Benefits like family leave should reflect all the different ways families are created, such as through adoption or surrogacy. Employers should also double-check and make sure that all family leave is equitable rather than focused on the binary of maternal and paternal.
Regarding more complex experiences like gender-affirming care and transitioning, employers should be ready to support and advocate for their trans and non-binary employees where they can. Being this advocate could change internal policy and also influence medical providers to cover things like surgeries and hormone treatments.
Know the history of Pride
Given the political vitriol hurled at the LGBTQ+ community, now is a perfect time for businesses to be reminded why Pride is celebrated in June. Understanding the origins and significance of Pride is crucial for creating an inclusive environment. Employers can educate themselves and their employees about the Stonewall riots in 1969 and the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community throughout history.
By acknowledging and respecting this history, employers can foster empathy, awareness, and appreciation for the progress that has been made. It’s also key that employers are vocal themselves, and not put the onus to spread awareness on the shoulders of their LGBTQ+ employees.
Donate to charities that align with company goals
There’s no better way to show allyship than with a sizeable donation. With the help of employee resource groups (ERGs), companies can find charitable organisations that align with the company’s values and missions. If there is an employee-led fundraising campaign underway, companies can easily match employee donations.
Charitable donations are a win-win for the business. They are tax deductible and it’s another sign to LGBTQ+ employees that the company they work for is committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion outside of the workplace.
Let ERGs and employees lead the discussions
There is no gatekeeping in allyship, so business leaders should give the space to let LGBTQ+ ERGs and individuals drive the conversation around Pride. Employee-led groups can share their own experiences and what inclusion looks like to them. Companies with progressive benefits often utilise these volunteer-led networks to help shape and form those policies.
It’s important to note the difference between LGBTQ+ employees leading discussions and putting the responsibility for starting those discussions on them. Queer employees want the space, but shouldn’t have to create the space themselves. ERGs are more impactful when there is an executive sponsor that advocates for them.
Make resources readily available
Employers can go the extra mile by providing additional resources specifically aimed at supporting LGBTQ+ employees. This could involve creating an LGBTQ+ library or resource centre that offers books, articles, and educational materials.
Additionally, implementing mentorship programs or pairing LGBTQ+ employees with allies can provide invaluable support and guidance. These resources contribute to a sense of belonging, personal growth, and professional development among LGBTQ+ employees.
Stand up for what is right
Already this season, brands and businesses have succumbed to the backlash from the “anti-woke mob.”
From issuing public ‘apologies’ to taking down Pride retail displays, when businesses backtrack like this it severely impacts the LGBTQ+ community. It makes many in the community feel further isolated and it also encourages more hateful speech and discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people.
