When Brands Sponsor Pride and Fund Anti-LGBTQ+ Politicians

So far in 2022, state lawmakers have filed more than 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills and other policy initiatives, nearly doubling the total for all of last year. Given that context, many LGBTQ+ activists and community members are finding it hard to stomach corporate Pride campaigns from the same brands that donated to those lawmakers leading up to election cycles. Consumers are increasingly intolerant of corporate hypocrisy, they say, and that negative sentiment will only continue to grow: A majority (54%) of likely voters disapprove of companies donating to anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers, according to a poll by Data for Progress. Still, others say political contributions don’t show the whole picture and speak more to a problem with the political system than to the character of the players within it. Why do they do it? This kind of hypocrisy isn’t exactly new. It’s something brands face every June—not to mention during every other social and political crisis. Following the Capitol insurrection in January 2021, major brands made announcements pledging to analyze, pause or halt political contributions to ensure they weren’t funding misinformation or hate. While some have continued to withhold monetary support from lawmakers who refused to certify the 2020 presidential election results, many resumed contributions to those members of Congress over the next several months. So why do brands continue to donate to politicians that don’t align with their stated values? “These companies may be trying to keep their corporate tax rates low through supporting those politicians. What they may or may not realize is that by supporting such politicians, they are also fueling this hate campaign,” said Jeffrey Boles, associate professor and chair of legal studies at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. “It smacks of hypocrisy.” Boles added that because of the way the political system is set up, it’s impossible to know exactly why a corporation donates money to any candidate, political campaign or political action committee. Transparency in those interactions is not required. Due to that lack of transparency, we can only divine so much from political campaign donations, he said. “They signal to us where a company's values are. But they don't tell us with greater detail exactly what is fueling or motivating the contributions.” Still, consumers are increasingly skeptical of Pride-related brand messaging. A 2021 poll from Morning Consult showed that nearly a third (31%) of U.S. adults believe companies release statements for Pride month primarily for publicity rather than to do good. Politics are everywhere Despite the perceived hypocrisy of corporate Pride campaigns, they still have value, said TJ Billard, assistant professor at Northwestern University and founding executive director of the Center for Applied Transgender Studies in Chicago. That’s because what we think of as politics is shaped by more than the lawmakers themselves—it’s also shaped by companies, brands and cultural movements. “The types of messaging that happen around things like corporate Pride ... are politically important because the interplay between culture and society, and politics means that those types of messages have important reverberations,” Billard, who uses they/them pronouns, explained. But that’s not to say consumers shouldn’t complain about corporations’ doublespeak. “We can and should call out that hypocrisy,” they said. Because of this wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation from formalized political institutions, brands “clearly articulating support for LGBTQ identities [and] LGBTQ social issues is fundamentally important,” Billard continued. “Because if that's not there, then there [aren’t] any institutions in society that are resisting the civil rights backsliding that we're experiencing.” Are consumers losing patience? Still, it’s possible that the current movement to rip away hard-won rights and protections for LGBTQ+ populations could tip the scales for consumers. Through its Accountable Allies project, Data for Progress aims to expose the details of corporate donations to the politicians responsible for those laws. “Consumers do have a stronger and more pervasive voice now than ever before,” Boles said. “It'll be interesting to see whether that voice and that power gets utilized in this arena because the dynamics are certainly present to fuel that fire.” “There [are] few things more antagonizing to consumers than companies proceeding in a hypocritical manner,” he added. These Pride Campaigns Are Rooted in Brand Purpose

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

When Brands Sponsor Pride While Funding Anti-LGBTQ+ Politicians

Corporate hypocrisy is real. But exposure and accountability can force brands to live up to their messaging

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Kathryn Lundstrom

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Kathryn Lundstrom