by ALBERT SERNA, Jr.
Throughout Pride Month, it has become increasingly common for corporations to adorn their websites in rainbow flags, espouse their support for LGBTQ+ rights and try to win over a community that has historically been stereotyped as having a disposable income. But some of those companies still steer big money to groups and politicians who oppose LGBTQ+ rights.
Chief Economist at the Koppa LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab, Lee Badgett, said that the idea that LGBTQ communities have more money to spend is a misrepresentation of the community as a whole.
“There’s long been an incorrect stereotype about LGBTQ people that they are well off, lots of income, no real financial problems,” Badgett said. “We know that gay and bisexual men and bisexual women in particular tend to have lower earnings than their heterosexual counterparts. Same for transgender and cisgender people, transgender people are earning less.”
Lack of clarity on how politicians and corporations are spending can create a false narrative that a specific corporation or political figure solely aligns with LGBTQ rights, when they may also give to anti-LGBTQ groups. OpenSecrets has found that even corporations that publicly condemn anti-LGBTQ legislation regularly steer tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions to legislators who advanced those bills.
Melissa Michelson, professor of Political Science at Menlo College, calls this behavior during Pride month a type of “rainbow washing.”
“Politicians engage in rainbow washing for the same reason that corporations do because they want consumers, slash voters, slash potential donors to think well of them. And maybe that means you will donate money to them, or maybe you will consider voting for that,” Michelson told OpenSecrets. “Either way that’s the currency of politics, whether it’s a financial donation or a vote, that’s what every candidate needs.”
Fairweather support
Large donors to Pride events in June have done everything from changing their logos to making posts on social media, but some of their political giving tells a different story.
Delta Air Lines sponsored multiple Pride events in California, New York and Washington D.C.
The airline’s PAC donated more than $300,000 to Republican candidates, including $8,500 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and $5,000 to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) – both of whom have supported anti-LGBTQ legislation according to GLAAD. Blackburn has been a vocal opponent of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and Scalise who has a long history of introducing and supporting anti-LGBTQ bills. All Republican Senators who received funds from the PAC received less than 20 from the Human Rights Campaign Congressional scorecard. Many did not reach the double digits.
The airline donated another $45,000 to GOPAC and $10,000 to the dark money group Alliance for American Exceptionalism, both of which work to elect conservatives with records of voting against LGBTQ+ rights at the state and federal level. Mark Green who compared LGBTQ Americans to ISIS, received $5,000 from GOPAC, filings show. GOPAC also gave $5,000 to Michigan State Sen. Tom Barrett whose campaign sent out anti-trans text messages.
Open Secrets for more