Bud Light has announced that it will donate $200,000 to LGBTQ business owners of color amid a massive boycott of the brand.
Anheuser-Bush has lost a jaw-dropping $27 billion in market value since partnering with controversial transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney in March.
On May 30, Bud Light announced in a quiet press release that they would donate $200,000 to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Communities of Color Initiative.
“Bud Light was brewed to be an ‘Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy’ beer for everyone 21+ and that still holds true today,” said Anheuser-Busch in the press release. “We look forward to extending our work with the NGLCC to continue making a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ businesses that play a critical role in bringing people everywhere, together.”
The company stated that the “initiative is designed to support the growth and success of minority LGBTQ+-owned businesses through certification, scholarships and business development in an effort to create equal opportunities for the economic advancement of small businesses in the LGBTQ+ community. The brand will also be supporting NGLCC’s first-ever CoCi Biz Pitch program, where the winning minority LGBTQ+ business owner will receive $5,000 and have the chance to go on to compete at the 2023 NGLCC International Business & Leadership Conference LGBT Biz Pitch Competition for $50,000 in cash and prizes.”
“We’re honored to continue our partnership with Bud Light in support of LGBTQ+ businesses,” said the NGLCC. “We appreciate the brand’s ongoing efforts to bolster our Communities of Color Initiative that empowers and supports both minority LGBTQ+ business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as the vital roles they play in communities across the United States.”
Anheuser-Busch noted that the company has “a strong track record of industry leadership in supporting the LGBTQ+ community.”
“Over the past 20 years Anheuser-Busch has supported both local and national non-profit organizations that are committed to advocating for LGBTQ+ equality,” the press release added.
The sizeable donation came after LGBTQ organizations began to demand that the company “reaffirm” its support for transgender people after trying to distance itself from the Mulvaney fiasco.
Jay Brown, a senior vice president at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, has sent a letter to Anheuser-Busch’s head of human resources calling the company “cowardly” for attempting to back away from the scandal.
“In this moment, it is absolutely critical for Anheuser-Busch to stand in solidarity with Dylan and the trans community,” reads the letter obtained by The Hill.
“However, when faced with anti-LGBTQ+ and transphobic criticism, Anheuser-Busch’s actions demonstrate a profound lack of fortitude in upholding its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion to employees, customers, shareholders and the LGBTQ+ community,” the April 26 letter continued. “This not only lends credence to hate-filled rhetoric, it exposes Anheuser-Busch to long-term business impacts with employees and customers increasingly looking for steadfast commitment to LGBTQ+ corporate citizenships.”
The Hill reports, “according to the HRC letter, the group is preparing to lower Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing 100 percent Corporate Equality Index score, a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits relevant to LGBTQ employees.”
Mulvaney, an adult biological male, has become controversial over his “Days of Girlhood” series on TikTok and meeting with President Joe Biden on “Day 222 of being a girl” to advocate for allowing minors to transition.
The activist-influencer said then, “I’m ready to step up and show that trans people are not going anywhere and that trans kids deserve a fighting chance to be their true selves.”
After Bud Light provided Mulvaney with a commemorative can to celebrate one year of “girlhood,” conservatives immediately began a boycott — one which is shaping up to be one of the most influential political boycotts of all time.
