Voters Strongly Disapprove of Companies Funding LGBTQ+ Hate

By Kirby Phares

In recent months, a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills surged in state legislatures across the nation, spreading dangerous hate speech, fomenting violence, and threatening the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.

In this alarming context, we celebrate Pride, a celebration that has grown enormously since its inception over 50 years ago. The largest of these celebrations are funded by dozens of corporations that pay millions of dollars to be a part of Pride. These corporations claim to be allies of the LGBTQ+ community, but our research indicates that many are, in fact, actively making campaign contributions to politicians that sponsor anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. 

New polling from Data for Progress shows that a majority of likely voters disapprove of corporations that donate to politicians who sponsor anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. This opposition to corporations includes 73 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of Independents, and a third of Republican voters. The types of bills tested are alive in legislatures today, in the form of policies that ban discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, restrict transgender youth participation in sports, and prevent youth from receiving gender-affirming treatment.