This story was produced in partnership with OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks political finance. Albert Serna, Jr. is an OpenSecrets reporter. [email protected].
It’s becoming increasingly common for companies to decorate their websites with rainbow flags during Pride Month to claim support for LGBTQ+ rights and garner support from a community that has historically been stereotyped as having disposable income, but some of these same companies still funnel significant amounts of money to groups and politicians opposed to LGBTQ+ rights.
Lee Badgett, lead economist at the Coppa Institute for LGBTI+ Economic Empowerment, said the idea that the LGBTQ community has more money to spend is a misrepresentation of the community as a whole.
“There’s long been a false stereotype about LGBTQ people that they’re wealthy, they’re high-income, and they don’t have any particular financial problems,” Badgett says. “We know that gay and bisexual men, and especially bisexual women, tend to earn less than their heterosexual counterparts. The same goes for transgender and cisgender people, transgender people earn less.”
Lack of transparency about how politicians and companies spend can create the false impression that a particular company or politician only supports LGBTQ rights, but may also donate to anti-LGBTQ groups. Open Secrets found that even companies that publicly denounce anti-LGBTQ bills regularly divert tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions to lawmakers who promoted those bills.
Delta Air Lines, which sponsors multiple Pride events, also donated $8,500 to Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who supports anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Melissa Michaelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, called this behavior during Pride Month a form of “rainbow washing.”
“Politicians engage in rainbowwashing for the same reason as businesses: they want to be liked by consumers, voters and potential donors, so you might give them money or consider voting for them,” Michaelson told OpenSecrets. “Either way, that’s the currency of politics, and whether it’s financial donations or votes, that’s what every candidate needs.”
Sunny Weather Support
While major donors to June’s Pride event are doing everything from changing logos to posting on social media, some of their political contributions tell a different story.
Delta Air Lines sponsored multiple Pride events in California, New York and Washington, DC.
The airline’s PAC has 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-Louisiana), both of whom support anti-LGBTQ legislation, according to GLAAD. Blackburn is a vocal opponent of gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, and Scalise has a long history of introducing and supporting anti-LGBTQ legislation. All of the Republican senators who received funding from the PAC received scores below 20 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard; many did not reach double digits.
The airline also donated $45,000 to GOPAC and $10,000 to the dark money group American Exceptionalism Alliance. Both groups are seeking to elect conservatives with a history of voting against LGBTQ+ rights at the state and federal levels. Mark Green, who has likened LGBTQ Americans to ISIS, received $5,000 from GOPAC, according to filings. GOPAC also gave $5,000 to Michigan Sen. Tom Barrett, who sent anti-transgender text messages during her campaign.
Another major sponsor of Pride events across the country is Mastercard, whose PAC has donated more than $100,000 to 2024 Republican candidates, including $10,000 to Sen. Patrick McHenry (R-OH) and $4,000 to Sen. Jim Jordan (R-OH). Both politicians have openly opposed legislation protecting the rights of LGBTQ people and plan to vote against the Respect Marriage Act in 2022. No Republican who received funding from Mastercard scored above 60 on the HRC scorecard, and no Democrat scored below 90.
Defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton’s corporate PAC donated roughly equal amounts to Republicans and Democrats in 2024, giving more than $100,000 to Republican candidates and $87,000 to Democrats. Donors from the defense contractor’s PAC include $4,000 to Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) and $5,000 to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.). Calvert has long opposed LGBTQ rights, but after his district was redrawn to include Palm Springs, the city with the highest LGBTQ population per capita in the United States, his views shifted to ostensibly support marriage equality. But in 2023, Calvert voted in favor of the Parent Bill of Rights, a bill that would require schools to require transgender students to come out.
In 2019, Gallagher supported two amendments that would have eliminated protections for transgender people experiencing homelessness. He also voted against the Equality Act of 2021, which would have explicitly protected LGBTQ people through federal civil rights law. “Booz Allen PAC contributes to candidates for the United States Congress on a bipartisan basis,” a Booz Allen spokesperson said in a statement to OpenSecrets. “The PAC will continue to evaluate and implement a giving strategy that is aligned with our diverse global business, corporate values, and interests as a large employer.”
Delta Air Lines and MasterCard did not respond to requests for comment.
While some of the companies that sponsor Pride events donate to organizations and politicians with a history of opposing LGBTQ rights, it’s notable that these organizations are publicly supporting Pride because that hasn’t happened historically, Michelson told Open Secrets.
“I don’t remember 10 years ago when you’d walk into a Target and there would be rainbows everywhere,” Michelson said. “Just as businesses are responding to this new type of national attention on LGBTQ rights, I think we’re seeing the same thing happening in the political sphere.”
But this support is not without its problems: Earlier this year, national brand Target announced it would limit its Pride section following conservative backlash against Pride-themed merchandise and transgender swimwear.
Despite the decision to stop selling Pride-related merchandise, Target remains a corporate sponsor of numerous Pride-related events around the country. It is unclear how much the company has donated as a sponsor.
It has become common for various organizations, such as airlines, major banks and defense contractors, to sponsor stages or parts of Pride events, which has historically helped offset the costs of putting on the event.
“Every June, every business, every politician wants to say, ‘I support LGBTQ rights and I’m on the side of the community,'” Michelson says. “The rest of the year you might not hear anything from them about the issues facing the community, and then all of a sudden in June they’re very concerned and very supportive.”
