Money donated by corporations and corporate PACs to state legislators who sponsored anti-LGBTQ legislation that was signed into law.Ĥ. Money donated by corporate PACs to the leadership PACs of members of Congress that received a zero rating on the latest Congressional scorecard produced by HRC.ģ.
Money donated by corporate PACs to the campaigns of members of Congress that received a zero rating on the latest Congressional scorecard produced by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's most prominent LGBTQ rights organization.Ģ. Popular Information's analysis included:ġ. In short, being perceived as welcoming of the LGBTQ community is good for business.Ī Popular Information investigation, however, found that 25 major corporations have donated more than $13.2 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians since the start of 2021. It's part of a strategy to attract the best employees and the widest range of customers. They are plastering their social media avatars with rainbows and sponsoring Pride parades. Major corporations, meanwhile, are eager to communicate that they are allies of the LGBTQ community.
There are new laws prohibiting teachers from acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ people, new policies targeting trans kids and their parents, and new bans on books with LGBTQ characters. Over the last year, anti-LGBTQ politicians have relentlessly targeted the community with harmful legislation and other policy initiatives. WATCH: Twenty people were detained on July 1 as Georgian ultranationalists attempted to disrupt a film screening at the opening of the four-day Tbilisi Pride LGBT rights festival.June is Pride Month, and this year's celebration has particular resonance.
"We would like to tell the supporters clearly that the fight for dignity will continue, this is an indispensable process that despite the hate groups, the Patriarchate and the government's resistance, will not stop," they said.
Tbilisi Pride organizers said that although they could not go out "in a street full of violence" supported by the government and church, they would continue to advocate for LGBT rights. Videos of the mobs showed some priests joining the protests.Īfter the march was canceled, priests chanted and people danced to Georgian folk songs in front of the parliament building. The Georgian Orthodox Church had also called on supporters to gather against the Pride march. He also claimed that the "radical opposition" led by exiled former President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement was behind the march and sought to create "unrest." "We demand that the Georgian authorities thoroughly investigate these attacks and bring swift justice to those involved."Įarlier on July 5, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said it was inappropriate to hold a Pride march, arguing that it would create confrontation and was "unacceptable for a large segment of the Georgian society." "There is no justification for acts of violence against journalists who are simply doing their jobs, especially in a democracy," Fly said in a statement. RFE/RL President Jamie Fly condemned the attacks on journalists with RFE/RL's Georgian Service and other members of the press. In a statement announcing the march had been called off, Tbilisi Pride accused the government and church of emboldening a "huge wave of hate" against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and failing to protect citizens' rights.