Comcast gave $1M to politicians supporting anti-LGBTQ bills
Comcast has donated to opponents of LGBTQ rights despite signing a collective corporate statement against anti-LGBTQ state legislation.
For Pride month, Comcast highlighted its support of LGBTQ communities:
It hosted its “first-ever Pride summit” for employees. It launched new features to spotlight LGBTQ programming on Xfinity, where viewers could say “Pride” into their voice remote to access a curated list of TV and movies. And NBCUniversal, Comcast’s subsidiary, ran a “Pride s Universal” campaign to celebrate LGBTQ trailblazers.
It also signed a strong statement against anti-LGBTQ state legislation written by Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit advocating for the rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.
But since 2022, Comcast has also contributed more than $1 million to politicians supporting anti-LGBTQ bills, according to a report from Popular Information, the accountability journalism newsletter run by Judd Legum.
Those contributions, totaling $1,046,000, include:
$5,000 to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican who has signed at least seven anti-LGBTQ bills, including a ban on drag shows that are “harmful to minors” and on gender-affirming care for minors.
$5,000 to U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), who has headlined a rally against gender-affirming care and called for an investigation into Bud Light’s partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
$300,000 to the Republican Governors Association and $158,500 to the Republican State Leadership Committee, which support politicians dismantling queer and trans rights around the country.
Comcast did not respond to requests for comment.
Last year, more than 300 Comcast NBCUniversal employees signed a petition calling their employer’s support of such politicians hypocritical and asking them to reconsider.
“For the diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and world Comcast/NBCUniversal publicly declares allegiance to, we ask that these antithetical donations be acknowledged, internally and externally, and that the company pledge to reevaluate the criteria used to make political donations accordingly,” the petition read.
More than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year, which the Human Rights Campaign says is the most ever. Nearly half of those bills target the trans and nonbinary community. State legislators have voted to pass 70 anti-LGBTQ bills this year.
Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News and a former member of Comcast’s Joint Diversity Council, declined to address the campaign contributions directly but emphasized the progress the corporation had made on LGBTQ equality. He noted that the Human Rights Campaign regularly ranks Comcast high on its Corporate Equality Index and that Comcast prioritizes working with LGBTQ-run vendors.
“Comcast’s investment in all parts of LGBT community have been substantial, from increasing workplace inclusivity and ending invisibility, support for Marriage Equality before the Supreme Court decision, and continued support of the Equality Act in the U.S. Congress,” he said in a statement. “They have done a tremendous amount to increase LGBT inclusivity and they’ll continue to lead that charge, and learn from the past.”
Comcast has also contributed to campaigns and PACs of politicians supporting the expansion of LGBTQ rights. Those officials include Rep. Mark Takano (D., Calif.) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis.), both sponsors of the Equality Act, which would outlaw LGBTQ discrimination.
In 2021 and 2022, Comcast’s PAC spent $3.4 million supporting federal candidates directly and through their PACs, with a nearly even spend across Democrats and Republicans, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the nonprofit OpenSecrets.
GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said corporate allyship was more important than ever as attacks on LGBTQ rights continue.
“Corporate accountability does not begin and end with employee benefits and hiring practices,” Ellis said in a statement. “It extends to how a corporation spends its dollars, philanthropic and political.”