Report: McDonald's, State Farm Present as Allies While Franchisees, Agents Make Anti-LGTBQ Contributions

Though major corporations put on their allyship faces for the LGBTQ community – especially during Pride Month – they might still be contributing, directly or indirectly, to anti-LGBTQ causes.

Business Insider identified two major companies – McDonald's and State Farm – that proclaim themselves allies, even though their "agents, employees, and franchise owners" funneled "vast sums to legislators that backed some of the most anti-LGBT legislation passed this year."

Specifically, Business Insider examined donations to anti-LGBTQ state lawmakers in Arkansas, an especially egregious offender in this year's record-breaking wave of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ legislation. The outlet identified Arkansas as "the only state to pass legislation that aims to remove access to medical care and punish those who treat trans youth."

Agents, franchisees, and employees of both corporations "donated to the sponsors of Arkansas legislation using their company's name and branding since 2018," Business Insider revealed.

The article noted that fast food giant McDonald's similarly presents itself as "as a supportive ally of the LGBT+ community through various digital campaigns and media sponsorships," but noted that "McDonald's franchise owners donated a combined $35,000 to 52 of the sponsors of the anti-trans legislation since 2018 through the McDonald's Local Owner Operators of Arkansas PAC."

The Business Insider report was substantially similar to another recent report on corporations that wave a rainbow flag while anti-LGBTQ pols profit from largesse associated with their brands. As EDGE previously reported, a report posted by Popular Information "found that 25 major corporations have spent more than $10 million since 2019 supporting members of Congress with a zero rating on the latest Congressional scorecard produced by the Human Rights Campaign."

"These same corporations have also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to state legislators who have sponsored anti-trans legislation this year," the report added.

Some of these companies maintain good or even perfect scores at HRC Foundation's Corporate Equality Index because, as Popular Information explained, the Index "excludes political donations, enabling corporations to craft a pro-LGBTQ image while bankrolling politicians that are undermining LGBTQ rights."

Case in point: Pharmacy chain CVS Health, to which HRC awarded a perfect score, and which "tweeted that it was 'proud to join more than 100 companies that have signed HRC's Business Statement Opposing Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation" – even though "through its corporate PAC, CVS Health has recently supported the sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, including legislation that would criminalize providing gender-affirming medical care to adults and children."

Similarly, Comcast – which has gone so far as to create an online "virtual 'Pride World'" in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – "has donated more than $1.1 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2019," as detailed by Popular Information. "This includes more than $30,000 to the sponsors of anti-trans legislation introduced this year in Florida and Texas."

Companies cited by Public Information as rainbow washing their support for anti-LGBTQ lawmakers include Amazon, AT&T, Ford, General Motors, Google, The Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan, UPS, and Walgreens, among others.