XPost: alt.business.accountability, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.transgendered   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: kill_budweiser@inbev.com   
      
   On 19 Dec 2021, Rudy Canoza  posted some   
   news:uzOvJ.166155$1d1.154919@fx99.iad:   
      
   > Shareholders need to have some executives executed for this.   
      
   The country’s largest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights has suspended its   
   benchmark equality and inclusion rating for Anheuser-Busch, citing the   
   beer company’s handling of the hate-filled and transphobic backlash to its   
   partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney last month.   
      
   The Human Rights Campaign informed the Bud Light maker that it suspended   
   the company’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index score — a tool that measures   
   corporate policies, practices and benefits related to the well-being of   
   lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees — on May 9,   
   according to a letter shared with the The Associated Press on Friday.   
      
   The suspension of Anheuser-Busch’s CEI score means that the company “no   
   longer has the right to use the ‘Best Places to Work’ distinction,” HRC’s   
   letter says. Prior to the suspension, Anheuser-Busch had a CEI score of   
   100, the group’s top rating.   
      
   “What we’re seeing play out here is an example of companies making a   
   decision to have and construct inclusive marketing, which is great — but a   
   business should be standing by those decisions,” Eric Bloem, HRC’s senior   
   director of programs and corporate advocacy, told The Associated Press.   
   “The Anheuser-Busch (case) is a textbook example of what not to do.”   
      
   On April 1, as part of a March promotional contest for the beer brand,   
   Mulvaney posted a Instagram video of herself cracking open a Bud Light.   
      
   A cascade of criticism and hate surrounding the video soon erupted,   
   notably among conservative figures — with Kid Rock posting a video of   
   himself shooting cases of Bud Light and others calling for a boycott of   
   the brand. In the following weeks, the beer brand’s sales also fell   
   slightly and two marketing executives at Anheuser-Busch took a leave of   
   absence.   
      
   In an April 14 statement, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said that   
   the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides   
   people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”   
      
   Anheuser-Busch’s actions and Whitworth’s statement did not not signal   
   clear support for Mulvaney, however, or directly address the transphobic   
   rhetoric perpetuated during the backlash — sparking concerns among the   
   LGBTQ+ community and activists. Meaningful solidarity is especially   
   important in a time where dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are signed into law   
   across the country, Bloem added.   
      
   In an April 26 letter, also seen by the AP, HRC called on Anheuser-Busch   
   to issue a public statement expressing support for Mulvaney as well as   
   transgender customers, shareholders and employees. The group also asked   
   the company to hold a “meaningful conversation” with LGBTQ+ employees   
   about their concerns and recommended actions for leadership and conduct a   
   workplace transgender inclusion training for executives.   
      
   Related Video   
      
   HRC said it received no response from Anheuser-Busch, the advocacy group   
   said, prompting the May 9 letter informing the company of its CEI score   
   suspension. To date, Bloem said Friday, HRC has still not heard from the   
   company — but the organization’s goal is to work with the company and   
   “discuss strategies to show up and reaffirm that support for the LGBTQ+   
   community.”   
      
   Anheuser-Busch said Friday that the company remains “committed to the   
   programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations   
   to drive economic prosperity across a number of communities, including   
   those in the LGBTQ+ community.” The Bud Light maker, which is part of the   
   Belgium-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, did not address HCR’s   
   letters.   
      
   Mulvaney took a few weeks before commenting publicly on the backlash — but   
   posted a video to her Instagram page at the end of April thanking   
   supporters, but did not mentioning Bud Light by name in the post.   
      
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)