WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group has suspended its benchmark equality and inclusion rating for Anheuser-Busch, citing the brewer’s handling of hateful and transphobic backlash to its association with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney last month.
The Human Rights Campaign has informed the maker of Bud Light that it has suspended scoring from the company’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index, a tool that measures corporate policies, practices and benefits related to the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender employees. and queer, in May. 9, according to a letter shared with The Associated Press on Friday.
The suspension of Anheuser-Busch’s CEI score means the company “is no longer entitled to use the ‘Best Places to Work’ distinction,” the HRC letter says. Before the suspension, Anheuser-Busch had a CEI score of 100, the highest rating in the group.
“What we’re seeing here is an example of companies making the decision to have and build inclusive marketing, which is great, but a company has to stand behind those decisions,” Eric Bloem, HRC senior director of programs and corporate advocacy. he 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 an Instagram video of herself cracking open a Bud Light.
A cascade of criticism and hate soon erupted around the video, especially among conservative figures, with Kid Rock posting a video of himself filming boxes of Bud Light and others calling for a boycott of the brand. In the weeks that followed, sales of the beer brand also fell slightly, and two Anheuser-Busch marketing executives were absent.
In an April 14 statement, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We’re in the business of getting people together for a beer.”
However, Anheuser-Busch’s actions and Whitworth’s statement did not indicate clear support for Mulvaney or directly address the transphobic rhetoric perpetuated during the backlash, raising concerns among the LGBTQ+ community and activists. Meaningful solidarity is especially important at a time when dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are being enacted 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 its support for Mulvaney, as well as transgender customers, shareholders and employees. The group also called on the company to hold a “meaningful conversation” with LGBTQ+ employees about their concerns and recommended actions for leadership and to conduct transgender inclusion training in the workplace for executives.
HRC said it received no response from Anheuser-Busch, the advocacy group said, prompting the May 9 letter informing the company of the suspension of its CEI score. To date, Bloem said Friday, HRC has yet to hear from the company, but the organization’s goal is to work with the company and “discuss strategies for coming out and reaffirming 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 in various communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community.” The Bud Light maker, which is part of Belgium-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, did not comment on HCR’s letters.
It took Mulvaney a few weeks to comment publicly on the backlash, but he posted a video to his Instagram page in late April thanking supporters, but did not mention Bud Light by name in the post.
USA TODAY first reported the suspension of Anheuser-Busch’s CEI rating on Thursday.
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AP business writer Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.