Anheuser-Busch's Complicated Relationship With the LGBTQ+ Community
untouched displays of Budweiser products were rampant on social media as the company's stock price tanked in the fallout of what some described as an egregious misreading of their company's demographic.
Some family-friendly events featuring Budweiser's famous Clydesdale horses were even canceled after company representatives received threats of violence over perceptions of being overly friendly toward the transgender community.Here's a look at Anheuser-Busch's history with the LGBTQ+ community.Anheuser-Busch was considered one of the nation's most LGBTQ-friendly companies long before the recent dust-up over its brand partnership with Mulvaney.The brand has often teamed up with LGBTQ-friendly events like Pride—even receiving a perfect '100' score from the Human Rights Campaign's annual Corporate Equality Index in 2015—and became one of the first major beer brands with LGBTQ+-inclusive advertising in 1995, albeit only in magazines tailored to the gay community, according to a 1999 fact check by the website Snopes.
The company has also had a longstanding relationship with LGBTQ+ organization GLAAD, and has regularly featured same-sex couples in its advertisingThe brand also made waves with a 2016 advertising campaign featuring brand ambassadors Joe Rogen and Amy Schumer attending a wedding between two same-sex partners in celebration of a Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationally, drawing threats of a boycott by conservatives. (The ad campaign was called off prematurely after backlash, according to media reports at the time.) And in 2017, it was notably critical of organizers of Boston's Saint Patrick's Day Parade after they barred an LGBTQ veteran's group from participation in the day's.
