Stonewall Inn Bans Anheuser-Busch Beers for Pride Weekend

The Stonewall Inn in New York City will not serve Anheuser-Busch beers during Pride weekend due to the beer giant’s donations to lawmakers behind bills that target transgender youth, according to The Hill.

The organization Keep Your Pride, under the umbrella Corporate Accountability Action, recently shared information on political donations by large corporations (including NBC, GM, AT&T and Coke) to “231 lawmakers who support Anti-LGBTQ agendas.” Of note: Donations to 29 “anti-LGBTQ extremist” legislators by Anheuser-Busch, totaling over $35,000. The beer company owns big brands like Budweiser, Busch and Stella Artois, as well as craft brands like Blue Point.

“You can’t turn your logo rainbow on social media, call yourself an ally, and then turn around and make donations that fuel hate. There are really no excuses, and companies like Anheuser-Busch need to own up to what they’ve done,” Stonewall Inn co-owner Stacy Lentz said in a statement, as reported by The Hill.

In a statement, Anheuser-Busch responded, “Our company and our brands are focused on making a positive and lasting impact when it comes to issues of equality. We’re proud of our 22-year partnership with GLAAD, an organization working to shape the narrative and encourage dialogue around LGBTQ+ acceptance, and we are proud to have received a perfect 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for LGBTQ Equality. We support candidates that support the beer industry and the millions of jobs that it creates.” (Some of A-B’s partnerships are explained by the company here.)

Drinkers and activists at the landmark bar — the first designated LGBTQ+ monument in America and the site of the 1969 Stonewall Riots — poured out cases of Anheuser-Busch beers on Wednesday.

The owners of the Stonewall Inn recently launched The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), which seeks to “identify entertainment venues, food and beverage locations, stores, businesses and other public venues, as Safe Spaces for LGBTQ+ members of the community.”