Chicago LGBTQ bars stop selling Bud Light over brand's reversal on trans rights
Bud Light is alienating everyone following Dylan Mulvaney pushback
A number of Chicago's LGBTQ bars announced Thursday they will discontinue Anheuser-Busch InBev products after the brewing company failed to publicly reaffirm its support for the transgender community amid the Dylan Mulvaney pushback from conservatives.
“Anheuser-Busch's decision to drop its support of Mulvaney in response to ignorant and hateful objections by some of its customers shows how little Anheuser-Busch cares about the LGBTQIA+ community, and in particular transgender people, who have been under unrelenting attack in this country,” Mark Robertson and Mike Sullivan, the co-owners of 2Bears Tavern Group, said in a statement posted to social media.
“Since Anheuser-Busch does not support us, we will not support it," they said in the statement.
The bar group owns 2Bears Tavern Uptown, Jackhammer, Meeting House Tavern, and The Sofo Tap.
Shortly after the 2Bears announcement, Sidetrack, the largest gay bar in the Midwest, announced it would also cease selling Bud, Bud Light and Goose Island 312.
"Sidetrack appreciates the relationships that have developed with the brands that support us," bar management said in a statement released to GoPride.com. "However, we must also hold brands accountable if they take active steps against LGTBQ+ equality, visibility, and safety."
Sidetrack owners Art Johnston and Jose Pepé Peña are long-time LGBTQ rights advocates. Johnston is co-founder of Equality Illinois, the state's oldest and largest LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Roscoe's Tavern, another popular LGBTQ destination in Chicago, stopped selling Anheuser-Busch products in 2010, Vice President of Operations Brenden Chrisman confirmed to GoPride.com.
Several other bars along North Halsted Street in Chicago's primarily LGBTQ Northalsted neighborhood have yet to respond to inquiries.
Bud Light backlash after trans social media promotion
In April, Bud Light began a marketing partnership with Mulvaney, a prominent transgender influencer, which prompted an anti-trans backlash and a boycott of the brand by conservatives.
Later in a statement CEO Brendan Whitworth said, “we never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
Many in the LGBTQ community, including the Human Rights Campaign, criticized Whitworth and Bud Light for falling short of addressing the harassment Mulvaney faced - and for not being more vocal in support of the entire community.
The CEO’s statement “was tantamount to saying that the rights and safety of transgender people are topics worthy of debate. They are not. You cannot claim to support the LGBTQIA+ community if you don't support the T,” said 2Bears Tavern Group.
Sidetrack said the CEO’s statement “wrongfully validates the position that it is acceptable to acquiesce to the demands of those who do not support the trans community.”
Anheuser-Busch is also receiving renewed backlash over the company’s past donations to anti-LGBTQ politicians.
LGBTQ pushback against Bud Light
The decision by 2Bears Tavern Group and Sidetrack, which is the first known boycott of the beer brand by LGBTQ-owned bars and businesses, comes at a pivotal time for transgender rights. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 40 new anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law this year, with most targeting the transgender community.
At least 10 transgender and gender-nonconforming people have been killed this year, according to HRC data.
2Bears Tavern Group statement in full
In view of Anheuser-Busch InBev's abandonment of its support of transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, the subsequent reprehensible and divisive comments by its CEO, and Anheuser-Busch putting on involuntary leave at least two marketing executives involved in the marketing campaign that celebrated Mulvaney's transgender journey, 2Bears Tavern Group is discontinuing all Anheuser-Busch InBev products, including Busch Light, Bud Light, and Goose Island 312.
Anheuser-Busch's decision to drop its support of Mulvaney in response to ignorant and hateful objections by some of its customers shows how little Anheuser-Busch cares about the LGBTQIA+ community, and in particular transgender people, who have been under unrelenting attack in this country.
Its CEO's statement, in which he all but erased transgender people in favor of anti-trans vitriol, was cruel and hurtful. CEO Brendan Whitworth's excuse that Anheuser-Busch "never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people" was tantamount to saying that the rights and safety of transgender people are topics worthy of debate. They are not. You cannot claim to support the LGBTQIA+ community if you don't support the T. And saying that the rights and safety of transgender people are controversial says loud and clearly you don't support us. Whitworth went on to say he is " responsible for ensuring every customer feels proud of the beer [AB] brews, but we certainly do not feel proud of a beer or a company that chooses hate over acceptance and diversity. Since Anheuser-Busch does not support us, we will not support it.
We gave Anheuser-Busch some time to revisit its position hoping it would realize it acted in haste. It did not. Instead, it went further in the wrong direction, apparently seeking to punish the people who came up with the plan to recognize Mulvaney in the first place by placing several of them on leave. That speaks volumes as to how far AB will go to placate those in this country who sow hate and division.
Like Mr. Whitworth, we too have been taught "the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work, and respect for one another." However, it seems these words are lost on Mr. Whitworth and Anheuser-Busch, for true freedom, hard work, and respect would mean honoring Ms. Mulvaney's journey and the entire LGBTQIA+ community in its fight for the same human rights as those enjoyed by the people to whom Anheuser-Busch apparently prefers to market and sell its products.
Sidetrack statement in full
For 41 years Sidetrack has encouraged liquor and beer companies that have wished to garner the LGBTQ+ customer base to actively support our community. For many years, there were very few companies that were willing to risk this sort of exposure. Sidetrack appreciates the relationships that have developed with the brands that support us. This support helped to fund initiatives to pass city and state-wide human rights ordinances in Chicago and Illinois to include the LGBTQ+ community. Sidetrack continues to be encouraged by the increase in support from brands to the LGBTQ+ Community over the last 4 decades as the country's support for the LGBTQ+ Community has increased.
However, we must also hold brands accountable if they take active steps against LGTBQ+ equality, visibility, and safety.
Bud Light's recent decision to drop the Dylan Mulvaney campaign, to put on "leave" those who created it, as well as the statement by its CEO, wrongfully validates the position that it is acceptable to acquiesce to the demands of those who do not support the Trans Community and wish to erase LGBTQ+ visibility. In light of this, Sidetrack will cease the sale of Anheuser Busch products including Bud, Bud Light and Goose Island 312.
Until Anheuser-Busch can clearly demonstrate that they will not acquiesce to the voices of hate that wish to erase LGBTQ+ existence, Sidetrack will continue to boycott their products. Until then, Sidetrack will continue to partner with brands that work to give back to the LGBTQ+ Community and lift the voices of all its members. Sidetrack stands with other Chicago LGBTQ+ owned bars and businesses that have also dropped Anheuser Busch products.
