Adam Levin, owner of the parent company of Pride Media which publishes The Advocate and Out, has been caught donating to anti-LGBTQ politicians. And it’s not the first time.
From Wil Kohler at Back2Stonewall:
OpenSecrets, a website that tracks political donations, shows that Levin, gave $2,800 each to two extremely anti-LGBT Republican Senate incumbents North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Montana Sen. Steve Daines.
In 2018, Levin who happens to be straight was busted about his previous donations to anti-LGBT Republicans Devin Nunes, Dean Heller, Josh Mandel, and Dana Rohrabacher and pledged never again to donate to anti-LGBT politicians.
OpenSecrets shows no record of Levin’s support for pro-LGBT candidates this time around.
Senators Tillis and Daines both have abysmal records when it comes to LGBTQ rights and protections.
The Human Rights Campaign scored both senators at zero in the recent Congressional Scorecard.
Both refused to support the Equality Act and other pro-LGBTQ legislation but voted in support of anti-LGBTQ judges and cabinet members.
Tillis supported North Carolina’s Amendment One in 2012 which banned same-sex marriage. As Speaker of the House in North Carolina, he pledged to fight federal recognition of marriage equality. He also co-sponsored the First Amendment Defense Act, which would prohibit the federal government from enforcing anti-discrimination protections in situations where people claimed their discriminatory actions were based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Daines co-sponsored the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act in 2013, which would allow religious freedom to justify anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In 2014, he signed on as co-sponsored for the State Marriage Defense Act which would bar same-sex married couples from having access to state benefits.
When Levin’s donations came to light in 2018, Nathan Coyle, then-CEO of Pride Media, justified the donations to anti-gay politicians as being “pro-Israel.”
At the time, Coyle (who’s openly gay) told Queerty, “Someone who happens to be pro-Israel but who has also expressed support for anti-LGBTQ policies or legislation will no longer be receiving any political donations from Adam Levin.”
And yet, here we are.
