I left the U.S. in May of 1969— My own personal boycott of the War Against Vietnam and of Nixon's presidency. A year later I had driven a VW van across Europe, Turkey and Iran and was hanging out in Afghanistan. The water wasn't safe to drink there. The U.S. consulates told travelers to boil the water, let it cool down and then boil it a second time before drinking it. So I was drinking a lot of Coca Cola made in Pakistan or India.
One day I went to the post office to see if I had any mail from back home. And I did; it was a letter from my college buddy Helen. I went to the hippie hangout cafe in front of the Ministry of Finance and sat down to read it. She told me there had just been a massacre at Kent State and that the Republicans had killed many students. She also told me something else— something she doesn’t remember having ever heard of, let alone written. I remember it well, though because it changed my life. (No one I’ve ever spoken with remembers this having ever happened.) She wrote that in response to the shootings in Ohio, American students would stop buying Coke and Pepsi to destroy both companies, an act of revenge. Like I said, no one from back then remembers this ever happened. But I stopped drinking Coke, Pepsi and all the products they made. That was May, 1970. I’ve never had a sip of anything made by either company in the quarter century since. When I boycott, I boycott.
Yesterday, I read Judd Legum’s piece at Popular Information, These 25 rainbow-flag waving companies donated $18 million to anti-gay politicians since the last election. The first company Legum and co-writers Tesnim Zekeria and Rebecca Crosby took on was Deloitte. Several years ago my tax accountant, a Deloitte VP, retired and I moved my account to a smaller local firm. So there’s nothing I can do about Deloitte contributing vast sums of money to anti-LGBTQ politicians and to political organizations with anti-LGBTQ agendas. But “Deloitte,” they wrote, “is not alone. Popular Information has identified 25 corporations that are highly rated on HRC's Corporate Equality Index and collectively donated at least $17,840,761 in support of federal and state anti-gay politicians.”
AT&T has donated at least $1,269,650 to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2022
Comcast has donated at least $1,224,000 to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2022
Walmart has donated at least $965,000 to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2022
UnitedHealth has donated at least $1,028,750 to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2022
CVS has donated at least $1,079,485 to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2022
Legum included this chart:
I don’t use most of these companies but my supplementary insurance is by UnitedHealth (through AARP). I sent AARP and UnitedHeath a letter today asking them to take a look at this:
“[W]e proudly celebrate and embrace diversity and an inclusive culture,” UnitedHealth Group said this month.
The health insurer claimed its “commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion isn't just a one-month endeavor; it's part of every conversation and interaction in our workplace.” UnitedHealth Group also said that it was “honored” to have earned the distinction of being a “Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion” by HRC.
Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group advised employers to “create a culture that supports the LGBTQ+ community.” Providing comprehensive health benefits to LGBTQ+ employees, UnitedHealthcare argued, “is an important step employers can take to demonstrate their commitment to this population.”
But an analysis of campaign finance reports from November 2022 to the present day shows that UnitedHealth Group has donated at least $188,000 to 35 federal lawmakers who received a zero rating from HRC, $650,000 to the RGA, and $150,000 to the RSLC. UnitedHealth Group has also donated $40,750 to lawmakers in Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, and Tennessee who have championed anti-LGBTQ laws.
In Idaho, UnitedHealth Group backed the co-sponsors of H. 668, a bill that bans the use of public funds for gender-affirming care. Signed into law in March, the measure impacts nonbinary and trans residents who receive coverage through Medicaid or state insurance policies. The Idaho Capitol Sun reports that nearly 300,000 Idahoans are on Medicaid, and about 62,000 state employees— not including family members— are on state insurance plans.
Advocates have called the law discriminatory, with many pointing out that trans people are more likely to live in poverty. A 2023 survey by KFF found that “[a] larger share of trans adults have incomes below $50,000 per year than non-trans adults.” Trans people are also more likely to be uninsured than non-trans adults.
UnitedHealth Group did not respond to a request for comment.
This is the letter I sent them and cc-ed AARP on:
I am writing to express my deep concern over UnitedHealth Group's recent political contributions to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and organizations, as highlighted in a recent report by Popular Information (enclosed).
As a gay man and a politically active American, I was alarmed to learn that despite UnitedHealth Group's public commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the company has donated significant sums to federal and state politicians with anti-LGBTQ+ agendas. This includes $188,000 to 35 federal lawmakers who received a zero rating from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and $650,000 to the Republican Governors Association (RGA), among others.
UnitedHealth Group's public stance and these contributions are in stark contrast, particularly considering your statement that “commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion isn't just a one-month endeavor; it's part of every conversation and interaction in our workplace.” This contradiction is troubling for customers like me who value and support genuine inclusivity.
I urge UnitedHealth Group to reassess its political contributions and ensure they align with the company's stated values on LGBTQ+ rights. Transparency and consistency in corporate policies are essential for maintaining trust and credibility among your customers and the broader community.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response and any steps UnitedHealth Group will take to address these concerns before I am forced to consider alternatives for my insurance needs. As you can see from my record, I’ve been with your company for over 3 decades.
I have now spent hours on the phone with sympathetic employees of AAPR and UnitedHealth who have nothing to do with setting policy. But I haven’t given up yet.
Now I have to decide what to do about my supplemental health insurance. I’ve only been in a Walmart once in my life— just to see what it was like. But, a friend recently told me that they have better prices than Amazon and deliver just as fast. I was thinking of trying it. Now I won’t.
The only other companies I do use on this list are Amazon and Google, which are pretty all-pervasive. I have to think those two through because it seems almost impossible to stop using Google and it would take a lifestyle change to stop using Amazon… like the one I did in Afghanistan in 1970. Do I start using DuckDuckGo or Ecosia as alternative search engines, ProtonMail instead of gmail?
Why I have Ken Calvert’s picture up top
Calvert has had a perfect HRC score— zero, year after year after year. A congressional voting record can’t be more homophobic than Calvert’s. Two years ago, the Victory Fund wrote that “Calvert… is an insurrectionist who voted against certifying the 2020 Presidential election and investigating the Jan. 6th insurrection. In his 1994 re-election, he sent an anti-LGBTQ mailer outing now-U.S. Congressman Mark Takano and has voted against several pro-equality measures.” They endorsed his opponent, Will Rollins, a conservative Democrat.
Then his district was redrawn to include Palm Springs, a gay Mecca… and he has tried— at least around election time— to gloss over the decades of aggressive homophobia. However, sometimes, he can’t help himself. Last year Maeve Sheehey reported, for Bloomberg, “Calvert joined other GOP appropriators in rejecting funding for three LGBTQ centers that had been tucked into annual spending bills and adding a provision that would protect people with a ‘sincerely held religious belief’ opposing same-sex marriage. Such moves are being pushed by social conservatives emboldened by recent Supreme Court rulings and GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made opposing ‘woke culture’ a central campaign theme. The rightward tilt on these hot-button issue poses risks to those in the party such as Calvert who represent swing districts that include voters uneasy with attacks on same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ rights. ‘In Palm Springs, I don’t understand how he thinks he can win re-election by telling tens of thousands of us that we don’t deserve to eat when we get older,’ said Will Rollins, an openly gay Democrat who is seeking a rematch for Calvert’s seat.”
Calvert issued a statement claiming he “opposed funding the LGBTQ centers because of ‘political activism’ related to communism, a lack of age limits for gender-affirming care, and inappropriate material for children. ‘I believe most of my constituents, regardless of sexual orientation, do not believe that US taxpayer dollars should be used on activities that undermine the foundations of our country,’ he said in the statement. ‘I do not condone discrimination of any kind and I will always vote my conscience.’” The DCCC is targeting his district and has a good case to make about his extremism (including his homophobia).
Calvert, long one of Congress' most overtly corrupt members, is a major GOP campaign funds-vacuum and he gets money from most of the companies willing to underwrite the political homophobia they profess to oppose. Although his biggest single source of support is the AIPAC-assembled genocide lobby, Boeing, for example, is one of his biggest donors. He and his political action committee have gotten contributions from, among others, AT&T, Comcast, UPS… and UnitedHealth.
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