As brands pull out of Pride, this beer maker is giving $25k directly to trans people
It's not just you—Pride is a lot less corporate this year, and one company sees it as an opportunity to adjust how it serves the LGBTQ+ community during June.
What was once a month full of colorful ads, temporary rainbow-hued logos, and big-name brands committing ad dollars and sponsorship money to Pride efforts throughout June, is now seeing big businesses dialing down their monetary support for Pride initiatives, fearing political backlash.
Companies like Target, Walmart, PepsiCo, and Anheuser-Busch, have largely r olled back their pride-themed products and donations to pride-related events.
But not all companies are pulling their pride initiatives—and one New York brewery is taking an entirely different approach to how businesses actually show up for the LGTBQ+ community. This month, Williamsburg-based Brooklyn Brewery will be giving away 25 grants of $1,000 each to trans, nonbinary, or two-spirit New Yorkers.
In an email to Fast Company, Brooklyn Brewery president Robin Ottaway said direct donations to members of a vulnerable community —who overall had higher odds than their cisgender counterparts for income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level— felt like a better way to use money that would typically go to ads.
OR, —where 22%, or 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ adults in the United States live in poverty, compared to an estimated 16% of their straight and cisgender counterparts—
'We looked at what we'd typically spend on advertising during Pride Month and realized that money could have a much more meaningful impact if it went directly to the people who need it most,' Ottaway wrote. 'Instead of running flashy ads we are choosing to redirect that [money] into direct aid.'
For the effort, called Brooklyn Brewery Supports, the company is partnering with Angelica Christina, an LGBTQ+ activist who serves on the board of the nonprofit Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. Christina has worked with the brewery in the past through the organization's Certified Safe Space initiative, as well as for the brewery's Stonewall IPA—which has been the official beer of NYC Pride's events for the past three years.
'Trans folks, non-binary, and two spirit folks are often denied job opportunities or denied access to affordable housing,' Christina says. 'I am a formerly homeless person, and so I know how difficult it is to survive in such a large metropolitan city like New York, especially when you're pushed into the brink of poverty.'
Christina is leading the effort's outreach to the city's trans community to get word out about the grants. She'll ultimately help choose recipients and share their stories on social media, if they're willing.
To apply, people can either nominate themselves or someone else (21 or older) via a Google form that includes space to explain what a nominee plans to do with grant money. Christina notes that the money will ideally help recipients with rent, medical bills, groceries, and other basic needs.
She says the brewery's focus on direct aid and connection with the city's LGBTQ+ community was what sold her on the partnership when Brooklyn Brewery approached her about it.
'There is not a day that goes by where Brooklyn Brewery does not support this community,' Christina said. 'Whereas other corporations will put up a pride flag for Pride Month, but then for the rest of the year, we're ignored.'
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