LGBTQ+ bars in Chicago have boycotted Bud Light after Anheuser-Bush backpedalled their support of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Back in April, the beloved TikTok star took to her social media channels to promote Bud Light’s March Madness contest whilst simultaneously celebrating her first year living as a woman.
While many of her fans celebrated the wholesome partnership, conservative individuals announced their boycott of popular beer while also spewing harmful anti-trans rhetoric.
Country singer Kid Rock filmed himself shooting several Bud Light cases with a submachine gun, while anti-LGBTQ+, Trump-loving gun advocate Marjorie Taylor Greene barbarically described Mulvaney as “one of the biggest paedophiles in America today.”
Following the bigot-led backlash, Bud Light CEO Brendan Whitworth released a blanket statement that refrained from calling out the anti-trans hate towards Mulvaney.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people, we are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” he said on 14 April.
“I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. I spend much of my time travelling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors and others.”
A few weeks after Whitworth’s lacklustre statement, Anheuser-Bush CEO Michel Doukeris informed the company’s investors that Mulvaney’s Bud Light video was not part of a “formal campaign or advertisement.”
Due to Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch’s lack of support for the beloved trans influencer, various LGBTQ+ bars in Chicago have announced their own boycott of Bud Light.
2Bears Tavern Group slammed Anheuser-Busch’s “abandonment” of Mulvaney in a lengthy post on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
“Anheuser-Busch’s decision to drop its support of Mulvaney in repose to ignorant and hateful objections by some of its customers shows how little Anheuser-Busch’s cares about the LGBTQIA+ community, and in particular transgender people, who have been under unrelenting attack in this country,” they wrote.
“2Bears Tavern Group is discontinuing all Anheuser-Busch InBev products, including Busch Light, Bud Light, and Goose Island 321.”
Sidetrack bar echoed similar sentiments in their own Instagram statement.
“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,” the LGBTQ+ business wrote.
“Until then, Sidetrack will continue to partner with brands that work to give back to the LGBTQ+ community and lift voices of all its members. Sidetrack stands with other Chicago LGBTQ+-owned bars and businesses that have also dropped Anheuser-Busch products.”
2Bears Tavern Group and Sidetrack’s announcements come a week after Mulvaney broke her weeks-long silence regarding the Bud Light controversy.
“A lot has been said about me. Some of which is so far from my truth that I was hearing my name, and I didn’t know who they were talking about sometimes,” she explained to her 10.8 million followers on TikTok.
“What I’m struggling with most is that I grew up in a conservative family, and I’m extremely privileged because they still love me very much,” she added.
“And I think it’s okay to be frustrated with someone or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel. I just, I don’t think that’s right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”
View this post on Instagram
Latest
