This comes after the internet erupted this time last year with calls to boycott Coachella, when it was revealed the Anschutz Foundation was giving to notorious anti-LGBTQ groups like the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “the most important anti-gay lobby in this country.” And while the foundation’s latest charitable filing shows they’ve dropped some of their most recognizable anti-gay grantees, Anschutz conservative, homophobic streak remains. 

As recently as 2016, Anschutz Foundation gave $185,000 to Young Life, a Christian youth ministry that has effectively banned LGBTQ people from its membership. Another $25,000 went to Movieguide Awards, an annual awards show that includes a rating system ranking films’ “homosexual worldview.”

We might not be able to topple Anschutz’s media empire: besides owning AEG, he also owns the Staples Center, and Los Angeles’ professional soccer and hockey teams. What we can do is make sure that Anschutz’s anti-LGBTQ advocacy is overwhelmed by donations from artists and festival-goers to progressive organizations working for LGBTQ rights. 

And Anschutz doesn’t just have a problem with LGBTQ rights. His foundation’s 2016 filings show donations to NumbersUSA Education & Research -- an “immigration-reduction organization” -- and to the Koch Brothers’ nonprofit Americans for Prosperity. 

What was Anschutz’s response to critiques of his conservative bankrolling? “Fake news,” he said. And while his foundation claimed it would cut funding to any groups “that violate principles that are important to us,” their tax filings say otherwise. Clearly, it’s up to us to hold Anschutz accountable.   

From Lorde’s celebration of same-sex marriage to Beyoncé’s Super Bowl hat tip to the Black Panther Party, the music industry is filled with some of the most progressive voices in pop culture. That’s why we can’t sit by while socially-conscious artists like Beyoncé stay silent while the festivals they perform at are helping fund anti-progressive causes. It’s time for all of us to come together to make a statement: we won’t stand for homophobia in the music industry.