Coachella Co-Owner’s Latest Charitable Filing Shows Deep Anti-LGBTQ Ties

As Coachella gears up for its 2018 edition, featuring headliners Beyoncé, the Weeknd, and Eminem, new evidence of links to right-wing causes continue to emerge. In July 2016, the LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans reported that the charitable organization founded by Philip Anschutz, who owns Coachella organizer Goldenvoice and half of the festival itself through his entertainment company AEG, gave $190,000 to anti-gay groups between 2010 and 2013. The Anschutz Foundation’s tax filings later confirmed those claims, and in January 2017, right when Coachella tickets went on sale, the news went viral, drawing condemnation and prompting a #BoycottCoachella hashtag on social media.

At that time, Anschutz released a personal statement that read, in part, “Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news—it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation.” He added that he had immediately stopped giving to certain groups upon learning of their support for anti-gay causes.

Though the donations the Anschutz Foundation made in 2017 after the release of that statement are not yet available, Pitchfork has obtained the Foundation's latest annual tax filing, which goes from December 2015 through November 2016. It details the dispersal of $63.7 million in grants. This newly uncovered filing shows that in 2016, the Anschutz Foundation stopped giving to the three groups at the center of the original uproar: Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Research Council, and National Christian Foundation. But they did give to a number of other organizations that have a history of making anti-LGBTQ statements.

Here are five examples:

The Navigators ($40,000; donation dated November 15, 2016) A 2013 document on their website lists being LGBTQ alongside incest and sexual abuse as behavior leading to “sexual brokenness.”

Dare 2 Share Ministries ($50,000; August 23, 2016) Greg Stier, who’s named on this group’s website as its founder and CEO, wrote on the site in a 2008 blog post, “Homosexuality is a Satanic perversion of God’s gift of sex.”

Young Life ($185,000; June 21 and November 15, 2016) This Christian youth ministry’s website has a 2017 policy stating that anyone who is “sexually active outside of a heterosexual marriage relationship” shouldn’t work or volunteer for the organization.

Center for Urban Renewal and Education ($25,000; August 23, 2016) This group’s founder and president, Star Parker, said on “Fox & Friends” last year that the Confederate flag and the rainbow LGBTQ pride flag “represent the exact same thing.” She has also said that gay marriage and legal abortion show that "we're sick as a country."

Movieguide Awards ($25,000; July 19, 2016) This annual awards show is held by Movieguide, a reviews site that includes varying degrees of “homosexual worldview” in its ratings criteria. In a 2012 article on the site, Movieguide founder Ted Baehr and editor Tom Snyder referred to “evils like adultery, rape, homosexuality, lying, arrogance, theft, murder, and malice.” They also wrote, “Kirk Cameron was perfectly correct when he said homosexuality is ‘unnatural’ and ‘destructive.’”

(None of the above groups responded to Pitchfork’s requests for comment prior to deadline.)

When reached for comment, Anschutz’s lawyer offered the following statement:

One year ago we stated publicly that we unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation. We stand by those words and reaffirm the commitment we made at that time that The Anschutz Foundation would not knowingly fund any organization that would support anti-LGBTQ initiatives.

Over the past year, the Foundation has stopped funding certain organizations after it was brought to our attention that some of their activities were inconsistent with our values. This is an ongoing process in which we continue to investigate the organizations that we support, as some of these groups may have initiatives that extend beyond the scope of the objectives sought by the Foundation in supporting them. We are proud of the progress we have made in this regard, but there is always room for improvement to ensure the charitable giving of the Foundation does not unintentionally extend to groups that violate principles that are important to us. The Foundation receives requests for donations from thousands of organizations every year and donates to approximately 800 entities annually. If our systems have failed to identify some activities that we do not support, we will stop funding those organizations as we learn more.

On occasion, it has been brought to our attention that certain groups previously supported by the Foundation may have policies or practices relating to the LGBTQ community that could be of concern. In those situations, we carefully assess the concerns to determine if in fact any organization we have supported is taking positions or practicing policies that are intolerant of, or discriminatory toward, the LGBTQ community. If we find problematic activities, we first look to work with those organizations to effectuate positive change if we perceive they are open to hearing and responding to our feedback. Ultimately, if these efforts prove unsatisfactory, we will withdraw further support from those groups.”

Overall, the 2016 filings show that the Anschutz Foundation gave to dozens of conservative and libertarian organizations. They include Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the industrialist Koch brothers; the Federalist Society, the conservative legal network that Trump has given an unprecedented role in picking federal judges, and NumbersUSA Education & Research, which calls itself an “immigration-reduction organization.” The Foundation also supports Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes cannabis legalization. (Coachella has banned marijuana, despite the drug now being legal in California.)

Anschutz has long been known as a supporter of conservative causes. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he personally gave more than $1 million in support of Republicans during the 2016 election cycle, though none of it went to President Trump. He gave almost $200,000 to Republicans in 2017. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed by Trump last year, also has long-standing connections to Anschutz.

Along with Coachella, Goldenvoice runs several other festivals, including Panorama, FYF, and Camp Flog Gnaw. AEG’s massive live-entertainment division has promoted tours by the Rolling Stones, Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Elton John, and Bruno Mars, to name only a handful.

Gifts to conservative politicians aren’t unusual among live music moguls. James Dolan, who founded and controls Madison Square Garden Company, and John Malone, whose Liberty Media owns a large stake in Live Nation Entertainment (as well as Sirius XM Radio), are both Trump donors, records show.

Last April, Coachella founder and Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett told The New Yorker that he was “offended” by the headlines about the Anschutz Foundation’s political contributions. (Tollett declined to comment when contacted by Pitchfork for this story.) “I’m telling you, these types of things can kill you,” Tollett told The New Yorker, discussing Anschutz’s use of the term “fake news” to address the controversy. “There are big ships that go down over small things. You’re riding high, but one wrong thing and you’re voted off the island. It’s scary.”