Philip Anschutz, who owns AEG, the company which produces the yearly Coachella concert in southern California, has given money to anti-gay organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and the National Christian Foundation, according to the organization Freedom for All Americans (FFAA). The infographic has resurfaced after it was announced that Beyonce would be headlining the concert.
Anschutz is a billionaire who owns several media properties, and his company AEG owns sports teams and concert venues.
The Alliance Defending Freedom is an organization that opposes LGBT rights through litigation and was co-founded by James Dobson. It was described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “virulently anti-gay.” According to the FFAA, Anschutz gave them $110,000 between 2010 and 2013.
The Family Research Council, founded by James Dobson, is a think tank listed as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The organization has lobbied against LGBT rights and argues that LGBT rights is a cover for promoting pedophilia. A senior fellow of the FRC advocated making gay sex illegal again in 2010. The FFAA says Anschutz gave this group $30,000 between 2011 and 2013.
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The National Christian Foundation is a set of funds for conservative donors and has given tens of millions of dollars to the Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family (another anti-gay group founded by James Dobson), and the Family Research Council. Anschutz gave them $50,000 between 2011 and 2013.
Anschutz’s conservative activism has been known for years. A 2009 Politico article about how two of his publications – the Weekly Standard and the Washington Examiner – described them both as unprofitable but that Anschutz maintained ownership in order to advance his political beliefs.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct a misspelling of Anschutz’s name.
