#LGBTCoachella
This morning, Consequence of Sound reported that the owner of Coachella, Philip Anschutz, has donated vast sums of money to anti-LGBT causes.
Specifically, he financially supported Colorado’s Amendment 2, which would have allowed private property owners and employers to discriminate against LGBT people. According to the Washington Post, he has also donated to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the National Christian Foundation, and the Family Research Council, all of which staunchly oppose LGBT rights.
Many LGBT people have performed at Coachella in the past, and many will perform this year. Philip Anschutz is hiring LGBT artists to perform at his festival, collecting millions in admission fees from LGBT fans, and using that money to undermine LGBT rights.
So, what can we do?
A straight-up boycott of Coachella is untenable. This year’s festival sold out within seconds. And I don’t believe that there’s anything to be gained from refusing to support the many LGBT artists who will be performing.
But the New York City band Show Me the Body have publicly denounced Philip Anschutz’s homophobia, and will hold a special benefit performance prior to Coachella to benefit homeless LGBT youth.
That sounds like a good idea to me, and I think more Coachella artists need to get on board, publicly denounce Philip Anschutz’s homophobia, and – if it is within their means – donate a portion of their proceeds to benefit LGBT people.
To that end, I’ve compiled a complete list of every artist that will be performing at Coachella, along with links to their Twitter and Facebook profiles. I’ve also included links to the Twitter and Facebook profiles of record labels whose artists are performing at Coachella.
Keep in mind that @ing a label can be more effective and direct than @ing an artist, as label accounts are routinely monitored by dedicated social media staff.
There are about 300 links in total. This literally took me three hours. I would dearly, dearly appreciate it if you would take a moment to send the #LGBTCoachella hashtag to your favourite artists and labels, and ask them to make some gesture to materially benefit the LGBT community. You can also send them this link to the article exposing Anschutz’s homophobic donations.
Thank you so much in advance; please reblog and share this post and the Google Doc.
Links to the Twitter and Facebook profiles of nearly every artist and label on the Coachella roster are in this Google Doc.