Best Buy pressured by shareholder to screen LGBTQ donations: Report

(NewsNation) — Best Buy employee resource groups won’t be able to donate to a handful of LGBTQIA+ causes if the tech company agrees to screen donations in response to pressure from one of its conservative shareholders.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published last week and first reported by NBC News, communications between Best Buy and the National Center for Public Policy Research revealed demands that the tech company end partnerships with and contributions to “eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives.”

The groups Best Buy was pressured to cut ties with are the The Trevor Project, Our Gay History in 50 States, GLAAD, GLSEN, GenderCool, SAGE, It Gets Better and CenterLink LGBTQ centers. The conservative think tank said in filings that if Best Buy didn’t end its partnerships, it would follow through with a shareholder proposal asking the retailer to explain how its partnerships with LGBTQ groups benefit the business.

One of the main causes the NCPPR fought against was any support for transgender care for minors, NBC News reported.

What wasn’t included in the NCPPR list, however, was the Human Rights Campaign. In an email, the NCPPR wrote that it understands “it is unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.”

While Best Buy wrote in the last correspondence of the filing that it gives its employee resource groups “some discretion” when it comes to donating to organizations, the tech company will now begin screening gifts “to ensure they do not advocate or support the causes or agendas” the NCPPR identified as concerning.

“At Best Buy, we strongly believe in an inclusive work environment with a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and has the opportunity to thrive. This commitment is evident through our longstanding and continuing support of organizations like HRC, which has recognized us as one of the best places to work for the LGBTQIA+ community for the past 18 years,” Best Buy spokesperson Carly Charlson told NBC News.

While it remains unclear whether an agreement was ever reached between the two companies, NBC News reported that a letter filed Wednesday confirmed the shareholder proposal will not be presented at Best Buy’s annual shareholder meeting in June.

Source link