³ÉÈËXÕ¾

MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Seattle Pride cuts ties with Amazon over company’s political contributions

Mar 23, 2022, 12:15 PM

Pride, Seattle Pride...

Seattle Pride Parade 2018. (³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio file photo)

(³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio file photo)

Seattle Pride announced this week that it would be cutting ties with Amazon as a corporate sponsor for its annual parade, citing donations made by the company to “anti-LGBTQIA+ politicians.”

According to a report from the Seattle Times, Amazon had offered $100,000 to sponsor this year’s event, on the condition that it would be branded as the “Seattle Pride Parade presented by Amazon.” But after conducting a larger evaluation of its corporate sponsors’ political contributions and public stances, Seattle Pride ultimately opted to rebuff the offer.

“As Seattle Pride continues to grow, it is our duty to partner with corporate organizations which actively support the LGBTQIA+ community, and whose values align with our own,” the group detailed explaining its decision.

Seattle Pride to make decision on police presence ‘from a community perspective’

Seattle Pride points to a handful of recent contributions made by Amazon, including $450,000 to lawmakers who — which would have prohibited discrimination of anyone based on their sex, sexual identity, and gender identity — as well as a combined $966,500 to a collection of nearly 200 members of Congress who had received an “F” grade from the Human Rights Campaign.

Amazon also contributed thousands of dollars to sponsors behind bills in the state Legislature that sought to ban trans athletes from competing in school sports, place prison inmates in correctional facilities that correspond with their assigned gender at birth, and prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

“We simply cannot partner with any organization actively harming our community through the support of discriminatory laws and politics,” Seattle Pride said.

As of now, Amazon is the only sponsor the group has decided to cut ties with, but it does plan to continue evaluating all of its corporate partners in the weeks ahead.

MyNorthwest News

wa newlyweds head-on crash...

Deborah Horne, ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ 7 News

‘They had each other:’ WA newlyweds killed in head-on crash; family raising money to bring them home

A young couple with ties to Western Washington was killed in a crash, just 22 days after getting married.

37 minutes ago

Fred Meyer...

MyNorthwest Staff

Tacoma Fred Meyer closure sparks community outrage

After Fred Meyer announced plans to close a Tacoma location, the union representing the store's workers is raising concerns.

1 hour ago

King County deputy...

MyNorthwest Staff

Gun violence down 25% in South King County, thanks to ‘two-prong approach’

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion and mental health counselor Katya Wojcik talk about a decrease in gun violence in King County.

1 hour ago

Downtown Seattle. (Photo: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest)...

MyNorthwest Staff

Seattle proposes new bills to cut red tape, revive vacant storefronts

To bring more life back into some of Seattle's vacant storefronts, leaders introduced two bills.

1 hour ago

drunk driver parkland...

Frank Lenzi

WSP working to reduce firearms forensics backlog

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is taking steps to reduce a growing backlog in firearms forensic analysis by expanding lab capacity and training new forensic scientists, officials said.

12 hours ago

One Seattle city council amendments...

Jason Sutich

Seattle council members propose more than 100 changes to Harrell’s ‘One Seattle’ plan

Seattle City Council members have proposed more than 100 amendments on Monday to Mayor Bruce Harrell's One Seattle plan, according to The Seattle Times.

13 hours ago

Seattle Pride cuts ties with Amazon over company’s political contributions