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YOUR COACHELLA MONEY IS GOG TO A RIGHT-WG BILLNAIRE WHO FUND ANTI-LGBT AND ANTI-MARIJUANA CSHYPOCRISYTHK TWICE BEFORE DONNG THAT FLOWER CROWN.AMY ZIMMERMANENTERTAMENT REPORTERUPDATED APR. 13, 2018 10:48PM EDT / PUBLISHED APR. 13, 2018 10:47PM EDT PHOTO ILLTRATN BY THE DAILY BEASTTHIS WEEKEND, HORS OF MIC LOVERS AND TEEPEE ENTHIASTS WILL SCEND ON IND, CALIFORNIA, FOR THE ANNUAL COACHELLA MIC FTIVAL. THE FIRST BIG FTIVAL OF THE SEASON, COACHELLA HAS A REPUTATN FOR ATTRACTG THE WORST OF THE WORST: ENTLED RICH KIDS KNOCKOFF NATIVE HEADDRS, BANKERS BDIS, AND THE PEOPLE. THK FYRE FTIVAL, BUT FANCIALLY SOLVENT. A FEW YEARS AGO, THE WASHGTON POST REVEALED THAT THE OFTEN-PROBLEMATIC FTIVAL’S ISSU WENT WAY BEYOND APPROPRIATIVE ACCSORI. A 2016 REPORT ON AMERI’S “ENEMI OF EQUALY” IS OFTEN CED AS BLOWG THE LID OFF COACHELLA AND S FOUNR, PHILIP ANSCHUTZ, THE OWNER OF ENTERTAMENT NGLOMERATE AEG. THE FREEDOM FOR ALL AMERINS MPAIGN REPORTED THAT ANSCHUTZ, ONE OF THE RICHT PEOPLE AMERI WH A WORTH OF $12.9 BILLN, GAVE LARGE SUMS OF MONEY TO THE ALLIANCE DEFENDG FREEDOM, THE NATNAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATN, AND THE FAY REARCH COUNCIL. ACRDG TO THE POST, THE NATNAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATN “FUNDS A LOT OF THE GROUPS AGGRSIVELY WORKG TO CHIP AWAY AT THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF LGBT AMERINS.” THE FAY REARCH COUNCIL, WHICH EXPRSLY SAYS ON S WEBSE THAT “BELIEV THAT HOMOSEXUAL NDUCT IS HARMFUL TO THE PERSONS WHO ENGAGE AND TO SOCIETY AT LARGE,” HAS BEEN EMED AN “EXTREMIST GROUP” BY THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER.“PHIL ANSCHUTZ’S EXTENSIVE FLUENCE COLORADO POLICS HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR YEARS, BUT THE GREE OF HIS SUPPORT FOR ANTI-LGBTQ GROUPS THAT FUND EXTREMIST HATE GROUPS LIKE GORDON KLIGENSCHMT’S ‘PRAY J NAME’ IS SHOCKG,” SAID PROGRSNOW COLORADO’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IAN SILVERII. “AT A TIME AMERIN HISTORY WHEN DISCRIMATN AND VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ CIZENS IS ON THE RISE, SUPPORT FOR PRO-DISCRIMATN GROUPS PUTS ANSCHUTZ ON THE WRONG SI OF COLORADO, AND ON THE WRONG SI OF HISTORY.” “FANS WERE LEFT MORALLY MURKY WATERS, CHOOSG BETWEEN A BOYTT AND A BEYONCé SHOW.” IN 2017, AOPUNK PUBLISHED A BLOG POST URGG WOULD-BE COACHELLA-GOERS TO THK TWICE BEFORE SELLG THEIR SOULS TO SEE BEYONCé. PUBLISHED RPONSE TO COACHELLA’S JT-ANNOUNCED LP, THE POST UTNED, “THE LP BOASTS NAM LIKE KENDRICK LAMAR AND BEYONCé, BLACK MIC ROYALTY MORE THAN SERVG OF OUR HYPE, BUT COACHELLA’S OWNER IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY.” IT GO ON TO TAIL ANSCHUTZ’S DONATNS TO THE AFOREMENTNED ANTI-LGBTQ , NTUG, “TO ADD SULT TO JURY, GREENPEACE NOT THAT MEDIA PANI OWNED BY ANSCHUTZ FIGURE PROMENTLY THE NIAL OF CLIMATE SCIENCE AND THE PROMOTN OF CLIMATE-CHANGE SKEPTICISM.” ON THE OTHER HAND, COACHELLA HAS SEVERAL STAABILY IATIV!EVENTUALLY, THE PRSURE TO #BOYTTCOACHELLA GOT SO BAD THAT ANSCHUTZ RELEASED A STATEMENT, SISTG THAT, “RECENT CLAIMS PUBLISHED THE MEDIA THAT I AM ANTI-LGBTQ ARE NOTHG MORE THAN FAKE NEWS— IS ALL GARBAGE.”ANSCHUTZ NTUED: “I UNEQUIVOLLY SUPPORT THE RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE WHOUT REGARD TO SEXUAL ORIENTATN. WE ARE FORTUNATE TO EMPLOY A WEALTH OF DIVERSE DIVIDUALS THROUGHOUT OUR FAY OF PANI, ALL OF WHOM ARE IMPORTANT TO —THE ONLY CRERIA ON WHICH THEY ARE JUDGED IS THE QUALY OF THEIR JOB PERFORMANCE; WE DO NOT TOLERATE DISCRIMATN ANY FORM…NEHER I NOR THE FOUNDATN FUND ANY ANIZATN WH THE PURPOSE OR EXPECTATN THAT WOULD FANCE ANTI-LGBTQ IATIV, AND WHEN HAS E TO MY ATTENTN OR THE ATTENTN OF THE ANSCHUTZ FOUNDATN THAT CERTA ANIZATNS EHER THE FOUNDATN OR I HAVE FUND HAVE BEEN SUPPORTG SUCH , WE HAVE IMMEDIATELY CEASED ALL NTRIBUTNS TO SUCH GROUPS.”FANS WERE LEFT MORALLY MURKY WATERS, CHOOSG BETWEEN A BOYTT AND A BEYONCé SHOW. MORE THAN A YEAR LATER, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED. BEYONCé IS, FALLY, GOG TO HEADLE COACHELLA, AND SEEMS LIKE ANSCHUTZ IS STILL UP TO HIS OLD TRICKS. IN JANUARY, PCHFORK REVIEWED THE ANSCHUTZ FOUNDATN’S ANNUAL TAX FILGS OM DECEMBER 2015 THROUGH NOVEMBER 2016. ACRDG TO PCHFORK, “THIS NEWLY UNVERED FILG SHOWS THAT 2016, THE ANSCHUTZ FOUNDATN STOPPED GIVG TO THE THREE GROUPS AT THE CENTER OF THE ORIGAL UPROAR: ALLIANCE DEFENDG FREEDOM, FAY REARCH COUNCIL, AND NATNAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATN. BUT THEY DID GIVE TO A NUMBER OF OTHER ANIZATNS THAT HAVE A HISTORY OF MAKG ANTI-LGBTQ STATEMENTS.” THE ANIZATNS REPORTEDLY CLUD DARE 2 SHARE MISTRI AND YOUNG LIFE, A YOUTH MISTRY THAT PROCLAIMED A 2017 POLICY THAT ANYONE WHO WAS “SEXUALLY ACTIVE OUTSI OF A HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGE RELATNSHIP” SHOULDN’T VOLUNTEER AT THE ANIZATN.ADDNALLY, THE REVIEWED TAX FILGS REVEALED DONATNS TO “DOZENS” OF NSERVATIVE AND LIBERTARIAN ANIZATNS: “THEY CLU AMERINS FOR PROSPERY, THE POLIL ARM OF THE DTRIALIST KOCH BROTHERS; THE FERALIST SOCIETY, THE NSERVATIVE LEGAL WORK THAT TMP HAS GIVEN AN UNPRECENTED ROLE PICKG FERAL JUDG, AND NUMBERSUSA EDUTN & REARCH, WHICH LLS SELF AN ‘IMMIGRATN-RCTN ANIZATN.’” ALSO JANUARY, THE FAR REPORTED THAT ANSCHUTZ GAVE “CLOSE TO $200,000 TO REPUBLIN POLICIANS AND SUPER PACS” 2017. ALLEGED BENEFICIARI OF ANSCHUTZ’S GENEROSY CLUD PL RYAN AND MIKE COFFMAN, A MEMBER OF THE HOE WHO HAS PREVLY MA BIRTHER MENTS ABOUT PRINT OBAMA. WHILE ’S NOT EXACTLY SHOCKG THAT A BILLNAIRE DU IS A REPUBLIN, ANSCHUTZ’S POLICS DON’T ALIGN WH THOSE OF MANY COACHELLA FTIVALGOERS, NOT TO MENTN PERFORMERS. THIS TENSN HAS BEE EVEN MORE UNTENABLE WH THE REVELATN THAT ANSCHUTZ, WHO, THROUGH GOLNVOICE, ALSO OPERAT PANORAMA, HANGOUT, AND FYF FTIVAL, MAY BE ANTI-MARIJUANA. ACRDG TO FREEDOM LEAF, A PRO-LEGALIZATN MAGAZE, ANSCHUTZ HAS DONATED “THOANDS OF DOLLARS” TO ANTI-DG GROUPS; 2016 ALONE, “THE ANSCHUTZ FOUNDATN DONATED $50,000 TO SAM INC., AND ANOTHER $110,000 TO S PARTNER ANIZATN, SMART COLORADO.”THE REPORT NTUED, “IT GAVE ANOTHER $50,000 TO SMART COLORADO 2015. THE GOAL WAS TO UNTER THE IMPACT OF AMENDMENT 64, THE RECREATNAL-MARIJUANA LEGALIZATN IATIVE THE STATE’S VOTERS PASSED 2012.”FREEDOM LEAF HYPOTHIZED THAT ANSCHUTZ’S PERSONAL BIAS MAY BE STANDG THE WAY OF COACHELLA ATTEN AND THEIR KH—WHILE RECREATNAL MARIJUANA IS LEGAL CALIFORNIA, COACHELLA IS ADAMANT THAT, “NO DGS OR DG PARAPHERNALIA, MARIJUANA, MARIJUANA PRODUCTS WILL BE ALLOWED” AT THE FTIVAL OR ON THE MP GROUNDS. SO SEEMS THAT COACHELLA-HEADS WON’T BE ABLE TO GET HIGH AND FET THAT THEY’RE FUNDG THE PASSN POLICS OF AN ARGUABLY HOMOPHOBIC SEPTUAGENARIAN AFTER ALL. AMY ZIMMERMAN
As a gay man attendg the ftival, I knew I was supposed to be moved, but after the weekend's events, I was not sure what to make of the early January, as my ey snaked down the whe font of Coachella's hly announced 2019 lp, my heart-poundg excement soon halted to a pse. "And whether was to fight the backlash and anti-LGBTQ narrative triggered by his past donatns or double down on his claimed "support [for] the rights of all people whout regard to sexual orientatn, " Anschutz donated $1 ln to the Elton John AIDS Foundatn this ntroversy, as my close iends were blastg my phone wh texts already planng our wild and grandse trek to Ind, Calif., April, I was tryg to sort out what would mean for me -- a gay man -- to jo on the attend the ftival, at first, felt sort of like sellg out my personal and polil beliefs.
I was ready to blow the whistle on Coachella's blatant homophobic practic. However, as a cisgenr, whe gay man, I found no such many atten, Coachella even seemed to provi a welg environment for exprsn. The abundance of rabow imagery rporated to the ftival -- cludg a massive spiralg rabow tower at s center -- add to the notn that Coachella was a place for packs of crop-topped "stagays" olicked around large numbers and jumped up excedly for Kacey Mgrav, I began to unrstand why Coachella had such a large LGBTQ followg.
Feelg safe to hold a partner's hand or don a flashy outf is a privilege few queer people get to regularly experience, pecially outsi of hypersexualized spac like gay seemed that a certa openns pervad the ftival that enabled privileged ftivalgoers to transcend societal limatns. And though watchg gay ins Kacey Mgrav and Ariana Gran perform, surround by other visible LGBTQ people, felt fortg, was Lizzo's set that tly moved me.