Coachella Owner Donation History Shows Anti-LGBTQ Ties


This year’s Coachella line-up boasts big names such as the Weeknd, Beyonce, and Eminem, but the tax forms that detail the charitable giving of Philip Anschutz, the co-owner of Coachella, personally, and through his non-profit, the Anschutz Foundation, lean firmly towards anti-LGBTQ, anti-legalization, and anti-immigration causes. An LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans did a deep dive into the taxes of Coachella founder Anschutz and found that he donated big money to a variety of right-wing charities even after the Coachella founder said he stopped

Coachella Founder Philip Anschutz Calls Anti-LGBTQ Donations Fake News Despite Tax Form Proof

Philip Anschutz, who owns a number of companies including AEG and Goldenvoice, gave $190k to anti-gay groups for the years 2010-2013. But after news broke last year as Coachella tickets went on sale that Anschutz supported anti-LGBTQ causes, he released a statement refuting what was on his taxes, says Pitchfork.

“Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news—it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation.”

Coachella founder Anschutz followed his statement up by saying that as soon as he found out that groups he supported were anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigration, he stopped donating to them. On the 2016 taxes of Philip Anschutz, he did stop making donations to some of the larger anti-LGBTQ organizations, but they were substituted with others.

Philip Anschutz, Coachella Founder, Now Supports New Anti-LGBT Charities Per His 2016 Tax Forms

Freedom For All Americans documented several organizations which refute the comments Coachella founder Philip Anschutz made about fake news. The following is a list of charities that received donations from Philip Anschutz.

Young Life ($185,000; June 21 and November 15, 2016): Young Life asks that anyone who is “sexually active outside of a heterosexual marriage relationship” should not work for the organization.

Dare 2 Share Ministries ($50,000; August 23, 2016): Dare 2 Share Ministries CEO writes a blog which condemns homosexuality.

“Homosexuality is a Satanic perversion of God’s gift of sex.”

The Navigators ($40,000; donation dated November 15, 2016): Documents on the organization’s website equate being LGBTQ with committing incest and sexual abuse.

Lawyers For Coachella Founder Say Anschutz Gives Charities A Chance To Change Anti-LGBTQ Stance

Complex said that when Anschutz was asked to explain why he still supported organizations with such anti-LGBTQ philosophies, he had his lawyers respond to say essentially that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and withdrawing from these anti-LGBTQ organizations would take time.

“Over the past year, the Foundation has stopped funding certain organizations after it was brought to our attention that some of their activities were inconsistent with our values. This is an ongoing process in which we continue to investigate the organizations that we support.”

The lawyer continued explaining that when the Philip Anschutz Foundation finds that an organization has anti-LGBTQ leanings, they give them a chance to course-correct before withdrawing financial support.

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