Did Best Buy stop funding LGBTQ+ groups because of a conservative cabal?

The electronics box store Best Buy is under fire after it appeared to alter its charitable donations to LGBTQ+ advocacy and support groups at the behest of a group of conservative stockholders, NBC News reported. The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) as a shareholder submitted a proposed proxy statement to be circulated at the next annual meeting of other shareholders. The statement disparaged gender-affirming care for minors and questioned the retailer’s charitable support for LGBTQ+ causes NCPPR found objectionable. “Why are Best Buy shareholders funding the proliferation of an ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they reach puberty?” Ethan Peck of NCPPR asked in a letter to Best Buy last December. The letter and additional information were contained in a 49-page letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The letter included a proposed statement questioning Best Buy’s support to groups working to provide gender-affirming care to trans minors, support for LGBTQ+ youth at risk for death by suicide, and other LGBTQ+ causes that the group finds objectionable. […]

Click here to read to the full piece. This story was originally published by The Advocate Magazine on April 2, 2024.