Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar Urged to Donate Coachella Earnings to LGBTQ Support Groups
Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar should donate all of their earnings from this year's Coachella to LGBTQ support groups, says one activist.
Her name is Sarah Rose, and she set up a petition for the rapper and the R&B star to do just that, since the founder of the festival Philp Anschutz donated to an anti-LGBTQ group called Alliance Defending Freedom—at least according to his 2015 tax records and a report from Pitchfork.
"As a transgender woman and advocate for the LGBTQ community, my genuine hope is that these artists can turn a bad situation into a positive one," said Rose. "I'm a diehard music fan and a musician myself, and I strongly believe that music shouldn't be used as a means to discriminate."
Rose also asked the third Coachella headliner Radiohead to donate their earnings as well. In regards to the claims surrounding Anschutz, he said they're completely fabricated, and as soon as he realized the Alliance Defending Freedom was an anti-LGBTQ group, he immediately stopped donating to them.
"I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation," he said in a statement. "When it has come to my attention or the attention of The Anschutz Foundation that certain organization, either the Foundation or I have funded have been supporting such causes, we have immediately ceased all contributions to such groups."
So far neither Bey, K. Dot or their respective teams have spoken out about the petition.