A briefing for LGBTQ rights campaigners by No Pride In BP, Platform and People & Planet
Pinkwashing:
(n.) a public relations tactic, involving an appeal to LGBT-friendliness, in order to offset or ‘wash’ over other questionable practices
Is BP a queer-friendly company?
“proud to be a business where you can be yourself” – BP website
- BP sponsored National Student Pride in the UK in 2015-2016
- BP is on Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list and puts on LGBT recruitment events with Stonewall, as well as at universities across the UK
- John Browne, BP CEO of 12 years, recently published a book called The Glass Closet (seriously), “to shine a light on the difficulties that still plague LGBT employees”
In recent years fossil fuel company BP has – for strategic reasons – tried to foster an image of being pro-LGBT+ rights. BP is using the queer community as a prop to legitimise their business model – that depends on propping up repressive politicians and as well as dangerous levels of fossil fuel burning.
This briefing will show you how, and what we can do about it. Read on in pdf
By allowing BP to sponsor Pride events and our student LGBTQ+ societies, we give BP permission to ride on the back of LGBTQ+ struggle; cheaply using our pride as a trade off for human rights abuses around the world. It’s time to refuse BP’s logo on our pride.