Gay bars boycott beer brewery over Trump support
More than 15 bars across Pennsylvania and Maryland have pledged to stop serving Yuengling beer after the brewery’s owner pledged his support to Donald Trump.
A number of gay bars in particular have promised to stop serving the beer after an out Pennsylvania politician called for a boycott.
The problems began last week when Trump’s son, Eric Trump, was given a brewery tour by owner Richard ‘Dick’ Yuengling Jr.
“My father’s going to make it a lot easier for business to function,” Trump’s son said during a news conference. “We’re going to do it right here in the U.S.”
“Our guys are behind your father,” Yuengling replied. “We need him in there.”
In the wake of that endorsement Rep. Brian Sims, Pennsylvania’s first openly gay state legislator, called on a host of local LGBT businesses to stop backing the brewery.
“One of the most prevelant [sic] brands in the Gayborhood and in LGBT bars across the Commonwealth, is using our own dollars to back a person and an ideology that says that our lives and our loves matter less,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Our communities know a thing or two about voting with our dollars and I won’t be using my hard-earned dollars to give power to any company or person who hates me, what about you?!?”
Since then, a number of gay bars have joined the call. David Perruzza, the manager of JR’s Bar, posted a video to Facebook of him removing the Yuengling tap from the bar.
“When people support things that don’t support us, then we don’t support them,” Perruzza said.
JR’s Bar is just one of many that have stopped serving Yuengling. Other’s include 18th and U Duplex Diner, Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse, D.C. Eagle, the Dirty Goose, Dito’s Bar, Dupont Italian Kitchen, Floriana Level One Cobalt, Freddy’s Beach Bar, Green Lantern, Kangaroo Boxing Club, Larry’s Lounge, Nelly’s, Number 9, Town, Town Patio, Trade, and Ziegfeld’s.
For those in the know, Dick Yuengling Jr.’s support of Trump is apparently little surprise.
The brewery owner was a George W. Bush delegate at the 2000 convention in Philadelphia, and has backed anti-union legislation in the past.
It’s been a bad week for LGBT beer drinkers, as Bud Light announced that it was prematurely ending its LGBT-friendly ‘Bud Light Party’ ad campaign.
The series of ads, which starred Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen, celebrated marriage equality and gender diversity, but apparently did little to boost Bud Light’s bottom line.
