By Open Democracy

Dozens of US-based anti-LGBT groups are raising funds on Amazon's online donation platform – despite the company's policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation – reveals a new investigation by openDemocracy.

Amazon ended 2020 as one of the few big winners of the COVID-19 pandemic, as online shopping grew exponentially due to lockdowns, fear of infection, and the closure of physical stores. The company's profits grew by almost 50% compared to 2019.

“Experience shopping and feeling good” is the slogan of the AmazonSmile , which allows customers to donate to charities while shopping online. Amazon says that since the program's launch in 2013, it has facilitated donations totaling more than $215 million .

The Participation Agreement clearly states that organizations eligible to receive donations cannot “engage in, support or promote: intolerance, discrimination or discriminatory practices based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.”

However, openDemocracy's investigation uncovered more than 40 organizations registered on AmazonSmile's US platform that publicly oppose equality and the rights of LGBTI people. These include groups that:

• They intervened in numerous legal disputes in the US and the rest of the world to oppose marriage and adoption for homosexual couples and anti-discrimination laws;
• They asserted that homosexuality “opens the doors to the demonic realm” and that legalizing same-sex marriage “imposes” an “immoral agenda, driven by demons”;
• They categorized COVID-19 as “the consequent wrath of God” and the punishment for sins of society such as “the propensity towards lesbianism and homosexuality”;
• They attacked TV programs (for example, American Idol) for broadening “the social acceptance of homosexuality” by presenting LGBTI people to the audience as “ordinary people”;
• They threatened their staff with "immediate dismissals" if they were found to be expressing support for same-sex marriage.

In response to these findings by openDemocracy, human rights activists said that Amazon should immediately remove those groups from its platform.

“Companies, if they practice what they preach, should not serve as a showcase for organizations that work to limit the rights of other people,” said Evelyne Paradis, executive director of the LGBTI rights advocacy group ILGA-Europe.

It's good that Amazon has a diversity of groups on its platform, he added, "but it shouldn't give rise to any organization […] that actively promotes hate and/or works against the rights of other people."

Betrayed promises?

Amazon has made numerous public commitments to non-discrimination and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people. For example, as an employer, it has offered benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees for several years and provides coverage for gender reassignment surgeries.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos received the 2017 National Equality Award from the U.S. LGBTQ rights group Human Rights Campaign. In 2012, he and his then-wife publicly pledged $2.5 million to the fight for marriage equality in Washington state.

Amazon's UK website advertises partnerships with LGBTI charities, including Stonewall's Diversity Champions program

Two large groups of the American Christian right – Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the Family Research Council – were removed from the AmazonSmile program due to controversy over their activism against the LGBTI population.

But openDemocracy's investigation reveals that these are just the tip of the iceberg, and that many more organizations with a similar history of attacks on LGBTI people remain on AmazonSmile.

The director of one of these groups, Human Life International, called on the public to “ oppose the LGBTI movement ” and asserted that homosexuality is linked to pedophilia. Earlier this year, openDemocracy revealed that this group also supports anti-abortion initiatives in Latin America, which have been accused of spreading disinformation and manipulating vulnerable women regarding their health and rights.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), headed by Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, is also listed on the AmazonSmile platform. This group has participated in numerous lawsuits in the US against same-sex marriage. Its European branch also provided legal arguments to prohibit Polish women from having abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities incompatible with life.

ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow is also Donald Trump's personal lawyer | Photo: Mark Taylor/Wikimedia CC BY 2.0

Another AmazonSmile group criticized for its divisive and anti-LGBTI stances is the

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Its president, Franklin Graham, claims that Satan is the architect of same-sex marriage and that Islam is "diabolical" and "evil." This year, several venues and stages in the UK canceled Graham's performances due to these kinds of statements.

These three groups are among dozens of ultraconservative US organizations that, as revealed in October, have spent millions of dollars around the world to oppose sexual and reproductive rights, including in the courts.

Helping 'hate groups'

“Be part of something bigger,” AmazonSmile invites online shoppers. The platform allows customers to donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charities of their choice. It claims to have over a million such organizations on its platform, and that those receiving the most donations are animal welfare organizations, followed by those dedicated to education.

It is unclear how much money anti-LGBTI groups have raised from AmazonSmile donations, as neither they nor Amazon provide that information.

AmazonSmile also has an international presence, with different groups to which people can donate. For example, none of the Americans categorized as anti-LGBTQ+ are enrolled in the UK's AmazonSmile program.

openDemocracy gave Amazon a research report on the anti-LGBTI activities and statements of more than 40 groups registered on its US platform and asked the company if it would investigate possible violations of its Participation Agreement.

An Amazon spokesperson responded: “Charities must meet the requirements outlined in our Participation Agreement to be eligible for AmazonSmile. Organizations that engage in, support, encourage, or promote intolerance, hate, terrorism, violence, money laundering, or other illegal activities are not eligible.”

“If an organization violates this agreement at any point, its eligibility will be revoked,” the spokeswoman added, though she did not indicate whether this would happen in these cases.

The statement adds that “since 2013, Amazon has relied on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which provide the data for those decisions.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) compiles annual lists of “hate groups.” ADF and the Family Research Council, the two organizations that were removed from the AmazonSmile program, had been included on those lists as “anti-LGBT hate groups.” Both rejected the designation.

Of the more than 40 groups that openDemocracy discovered on AmazonSmile, eight have been partners or members of the controversial World Congress of Families network – also listed by the SPLC as an “anti-LGBTI hate group”.

Amazon's platform also hosts an Indiana branch listed as an anti-LGBT hate group by the SPLC. The AFA links homosexuality to Nazism and labels it a "bad and dangerous choice."

Another organization that raises funds on AmazonSmile is Focus on the Family, criticized by the SPLC for its anti-LGBTI stances and described as part of “a dozen groups that contribute to leading the religious right’s anti-gay crusade.”

Screenshots of the AmazonSmile platform taken in December 2020.

Seth Levi, SPLC's director of strategy, confirmed that Amazon uses the "hate group designations" made by his organization to identify those who "do not align with the values ​​and requirements of the Smile program."

“We are unaware of any other sources of information that Amazon uses. We urge the company to ensure that none of its platforms, including retail, web resources, and entertainment, are used to support or dictate hateful or dehumanizing content, or disinformation that threatens our democratic fabric.”

Robbie de Santos, associate director of campaigns and communications at Stonewall, a British organization that advocates for LGBTI rights, told openDemocracy: “It’s disappointing to see organizations that campaign against LGBTI equality have a platform on AmazonSmile.”

Stonewall claims to have sent messages to its contacts at Amazon regarding the allegations made by openDemocracy. “We raised our concerns with Amazon and will continue working until every LGBT+ person in the world is free to be who they are,” De Santos added.

The American Center for Law and Justice, the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, and Human Life International declined to comment on their compliance with the AmazonSmile Participation Agreement.

A spokesperson for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said the group is “grateful to participate in the AmazonSmile program,” that it “does not engage in unlawful discrimination,” and that “we do not promote intolerance.” The organization added, “We hope that AmazonSmile will continue to respect the rights and dignity of all people and not discriminate against faith groups based solely on their sincerely professed religious beliefs.”

• This is an edited and translated version of an article originally published by openDemocracy's Tracking the Backlash project