Thread by @Pinboard

Google's June filing for political donations is up, and surprisingly, the $203K the company donated to politicians substantially aligns with its stated values of inclusion and respect for employees from all backgrounds.

LOL, I'm just messing with you. Let's go through the worst:

Kentucky rep Andy Barr filed a somewhat unusual amicus brief in support of Trump's border wall, arguing that because Congress had allocated money to the Defense department, Trump could spend it however he wanted. Google allocated $1000 to Barr on May 24. mcclatchydc.com/news/policy/im…

Google was surprisingly bullish last month on ultraconservative vice president's daughter Liz Cheney, donating not only $2500 to her campaign, but $5000 to her leadership PAC. Maybe they got her confused with Mary Cheney, who unlike her sister supports marriage equality?

Looking forward to #pride, Google on May 24 gave $2500 to Mike Conaway, one of just a handful of legislators to vote against extending hate crime protections to gay Americans in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando. Conaway has also sponsored a 'defense of marriage' amendment

West Virginia congressman David McKinley won a True Blue award this year from the Family Research Council for his 100% voting record in opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights. Google gave him $1000 on May 24

As a Virginia legislator, Morgan Griffith fought to pass a ban on same-sex marriage and voted to kill a bill prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Now that he's in Congress, Google gives him money—$1K on May 24

I twote a few weeks ago about Google's donation to Tom Emmer, who is pals with radical anti-LGBT figure Bradlee Dean (tweet here:

https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1137111345826914304

). Google has now doubled down on Emmer, bringing their contribution to the maximum with another $2500 check on May 24

This May, Utah congressman John Curtis strongly opposed the Equality Act, which aims to extend Federal legal protection based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Later that month, Google strongly supported John Curtis, with a $2500 donation.

Another representative to vote against the Equality Act, Adam Kinzinger, got $1000 from Google on May 24.

Florida congressman Gus Bilirakis also voted against the Equality Act last month, as well as numerous provisions to give legal protection to LGBT people in his own state. Google gave Bilirakis $1000 on May 24

(I'm sorry if this is getting repetitive, but Google's political giving to people who don't think all Americans deserve the full protection of the law is also repetitive)

On May 24, Google gave $2500 to Samuel Graves, a British admiral who fought *against* America in the Revolutionary—whoops, wrong Wikipedia page. Samuel Graves is a Missouri congressman who voted against the Equality Act and for legislation restricting access to abortion.

On May 10, Georgia congressman Barry Loudermilk tried to amend the Equality Act to say "nothing in this bill shall require medical and mental health providers to... prescribe cross-sex hormones as a treatment for gender dysphoria.” Google gave him $1000 on May 24.

Ohio representative Steve Chabot voted against the Equality Act because it "scraps the fundamental right to religious expression and liberty enshrined in the Constitution" and would allow biological males to use women's bathrooms. Google gave him $2500 on May 24

NC congresswoman Virginia Foxx has called the fact that Matthew Shephard was killed because he was gay "a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing hate crimes bills." She has been a consistent and tireless opponent of LGBT rights. Google gave her $2500 on May 24.

As a Louisiana state rep, Mike Johnson introduced a "Marriage and Conscience Act" that would have given legal cover to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Louisiana. Now that he's in Congress, Google gives him money—$1000 on May 24

(A reminder that these are all donations made just last month, in the middle of Google's extensive preparations for its public support of #pride )

Greg Walden was one of 7 republicans to flip his vote in 2016 on an amendment protecting LGBT workers from discrimination by Federal contractors. (see rollcall.com/news/democrats… for procedural details of this shameful affair). Google gave him $2500 on May 24

In 2015, Texas congressman Bill Flores made a bizarre argument linking the protests in Baltimore and rise poverty to the decline of traditional marriage "between a man and a woman". (politico.com/story/2015/04/…) Google gave Flores $1000 on May 24

Buddy Carter opposes marriage equality, and in 2017 had this to say about transgender Americans: "I don't want 'em serving in the military. I'm sorry." That apology was apparently enough for Google, who gave Carter $1000 on May 24

Mark Walker is one of the more radical right-wing figures in Congress, who famously referred to his colleagues as "eye candy" during a 2017 press conference (cnn.com/2017/09/26/pol…). Google gave his campaign $2500 on May 24

Mike Burgess of Texas, most famous for his riveting comments on fetal masturbation (rewire.news/article/2013/0…), is another Congressman with a long record of anti-LGBT votes receiving a shameful $2500 check from Google on the eve of #pride

In 2015, Bob Latta co-sponsored a House resolution that would have outlawed gay marriage. Google gave him $2500 on May 24

Louisiana congressman Garret Graves is another legislator who voted against the Equality Act and got a $1000 check from Google.

CORRECTION: upthread I said Mike Conaway voted against hate crime legislation in the wake of the Orlando shooting. That is not right, his vote against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act came in 2009. My apologies for reversing time there.

Thank you for sticking with this long thread! I hope it persuades you that Google says about #pride bears little relation to its actual political giving. Many of the legislators in this thread assert that LGBTQ Americans are morally defective, and Google gives them money.

But what can you actually *do* about it? This filing comes with a full list of Google employees who donate to the PAC, most by automatic paycheck deduction. If you work at Google, you can talk to them about where there money is going. The list is here: docquery.fec.gov/pdf/811/201906…

There are some very famous names on that list—pioneers of the internet! They are people who I know don't share the reprehensible values of the legislators in this thread. As their co-workers, you can persuade them and get the Google tech PAC defunded.

If you don't work at Google, you can fight by not letting them get away with vocal support for #pride without answering for their shameful political giving. And if you are invited to interview there, make it clear that this support is what led you to decline.

I hope the organizers of @SFPride will weigh these donations, made just three weeks ago, in deciding whether to disinvite Google from the event. Google, through their HR policies, tolerance of YouTube hate speech, and political giving, have told us who they are. Will we listen?