AB InBev's top LGBTQ+ rating suspended over Bud Light's handling of Dylan Mulvaney situation

Citing a “shameful response” to the Dylan Mulvaney-Bud Light controversy, the Human Rights Campaign has suspended Anheuser-Busch InBev’s perfect score on its Corporate Equality Index, a tool that scores companies on their policies for LGBTQ+ employees.

The suspension means AB InBev has 90 days to respond to the concerns of the organization or risk its score being docked. Companies with a 100 score are considered the best places to work for LGBTQ+ employees. 

“Our decision to suspend Anheuser-Busch’s Corporate Equality Index score comes after several attempts to contact their executive team to discuss recent issues of inclusion and equity,” Jay Brown, HRC’s senior VP of programs, research and training, said in a statement. “We don’t make this decision lightly.” 

A spokesman for the brewer said: “We remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations to drive economic prosperity across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community.” 

The company was thrown into controversy when an April 1 Instagram post from Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, showed off a custom Bud Light can. It hit a nerve among conservatives who called for a boycott of Bud Light. Sales subsequently cratered, with volume down 27.7% for the week ended May 6, according to NielsenIQ figures reported by the industry trade Beer Business Daily.

AB InBev put two executives on leaves of absence and made financial support available to its wholesalers in the wake of the controversy.

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” U.S. CEO Brendan Whitworth said. 

Speaking in a conference call earlier this month, AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris told analysts that the company needed to “clarify the fact that this was one can, one influencer, one post, and not a campaign.” Doukeris and Whitworth did not articulate the brewer's position on LGBTQ+ rights, despite calls from progressive groups that were concerned the brewer had made no moves to defend Mulvaney.

“Our goal is to work with companies, helping them understand how critical it is to support the LGBTQ+ community, especially at a time when we’re facing unprecedented legislative attacks on our very existence—and then give them concrete examples of how to do that,” Brown said. “Anheuser-Busch’s shameful response after receiving bad-faith criticism is not only the wrong thing to do, it’s anti-business.”

Around 7% of U.S. adults—and 20% of GenZ—identify as LGBTQ+, Brown said.

“This is about supporting the current and future workforce, as well as shareholders and consumers.” Brown added. “We’ve seen that when businesses center inclusion in both policy and practice, they come out on top, regardless of baseless, hateful attacks.”

The brewer's actions have seemingly pleased no one. An owner of four gay bars in Chicago has reportedly pulled AB InBev products from its shelves. Also this week, Sens. Ted Cruz (R.-Texas) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) said they would investigate whether the partnership with Mulvaney violated the Beer Institute’s guidelines prohibiting marketing to underage individuals.