AT&T Donates $75,000 To Help Elect Anti-Gay Republican Greg Abbott Governor Of Texas

Telecommunications giant AT&T has donated $75,000 this year alone to the gubernatorial campaign of anti-gay Republican Greg Abbott of Texas.

AT&T (NYSE:T), an international telecommunications monolith with revenue last year of over $128 billion, has donated $75,000 this year to help elect Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott the Governor of Texas. 

The Dallas-based telecom corporation also donated $50,000 to the Texas AG’s campaign last year, when it was expected Abbott would enter the gubernatorial race.

John Wright of Lone Star Q first reported the news, after investigating public records from the Texas Ethics Commission.

“The PAC supports a variety of candidates for a variety of reasons,” AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said in an email to Lone Star Q, in response to an inquiry about the contributions to Abbott. “The PAC does not comment on reasons for contributions, but publicly discloses contributions consistent with state requirements.

“Diversity and inclusion are part of AT&T’s culture and operations, and we’re proud to be recognized as a leader in this area,” Richter added. “DiversityInc recently named AT&T No. 1 on its 2014 Top 10 Employers for LGBT Employees. And every year since 2004 we’ve received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for our fair treatment of our LGBTQ employees, including protection against discrimination, parity of health care benefits for domestic partners and other criteria.”

Greg Abbott and his office are actively defending Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage, claiming the ban is best for children — all children.

Abbott is running against Democrat Wendy Davis, who made a national name for herself when she filibustered an anti-women bill designed to strongly restrict abortion in the Lone Star State. AT&T does not appear to have donated to Davis’ gubernatorial campaign.

In January, Abbott joined a lawsuit trying to force Houston Mayor Annise Parker to rescind the benefits the city has extended to its gay and lesbian married employees, as The New Civil Rights Movement reported. In February, Abbott received the endorsement of Sarah Palin, who said, “If he is good enough for Ted Nugent, he is good enough for me!” 

Last week, Facebook came under fire after having donated $10,000 to the campaign of anti-gay Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.

 

Image by Mike Mozart via Flickr