Coachella Owner Supports Anti-Gay Group That Believes Obama Causes Cancer and Gays Are So Sinful They Can’t Control Their Bowels

Gonna head out to Coachella to see Beyonce and take selfies of you and your friends in your best crop top and floral headband? Well, while you’ve spent at least $399 for tickets, the owner’s using that money to deny climate change and halt gay rights.

Yeah, it turns out the desert festival is owned by Philip Anschutz. As President of AEG he commands one of the largest entertainment companies in the nation and Coachella falls under his jurisdiction. Unfortunately, he used profits from the festival and other entertainment events to support extremely right wing causes.

It shouldn’t be surprising that a super rich white dude would support causes like “Pray in Jesus Name” or meet with the Koch brothers twice a year and deny climate change. But the fact that Coachella is such a haven of liberal celebrities, a sort of Capitalist Woodstock, makes this a bit more surprising. Who knew that Taylor Swift hanging out with all her model friends at the festival could be contributing to supporting LGBTQ rights?

So you know, the anti-gay groups that Anschutz supports are not innocuous religious rights purveyors. “Pray in Jesus Name” is officially listed as a hate group. According to LGBTQ Nation,

“Klingenschmitt [Gordon Klingenschmitt, founder of “Pray in Jesus Name” project] has said that any judge ruling for marriage equality should be considered as a domestic enemy. He has also claimed that gay soldiers undermine the military because they have to stop in the middle of combat situations in order to change their diapers. Klingenschmitt also said that people who are not going to heaven (i.e. LGBTs) don’t deserve equal protection under the law.”

If people who aren’t going to heaven don’t deserve protection, then everyone going to Coachella is screwed. Oh, Klingenschmitt also made a video about how Obama causes cancer.

So perhaps instead of visiting a desert wasteland to mostly show off how cool you are for visiting an overpriced festival, perhaps just see those artists in regular concerts and hope that Anschutz and all his companies magically go broke and die.