HRC drops sponsorships from weapons manufacturers after pressure from advocacy groups

The largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization in the U.S. has announced that it has ended its sponsorships with weapons manufacturers over their complicity in Israel's war in Gaza, which human rights experts have described as a genocide.

Over two years after LGBTQ+ activists with Gender Liberation Movement and other groups such as the Adalah Justice Project, ACT UP NY, Writers Against the War on Gaza, and No Pride in Genocide began placing pressure on the organization to divest, the Human Rights Campaign has confirmed that it has ended its partnerships with weapons manufacturers Northrop Grumman and RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies).

A spokesperson for HRC told The Advocate, "We are not currently sponsored by Northrop Grumman or Raytheon."

"What’s happening in Gaza and throughout the region is devastating. The starvation of children and families, the violence to its people and aid workers is horrific," the spokesperson said. "And while our focus is on LGBTQ+ equality in the United States, we have spoken out about the crisis, the rising cost of extremism in the United States and around the globe and how Islamaphobia, anti-semitism and anti-LGBTQ hatred are globally linked. We have also championed the right to protest here in the United States, as it and other pro-democratic principles are being undermined and threatened by this administration."

"Our national corporate partners represent companies that have demonstrated a high level of commitment to equality," they added. "When it comes to corporate advocacy, our responsibility is to make the places where LGBTQ+ people live and work safer and more inclusive."

Northrop alone is the third-largest military company in the world. Its contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense between 2008 and August 2024 have been worth over $173.5 billion, according to the American Friends Service Committee, selling weapons that include missiles and guided projectiles, electronic warfare systems, ammunition, military aviation systems, cybersecurity systems, and surveillance technologies.

The activist groups began calling on HRC to end its partnerships with the manufacturers after the war began in 2023. They issued three demands:

• "Cut ties with all weapons manufacturers and institutions profiting off genocide and militarism in Palestine, the U.S., and across the world
• Commit to not enter into any future partnerships with weapons manufacturers and institutions profiting off genocide and militarism
• Publicly call for an immediate arms embargo on Israel to block the bombs"

While HRC has ended its partnerships, its statement did not commit to divesting permanently from weapons companies, nor to call for an arms embargo on Israel, something some of the activist groups noted.

"With Israel’s resumption of its strikes in Gaza, war crimes still taking place, accountability of war criminals still goes unchecked, and divestments still must be made. Our work is not finished, and we remain committed to the struggle," the Adalah Justice Project, a group supporting Palestinian rights, and the Gender Liberation Movement said in a joint press release. "Organizations like HRC can no longer prioritize proximity to power over the well-being of our people, nor center inclusion in the very systems that are killing us. Freedom, equality, and justice for our queer and trans siblings here can only be achieved when we collectively confront the systems that are harming communities everywhere."

HRC emphasized that it will continue to work on behalf of its 3.6 million members and supporters to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people in the United States.

"We have a clear focus on the places where LGBTQ+ people spend most of our lives -- in schools and workplaces -- and in the places where decisions are made -- in legislatures, courthouses and the White House," the spokesperson said. "During a state of emergency for our community, our power is focused on defeating anti-LGBTQ+ extremism, protecting democracy, and building more inclusive institutions and communities across the country to improve the safety of LGBTQ+ people."