Nike Loses $200 Billion in “Woke Wipeout”

Transgender, ,

Yahoo Finance reports the iconic sportswear brand Nike has lost $200 billion in market value since 2021. Financial experts point to poor sales performance domestically and internationally, but our friends at The Washington Stand ultimately trace it back to Nike’s political activism, calling the company’s financial turn a “$200 billion woke wipeout.”

Suzanne Bowdey at The Washington Stand writes:

“Millions of customers called it quits on Nike after its endorsement of anti-American Colin Kaepernick, who, along with disrespecting our national anthem, persuaded the company to shelve its idea of patriotic shoes.

“Since then, Nike’s far-left agenda has taken different forms — from a doomed Dylan Mulvaney partnership to its defense of China’s slave labor program. Now, the company seems intent on being the official sponsor of team transgenderism, refusing to back away from radical LGBT advocacy that’s at odds with 80% of America.

“And its roots in the movement run deep. In a conscious decision to trade their brand’s popularity for toxic activism, executives started sticking their necks out years ago in areas that were racing to put the brakes on gender mutilation procedures for children. In places like Alabama, where lawmakers tried to stop kids from rushing into transgender hormones and surgery, Nike led the corporate march to put the scalpel back in doctors’ hands. Fortunately, they failed.”

Nike is not the only company that has suffered financially because of its social and political activism.

In 2023, Anheuser-Busch sent transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney a novelty can of Bud Light with Mulvaney’s picture on it. Mulvaney posted a video of himself dressed like Audrey Hepburn showcasing the Bud Light can — which led to backlash and boycotts from Bud Light drinkers nationwide. That novelty can of Bud Light ended up costing the company more than $1 billion in lost sales, and the brand has never fully recovered.

Seeing a brand like Bud Light singlehandedly overthrow itself as America’s bestselling beer caught the corporate world’s attention. Since then, many major corporations have reduced their LGBT themed marketing, rolled back pro-LGBT policies, and stopped participating in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

However, unlike most major companies, Nike doesn’t just participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index. This year the company earned a perfect score.

It’s worth pointing out that HRC’s Corporate Equality Index puts some heavy requirements on businesses that participate. Getting a perfect score like Nike’s means companies must agree to demands like covering the cost of gender-transition procedures for employees and their families, forcing workers to undergo ideological training, opening restrooms to both sexes, and so forth.

Corporate DEI polices and pro-LGBT pandering are deeply out-of-step with everyday Americans. These are flawed ideologies that do not ensure individuals are valued, heard, or included. Employees who hold biblical views of marriage or gender risk losing their jobs in workplaces that have adopted DEI policies. None of that is good for our economy or our country.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Courageous Culture Building in a World of Desecration

Culture, ,

Walking the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland I saw a long line of historic buildings and cobblestone streets that millions traverse every year. As my group walked along the historic alleyways and the famous Royal Mile, rainbow flags came into view. They were being displayed for the pride parade taking place downtown. I even saw a “pride” banner on the grounds of the Tolbooth Kirk which was originally designed to be a meeting hall for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In the same field of view, a Scotsman, dressed in full kilt, played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. I saw an older gentleman bravely standing amidst the pro-LGBTQ crowd with a sign that told people Jesus loved them, calling them to repent.

I had no idea there would be a pride parade that day with hundreds of people crowding the streets, including drag queens. The city center became incredibly crowded with an influx of people, some celebrating, others taken aback at what they saw, and some simply trying to eat their lunch.

I recall thinking of the dramatic contrast between the noise of the bagpipe blaring out Amazing Grace and the boisterous clamoring of people celebrating pride, all in a beautiful country that has a rich history of Christian reformers. 

Back in the U.S, things are hardly different. One day I saw a bumper sticker that read, “ I love my gay dog.” And here I thought Aristotle said that the thing which separates the human animal from all other animals was man’s ability to reason. Now humans are confusing the poor animals with their “reasoning.” Just like the scene in Edinburgh, these sorts of odd statements are a downstream effect of humanity’s denial of God and His statutes. It is an all too unfortunate result of individuals and families who push away the abundant blessings that God offers. 

Vice President JD Vance’s new book Communion talks of this denial of God’s truth. In the book, the Vice President explains his own return to faith, but he also explains the societal disease that has inflicted society as a whole—Secularism. Individuals, societies, politics, marriages, and the dynamics of world leadership are infected by the destruction of Secularism. As a result, life spans are shorter, people are having fewer kids or none at all, gay marriage has risen, and hopelessness is rampant. 

Thankfully, truth can be found in God’s word and His gospel. Every human being is made in the image of God and because of this, our value system should stem from that understanding. As Christians, we should always be making the case for a return to faith in God as the foundation for flourishing families and fulfilling lives. This is culture building. When humanity gets the truth distorted, it needs the light of the gospel. If Christians do not stand up and fight secularism and the distortions it inflicts, humanity will fall into the depravity that calls dogs gay and more tragically, desecrate themselves in the process. 

Erin Hogan has worked with Family Council since January of 2019, where she serves as Director of Government Relations.

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Family Council Joins Amicus Brief Defending Parental Rights Before 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

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Last week, Family Council joined an amicus brief defending parental rights in a federal lawsuit currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The case is Mirabelli v. Bonta. Parents and teachers are challenging a school district policy that requires teachers to deceive parents about their child’s gender transition at school.

On September 2, Advancing American Freedom filed an amicus brief on behalf of Family Council and dozens of other pro-family organizations urging the 9th Circuit court to affirm parental rights and stop a California school district’s secret social gender transition policy.

The brief argues that “the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children is essential to liberty and is deeply rooted in American tradition and practice,” and that schools undermine parental rights when they deceive parents about a child’s gender dysphoria or social transition at school.

Unfortunately, the school policy in California is not an isolated incident. Pro-LGBT activists have used public schools to promote transgender ideology and gender confusion to kids in many different ways.

Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom have spoken out about how schools are hiding important information about students from their parents. But policymakers, legal experts, and parents are pushing back.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was investigating four school districts in Kansas for secret gender transitions after a complaint alleged that school officials let male students into females’ private spaces and sports at school and hid students’ sexual identity confusion from their parents.

Family Council joined dozens of other pro-family organizations from across the country last year in an amicus brief regarding a New York school district that treated a middle-school girl as if she were a boy without her mother’s knowledge or consent.

Arkansas has enacted good laws to help prevent schools from socially transitioning children or promoting radical pro-LGBT ideology in the classroom. These are good laws that protect children and affirm parental rights.

But federal court cases like the one in California could affect schools nationwide. That’s why it’s important for us to stand up for students and parents in this case.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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