Article View

According
to PepsiCo representative Philene Frazar, PepsiCo is a founding member in
establishing a homosexual activist group in Chicago.

Frazar, in
a presentation during a 2009 homosexual advocacy conference, announced PepsiCo
was instrumental in forming Chicago’s “Citywide Pride” (see presentation
slide here). The Citywide Pride website says it “strives to educate
and empower the LGBT workforce and their allies.”

Citywide
Pride events listed for 2009 include:

-
Seminar on how gays can successfully adopt children

- Same-sex marriage tutorials

- “Recruitment and engagement” techniques training

- “Family Pride” days (this one particularly hosted by PepsiCo)

In
addition, Frazer noted that PepsiCo regularly recruits and invites employees
from smaller companies to attend a variety of gay pride parades with them,
saying:

“It really is a true celebration of the entire
community when PepsiCo steps out to be part of a parade. In most of these
cities, we are giving out a sampling of all our product lines, which are as
diverse as Tropicana juice, all the way to Frito-Lay chips. We also hand out
cups and banners and whistles. It’s really a true corporate presence once we
hit the parade route.“