CV NEWS FEED // One of California’s largest medical insurance companies, Blue Shield of California, sponsored the LA Dodgers’ recent controversial “Pride Night”. The Dodgers presented a “Community Hero Award” to the anti-Catholic hate group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), while thousands of Christians protested peacefully outside the nearly-empty stadium.
Blue Shield of California bills itself as “providing Californians with access to high-quality health care at an affordable price.” According to its website, the insurance giant boasts 4.8 million members – 12% of the state’s population and employs 7,500. Its most recently reported annual revenue totaled $24 billion. Blue Shield lost its tax-exempt status in 2015.
Blue Shield of California covers some so-called “gender-affirming” procedures for minors as young as 12, namely “hormone therapy.” The insurance company also covers many types of so-called “gender-reassignment surgery,” but only for adults above the age of 18.
Other “partners” of the event consist mainly of LGBTQ activist groups, including: LA Pride, a Dodgers’ “long-time community nonprofit partner” that sponsors the LA Pride Parade and Festival; Outsports, an LGBTQ sports blog; OutLoud Sports, a “queer sports” organization that notably has also partnered with McDonald’s for 16 years; GLASA, “a recreational softball league, with an emphasis on providing an athletic outlet for the LGBT community in the southern California region;” GYM, a “gay sports bar” with locations in California, Florida, and New York; and Los Angeles LGBT Center, which recently hosted a “trans town hall.”
