President Donald Trump‘s announcement via Twitter on July 26 that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the military quickly drew criticism, especially since the president had earlier promised to protect the freedoms and beliefs of the LGBT+ community. In a move to protect LGBT+ individuals, online music retailer Bandcamp has pledged its support by announcing that it will donate 100% of its profits on Friday, August 4 to the Transgender Law Center. In the words of Bandcamp, the TLC is a “nonprofit organization that works tirelessly to change law, policy, and culture for the more equitable.”
The Bandcamp staff wrote about their support for the LGBT+ community on the company’s official website. “Bandcamp is a platform for artistic expression, and all manner of variance in experience and identity, including gender and sexuality, is welcome here,” they wrote.  “We support our LGBT+ users and staff, and we stand against any person or group that would see them further marginalized.”
Bandcamp responded in a similar vein following Trump’s “Muslim ban” in February by holding a fundraiser for the ACLU. The company sold over an estimated $1 million of music that day, and their entire share of music sales—which is roughly 12 percent—was sent to the ACLU. The other 88 percent goes to the labels and artists, but over 400 of them had pledged to donate their share of sales as well. The company invites artists and labels to send some or all of their shares of Friday’s sales directly to TLC to help raise money and awareness. The upcoming fundraiser for TLC will last from 12:00am to 11:59pm PST on Friday. You can read Bandcamp’s full statement and also view a selection of transgender and non-gender conforming artists over at their official website here.
