- PepsiCo denied sponsoring the 2022 Texas GOP convention after social media images showed it listed as a backer.
- The company said its inclusion on the list was "erroneous," and said the images may be doctored.
- A document produced at the convention said "homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice."
PepsiCo has denied claims it gave its backing to the 2022 Texas Republican Convention, despite social media images showing its name on a list of sponsors at the event, with the company suggesting the pictures were fake.
The images were first reported by Popular Information as part of a report on companies supporting the convention.
A spokesperson for PepsiCo told Insider they did not sponsor the convention and claimed the photos circulating on social media had either been "doctored" or the company had been included "erroneously" on the list of sponsors.
The company spokesperson added the red text seen in the pictures was not consistent with company branding as Pepsi's logos are blue.
Pepsi's name appears in the images, but the company's distinctive circular corporate logo does not.
PepsiCo told Insider it was currently "trying to understand why somebody would either doctor a photo or put our name on there erroneously."
While PepsiCo denied sponsoring the event, the company has previously confirmed that it has given financial support to the Texas GOP after reporting from Popular Information showed a $15,000 donation registered on August 5, 2021.
At the time of the Popular Information report in January, Pepsi said that it had made the donation in 2020, before Texas passed a controversial abortion ban, per USA Today. It said it also donated to the Democratic Party in the state at the same time, USA Today added.
The Texas Republican Convention has come under scrutiny for the inclusion of a number of anti-LGBTQ topics.
The official platform for the convention included a "Homosexuality and Gender Issues" section that called homosexuality "an abnormal lifestyle choice." The 40-page document also declared opposition to "all efforts to validate transgender identity." It also explicitly opposed gay marriage.
PepsiCo has been a public supporter of LGBTQ rights.
Pepsi-owned sparkling water brand, Bubly, recently partnered with the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, a charity that provides assistance to organizations that help LGBTQ communities and individuals who suffer from social intolerance.
The partnership aimed "to celebrate LGBTQ chosen families and the safe spaces where they form and flourish," according to Bubly's website. The sparkling water brand also produced a short film to celebrate the partnership and is providing $100,000 in relief to LGBTQ safe spaces.
There were multiple reports of anti-LGBTQ sentiments at the Texas Republican Convention last week in Houston.
The Log Cabin Republicans of Fort Worth, a group that is part of a national organization that represents LGBTQ conservatives, said they were denied a booth at the convention. The group's president called the decision "narrow-minded" and "politically short-sighted," in a statement.