The term “Rainbow Coalition” may have been originally coined to describe a movement led by Rev. Jesse Jackson during the 1980s, but the largest US carsharing service appears to be putting its own spin on the concept, with the help of some Honda hybrids. Zipcar is giving a folks a chance to contribute to GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) while taking out a Honda Insight hybrid (here referred to as the Honda GLAAD Insight) for a few hours. By going to Zipcar’s “Equality” page, people can rent out the Hondas knowing that Zipcar will give away $1 of free drive time to GLAAD for each hour the cars are being rented out. “Do you imagine a world where everyone is equal?” asks Zipcar (rhetorically). “We do. And we want to help get there with our pals at GLAAD.”
Technically, the real benefactor for such lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights is actually Avis Budget Group. That company, the third-largest US car-rental company after Enterprise Holdings and Hertz Global Holdings, acquired Zipcar earlier this year for about $500 million.
GLAAD was founded in 1985. Most recently, GLAAD received notoriety for leading the effort towards getting the Boy Scouts of America to end its ban on gay scouts.
Angie Nucci, Honda North America’s senior environment and safety specialist, told AutoblogGreen that, “Honda proudly supports Zipcar’s initiative to reach out to the LGBT community by supporting the GLAAD organization. We don’t have plans to expand the scope of the program at this time, but we’re pleased that Zipcar has selected the Insight.”
