This study investigates the interaction between political polarization and audience responses to gender identity disclosure by women-owned businesses. Grounded in organizational identity and gender role theory, we explore the divergent impact of gender disclosure on organizational popularity and appeal, and how this is moderated by political polarization. We posit that in a politically polarized environment, gender identity disclosure shifts audience evaluations from neutral to gender-focused appraisals, influenced by heightened political awareness. Utilizing a quasi-experiment on Yelp, which introduced a "Women-Owned" highlight in March 2019, we analyze the responses to women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We employ a difference-in-differences approach complemented by propensity score matching, analyzing data from 3,740 women-owned businesses across eight states over an 11-month period. Our findings contribute to understanding the effects of social identity and audience heterogeneity in organizational evaluation. We demonstrate how gender identity disclosure, interwoven with political polarization, affects organizational performance. This research provides insights for female entrepreneurs on navigating gender-based evaluations in politically diverse environments, highlighting the significance of audience perception in shaping business outcomes.