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It seems the American Family Association has received their holiday wish: shopping at Wal-Mart! (Which is good, because we were beginning to wonder where they would get their traditional silver Christmas trees.)
After weeks of boycotting the international purveyor of shit over Wal-Mart's apparent support of the homos, the two sides of have reached an "agreement". The company reiterated its political policies in what can only be described as a bland and fairly feckless statement:
We are working hard to make our corporate contributions reflect the values of our customers, communities, and associates. As Sam Walton said, “Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community.Wal-Mart will not make corporate contributions to support or oppose highly controversial issues unless they directly relate to our ability to serve our customers.
Wal-Mart does not have a position on same sex marriage and we do not give preference to gay or lesbian suppliers. Wal-Mart does have a strong commitment to diversity among our associates and against discrimination everywhere.
Of course, "diversity" can be read in many ways. It can refer to race, religion, economic background...and, we suppose, it may mean sexuality. It's also worth noting that the company has agreed to use "Christmas" in their sales adverts, rather than the more universal - and sinful? - "holidays".
While the AFA celebrates what it sees as a victory, people on the homo-side of the great cultural divide see things a little differently. Everyone's favorite - er - activist, Joe Solmonese of Human Rights Campaign had this to say:
I don't see it as backpedaling by Wal-Mart...I think the AFA failed, and thought to themselves, 'Let's declare victory and hope nobody notices.'
Not everyone's being so forgiving of Wal-Mart's vague statement.
Chris Kofinis of WakeUpWalMart.com questioned the company's declaration:
[It's] a confusing contortion of words that make it completely unclear whether Wal-Mart still supports equal rights for the (gay and lesbian) community or not, and worse, raises real questions as to whether they caved to the pressure from the religious right...
It raises questions? Really? It seems pretty cut and dry to us. We won't say what we think, but we will say that Wal-Mart clearly knows their customer base. We will also say that we don't remember when we were last in a Wal-Mart. And, really, that says it all.
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Silver Christmas trees are hot. Tasteless twat.
WTF does it matter? I am gay and I am a manager at Wal-mart. And let me tell you something, this little AFA thing to stop shopping at Wal-mart has NOT stopped anything. Wal-marts sales are still strong. All the AFA is tring to do is get publicity for thier "goals" by trying to attack something larger and more in the publics eye.
I can't wait to deck the halls with inflatable santas and light up lawn ornaments. then i am going to line every inch of my hosue in lights of different colors, and make my tree spin, and put on ornaments sound like monotone ringtones for my cellphone, but kinda resemble christmas carols.
lovely.
Walmart is homophobic. The only gay thing they carry in the stores is Brokeback Mountain.
I can go in to CircuitCity, Best Buy, and plenty of other stores and see more gay related or gay movies.
For god's sake y'all don't even sell non-edited cd's. And your into the whole family thing. I can respect that, but cotdamn edited cd's. Parents still shop at target and other stores and they buy albums there. I bet your album sales are the lowest of all.
I shop lift from Wal Mart. I used to work there a million years ago and there was this whole workman's comp thing that blew up like shit in my face so now as a big ol' payback - I steal from them. I spend my money at Target - they've got cuter shit anyway.
WTF
shop lifting as an act of defiance is hot!
jack jett
Yay! I'm sure it was tough for them, I can only imagine preachers around the country saying "You know, We'd go to Wal-Marts to get our Slave Labor produced clothing, but they cater to them homos".
Since when are large corporations entitled to have opinions on gay marriage? What exactly does that have to do with their ability to sell products or services?
Americans need to remember that it's people who vote, not companies. We need to remember it's people who have rights, not corporations. Walmart has no rights; the hundreds of thousands of people who work there and millions who shop there do.
Wal-Mart's big expectations were not met. Of course, wonder why? Thy would not say the cause, but maybe it is time to think. Look at Ford and its poor sales - they are just a step ahead of Wal-Mart. You cannot mess with a traditional family in the USA.