It may not matter that Wal-Mart is reaching out to the gay community. For the retail giant to have any inroads in the "worker friendly" realm – gay worker or not – first it needs to clean up its treatment of employees. At least that's how advocacy groups like Pride at Work feel in response to today's announcement between Wal-Mart and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, which promises to form "a broad-based coalition of LGBT-owned and -friendly businesses." On Wal-Mart's end, they claim they're trying to include local businesses owned by gay men and women in its retail process. But a quick glance at most any data analyzing Wal-Mart's effects on local businesses could quickly label this arrangement as nothing more than hype.

Wal-Mart launches gay-friendly initiative [Gay.com]