Wal-Mart's love affair with the gays has come to an end. The mega-retailer joined forces with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce last year, but has again folded to conservative pressure and disavowed its gay ways. From Fortune:
"We are not currently planning corporate-level contributions to GLBT groups," said Mona Williams, the company's senior vice president of corporate communications. Individual stores can still donate to gay groups.By way of explanation, Ms. Williams cited a policy adopted last fall saying that Wal-Mart would not make corporate contributions "to support or oppose highly controversial issues" unless they directly relate to the company's ability to serve its customers.
While one would expect an outcry from gay activists, it seems even they, like the AFA, can't quit Wal-Mart.
Selisse Berry from Out & Equal - a group that declares itself "the pre-eminent national organization devoted to the (LGBT) community in the workplace" - insisted the group will continue to support Wal-Mart:
Wal-Mart continues to engage on the issue of worker equality, and we will support them in that…This is a marathon, not a sprint, and so long as Wal-Mart keeps its doors open, we hope to give them encouragement.
Human Rights Campaign also says they'll keep working with Wal-Mart, "With a company as large as Wal-Mart, it's not going to happen as fast as many of us would like."
Gay rights non-profits may be willing to look the other way, but at least one Wal-Mart employee's not having it:
I thought the company was moving in the right direction. But last week changed everything. Pulling funding from GLBT organizations is a slap in the face to gay employees and it sends a very clear message. Diversity within Wal-Mart is only partially inclusive. They're catering to their conservative base.
A Wal-Mart employee who's more in step with gay rights than gay rights activists? Have we stepped into a parallel dimension?
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And this surprises whom??
And who is surprised that HRC defends Wal-Mart??
Not me on both accounts.
It's unfortunate that Wal-Mart views support for basic human rights as a "highly controversial issue."
Typical. I used to think they should be allowed in NYC. No more.
That's the big thing Consensus: the message we, as glbt people and their allies, need to send is that basic human rights aren't "highly controversial issues" and that if people accept this as some sort of valid debate, as if it's okay to decide whether we're first class or sub class human, then that's a bigoted opinion.
In any event, I don't see that many gay men shopping in Walmart. Hopefully, I'm right about that. No one should shop at Walmart, at least until they offer decent health benefits to everyone in their company, regardless of the time they've worked there, and allow their workers to unionize.
Even when they embraced us (temporarily), I tried not to shop there if I could, at least on labor principles.
[...] OMG, did you ever notice how much same sex marriage is like Dr. Frankenstein's monster? No? Hmm, you must be a Democrat. » Post A Comment Tagged: Britney Spears · Lindsay [...]
Irony of Ironies, at the very moment I'm reading this article, the rotating ad server has popped up a Wal-Mart ad.
Too, too too funny.
Ya'll really need to talk to someone about that. It's just as funny as the e-mail I got from Oxygen promoting Mo'Niques Fat Chance that prominently featured an ad for a quick weight loss program.
[...] The WalmartWatch blog has a great selection of posts with more about this in their Friday Blog Round-Up. But there is a little more than just new banking plans posted there. According to the news Wal-Mart is all about screwing people, but only if they are the opposite gender. Apparently after a bit of arm twisting (likely, none at all) from the Conservative Right Wal-Mart has pulled out what little GLTB support they were offering. They stopped donations to support groups though it seems that Wal-Mart is so huge that even some gay activists can't turn their backs. [...]
[...] OMG, did you ever notice how much same sex marriage is like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster? No? Hmm, you must be a [...]