Good news, everyone! As you’ll recall, we sent Target a bunch of questions yesterday about all of the money they continue to shuttle to anti-gay politicians. And we finally heard back! Spokeswoman Donna Egan explains,
At this time there is no additional information to share.
Oh, okay. Well, at this time there is no additional money to spend at Target. So, there.
But Target’s not the only one laying out big bucks to the candidates and causes that make your life hell. A mysterious campaign called, awkwardly, “Ignite an Enduring Cultural Transformation” is sending huge cash moneys to anti-gay organizations around the country. Who’s responsible? Nobody knows!
The donors are anonymous, but the money’s passing through Focus on the Family’s policy councils, according to the Colorado independent. In West Virginia, they’re planning to spend $168,000 to ban not just marriage, but also civil unions and anti-discrimination laws.
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In Pennsylvania, they’re getting $1.5 million to oppose abortion and marriage. In Massachusetts, look forward to $148,000 in spending to promote discrimination against transgender citizens, because Lord knows we don’t have enough of that already.
In just about every state, the mysterious new Ignite funds are more than the previous years’ entire budgets. It goes on and on and on, in state after state, and we have no idea who’s paying for it.
And they’re spending $4.71 million over the next two years in Minnesota — coincidentally, Target’s home base. (The Minnesota Family Council’s average yearly revenue over the last three years was under $1 million.)
Over at The Awl, Abe Sauer has a magnificent write-up about Target’s ongoing anti-gay political donations. That includes the company’s financial backing of Minnesota Republicans Doug Magnus and Kurt Zellers, both likely to vote in favor of a proposed double-ban on marriage. Thanks, Target!
We would love to tell you that Target considers the consequences that its donations have on the LGBT community. We want to tell you that when Target is evaluating which candidates should get money, they consider those candidates’ policies regarding LGBTs. We would love to tell you that Target has ever withheld support from a politician on the basis of that politician’s anti-LGBT practices. We would love to tell you that Target actually cares about us.
We would really, really, really, really like to tell you that, because we really, really, really, really used to enjoy shopping at Target. But at this time, there is no additional information to share.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
The rightwing nutbags have been getting serious coin for years to continue their anti-Gay crusade………
I wanna know who has been funding the inbred band of scumbags westboro baptist chruch on their non stop decades long hate tours……..
robert in NYC
Its probably the Koch brothers funding hate! Their fingers are in every piece of hateful legislation. GOPers have extremely deep pockets too.
TMikel
Haven’t Shopped at Target since their first ant-gay donation and oddly enough, life has gone one just fine. Turns out I did not need any of their crap.