Fred Karger, the openly gay former Republican presidential candidate, is announcing a global boycott of Amway today at the Unity 2012 convention in Las Vegas.
Karger is rightfully ticked off at the direct-sales company and its president Doug DeVos, because of a $500,000 donation to the National Organization for Marriage. Karger says the contribution only ca
me to light recently because it came through the back door from the DeVos family foundation.
“I imagine NOM leaders Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown thought that no one would uncover the huge Amway contribution which appears to be the largest family donation to NOM in its history,” said Karger (right) who’s now heading up the group Rights Equal Rights. “Only the Catholic Church’s political arm, the Knights of Columbus, has given more to the hate group NOM.”
With four crucial marriage-equality measure on the November ballot, Karger is hoping the boycott—being powered by the website BoycottAmway.com, will send a message to other corporations that funding anti-marriage groups is not something you can get away with on the down-low.
Founded in 1959 by Jay Van Ardel and Richard DeVos, Amway has been intricately linked to right-wing causes for decades: In 1994, the company gave the biggest corporate contribution to date to a political party for a single election, $2.5 million to the Republican National Committee. (That same year, Amway almost single-handedly funded the campaign of GOP Congresswoman Sye Myrick.)
In 2004, it contributed $4 million to the conservative 501c3 Progress for America, which worked to re-elect George W. Bush, place right-wing judges on the judiciary and privatize Social Security.
Dick DeVos (left), son of Amway founder Richard DeVos and a past president of the company himself, even served as the RNC’s finance chairman.
To date, Amway, the Van Andel and DeVos Family are among the top ten donors to the Republican party—and have seen their generosity repaid handsomely. Columnist Molly Ivins once even reported Amway, the 28th largest private business in America, “had its own caucus in Congress.”
We know, you’re thinking: “I’ve never bought anything from Amway to begin with, so what does it matter?” Well, Amway reports $10 billion in sale globally each year, meaning someone is buying (and selling) its beauty and household-care products. If it’s not you, it could be a friend or neighbor.
And as Rights Equal Rights reminds us, the DeVos family also owns hotels, car dealerships, gyms and even the Orlando Magic. (Sorry Shaq.)
Bottom line: this about more than just chicken, folks.
Photos: ????????, Mrmiscellanious
Ron Jackson
Boycott Amway? Who in their right mind buys anything from Amway anyway? Amway is just a right wing pyramid scheme to fleece the stupids.
Alex
$500K to NOM is pretty bad and I will happily boycott them. However Chick-Fil-A has donated a total of $5 Million to anti gay hate groups. So They are still holding precedence.
HM
Any modestly informed homosexual should have known this stuff a decade ago. The Family Research Council was pretty much launched by the ‘Grand Rapids Mafia’…..but a refresher story doesn’t hurt.
What’s REALLY scary is these strange, creepy theo-capitalist cultists have among their ranks, through marriage, Erik Prince, Founder of Blackwater……yeah, that Blackwater. Heavily armed mercenaries who believe laws against randomly killing people are ‘optional’.
Cam
So after another article trying to defend Chik Fil A, you start a headline with “Forget Chik Fil A”.
Additionally, Dan Avery mentions that the Knights of Columbus are an arm of the Catholic Church and talks about the founders of AMWAY, and yet, once again, seems to have left out that multiple large newspapers call NOM a Mormon front group.
Still not talking about the Mormon Church’s attacks on gays Dan? Just how much do they give to this website?
Kev C
All of these anti-gay supporters are just wasting their money. The spent $44 million to pass Prop 8 .. and it’s unconstitutional.
In 2015, same-sex marriage will be legal everywhere and there is nothing that they can do about it. The money makes Maggie Gallagher weigh more, but nothing else.
Scott Rose
In Re: Whether NOM is “Catholic” or “Mormon.” NOM’s founders and employees in the main are staunch enablers of the Catholic Church. Against the documented historical record, NOM founder Robert George apologizes for Pacelli, who wrote and got signed the infamous Reichskonkordat political treaty between the Vatican and Adolph Hitler. George is well-known for uniting disparate elements of the religious reich wing to spread hate and lies against gays and to reinforce the sexual orientation apartheid systems in countries that have them. Notably, George and his gay-bashing co-conspirator, the felon Chuck Colson, co-authored The Manhattan Declaration, signed by tyrannical heterosuprmacist theocrats from a variety of religions. Thus what we see is that although NOM’s leaders are Catholic political gay bashers, NOM heads are active in uniting the entire religious reich wing to demonize gays and to deprive them of rights. Don’t forget that Romney, who has signed the maliciously anti-gay-rights NOM pledge, gave a secret donation to NOM for Prop 8 through an Alabama PAC. The bottom line would be that while NOM is staffed by Catholic political gay bashers, it does everything it can to get the bigot religious reich wing enemy organized for its insane attacks against us, and against our heterosexual family members, friends and associates who love and/or like us and who support our equality.
Chuck
I didn’t know Amway still existed. And I think at this point, we should start to forget about Chik-Fil-A. Continue the boycott by all means (you shouldn’t be eating so much fast-food anyway), but stop the protests.
Ted
Amway is still in business? Who knew? I wouldn’t by ANY other their crap.
Cam
@Scott Rose:
Scott, the majority of it’s founders were high up or related to higher-ups in the Mormon Church. To the point where several media outlets refer to it as a Mormon front group.
SFMatt
I have a friend that sells Amway and I will continue to buy from her, and I will continue to eat Chick-Fil-A and I don’t care what my fellow Marys think!
Kev C
@SFMatt: Marys? Enjoy your cucumber facial mask and hypoallergenic laundry detergent, Matt.
DouggSeven
Amway is still around? Did I step into a time machine back to the 70s?
Scott Rose
@Cam: Amway China
Amway grew quickly in China from its market launch in 1995. In 1998, after abuses of illegal pyramid schemes led to riots, the Chinese government enacted a ban on all direct selling companies, including Amway.[19] After negotiations, some companies like Amway, Avon, and Mary Kay continued to operate through a network of retail stores promoted by an independent sales force.[20] China introduced new direct selling laws in December 2005, and in December 2006 Amway was one of the first companies to receive a license to resume direct sales. However, the law forbids teachers, doctors, and civil servants from becoming direct sales agents for the company and, unlike in the U.S., salespeople in China are ineligible to receive commissions from sales made by the distributors they recruit.
In 2006, Amway China had a reported 180,000 sales representatives, 140 stores, and $2 billion in annual sales.[21] In 2007 Amway Greater China and South-east Asia Chief Executive Eva Cheng was ranked No.88 by Forbes magazine in its list of the World’s Most Powerful Women.[22] In 2008, China was Amway’s largest market, reporting 28% growth and sales of ¥17 billion (US$2.5billion).[23] According to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek in April 2010, Amway had 237 retail shops in China, 160,000 direct sales agents, and US$3 billion in revenue
Scott Rose
Class action settlement
On November 3, 2010, Amway announced that it had agreed to pay $56 million – $34 million in cash and $22 million in products – to settle a class action that had been filed in Federal District Court in California in 2007.[95] The class action, which had been brought against Quixtar and several of its top-level distributors, alleged fraud, racketeering, and that the defendants operated as an illegal pyramid scheme.
While noting that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability, Amway acknowledged that it had made changes to its business operations as a result of the lawsuit. The settlement is subject to approval by the court, which is expected in early 2011.[96] The economic value of the settlement, including the changes Amway made to its business model, totals $100 million.
Scott Rose
Procter & Gamble
Some Amway distributors were involved with an urban legend that the (old) Procter & Gamble service mark was in fact a Satanic symbol or that the CEO of P&G is himself a practicing Satanist. (In some variants of the urban legend, it is also claimed that the CEO of Procter & Gamble donated “satanic tithes” to the Church of Satan.)[104] Procter & Gamble alleged that several Amway distributors were behind a resurgence of the urban legend in the 1990s and sued several independent Amway distributors and the company for defamation and slander.[105] The distributors had used Amway’s Amvox voice messaging service to send the rumor[citation needed] to their downline distributors in April 1995. After more than a decade of lawsuits in multiple states, by 2003 all allegations against Amway and Amway distributors had been dismissed. In October 2005 a Utah appeals court reversed part of the decision dismissing the case against the four Amway distributors, and remanded it to the lower court for further proceedings.[106] On March 20, 2007, Procter & Gamble was awarded $19.25M by a U.S. District Court jury in Salt Lake City, in the lawsuit against the four former Amway distributors.[107][108] On November 24, 2008, the case was officially settled
Scott Rose
Dr. Phil and Shape Up
In March 2004, TV personality Phil McGraw (aka Dr. Phil) pulled his “Shape Up” line of supplements off the market in the face of an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The supplements were manufactured by CSA Nutraceuticals, a subsidiary of Alticor’s Access Business Group.[120] The FTC later dropped the probe; however, in October 2005, a class-action lawsuit was filed against McGraw by several people who used the products and claimed that the supplements, which cost $120 per month, did not stimulate weight loss.[121] In September 2006, a $10.5 million settlement was reached, in which Alticor agreed to provide $4.5 million in cash and $6 million in Nutrilite products to disgruntled users of Shape Up
Scott Rose
Dateline NBC
In 2004, Dateline NBC featured a critical report based on a yearlong undercover investgation of business practices within the Amway organization.[126] The report noted that the average distributor makes only about $1,400 per year and that many of the “high level distributors singing the praises of Quixtar [Amway]” are actually “making most of their money by selling motivational books tapes and seminars; not Quixtar’s cosmetics, soaps, and electronics.”
“In fact, about twenty high level distributors are part of an exclusive club; one that those hundreds of thousands of other distributors don’t get to join. For years only a privileged few, including Bill Britt, have run hugely profitable businesses selling all those books tapes and seminars; things the rank and file distributors can’t sell themselves but, are told over and over again, they need to buy in order to succeed.”
It was also revealed that an Amway recruiter featured in the report (Chris Fredericks) made misleading and inconsistent statements about Amway earnings during a recruitment meeting and had an outstanding arrest warrant for drug dealing.[Other issues
Some Amway distributor groups have been accused of using cult-like tactics to attract new distributors and keep them involved and committed.[61][127][128][129] Allegations include resemblance to a Big Brother organization with paranoid attitude to insiders critical of the organization,[129] seminars and rallies resembling religious revival meetings[61][129] and enormous involvement of distributors despite minimal incomes.[61][128][129] An examination of the 1979–1980 tax records in the state of Wisconsin showed that the Direct Distributors, reported a net loss of $918 on average
Belize
@SFMatt: “I have a friend that sells Amway and I will continue to buy from her, and I will continue to eat Chick-Fil-A and I don’t care what my fellow Marys think!”
LOL. Funny how typing that comment (which must’ve been difficult given the obvious limits of your mental capacity) should mean that you don’t care. 🙂 Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if your fellow “Marys” don’t care either–the likes of you are usually too stupid to care about anything other than the prospect of trying to get your next taste of dick in secret. I’m sorry I can’t say I envy your glassless coffin.
Belize
@Kev C: Marys? Enjoy your cucumber facial mask and hypoallergenic laundry detergent, Matt.
“LOL. Get real. How can he enjoy things that he is too stupid to learn how to use?”
jeff4justice
People go nuts over Chick Fill A while under Obama Monsanto has taken over the FDA. Nondiscriminatory frakenfood sounds yummy right?
No 2party system charade foe me thanks.
DouggSeven
@Belize: Sometimes, trolls post on various forums.
Nothing to see here folks.
Do any gay people buy Amway?
It should be boycotted because its idiotic and a poor business model. Out of curiosity, does anyone ever recall being lobbied to actually buy Amway’s products and NOT being pressured into becoming a distributor?
Does anyone actually buy their products? Or is all “upstream-downstream” marketing?
Everyone who values their time and money should avoid Amway. I’d hope most gay people are smarter than this anyway.
Tone
I hardly needed a reason not to buy Amway what with their average products at sky-high prices model, but this is good to know. The company has always had a creepy Ned Flanders vibe to it.
SFMatt
Sorry Belize I’m not a closet queen unlike you.
KARUADAM
Fred Karger, is fucking republican HOMO that now really got it up his ass. No I will not Boycott Amway!!.
MickeyP.
Okay,guys! Is it really necessary to name call and badger each other here? Don’t we already get enough of that crap,already? The LGBT community needs to stick together if we’re ever going to accomplish total equality! Please…play nice!
gary
Yeah I am queer, but you dudes throw the word “hate” around way too easily. Just because someone is opposed to gay marriage doesn’t automatically mean hate. Lots of people are opposed to divorce, out of wed lockm others, BB sex, Affirmative Action, unions, school vouchers and blah, blah, blah. Yeah so that means all those individuals who oppose such policies/ideas must be “haters’.? The most intolerant, self-righteous, mean-spirted types of people seem to be gay Democrats . Always eternally outraged, pissed-off or whining about something. And PLEASE don’t bother me with “self-loathing” comments. That card is so over-played. You want to see a real danger to our community. Go to Craig List in any city and look at all the BB posts. Grow up dudes!
Andrew B.
Amway is a multi-level marketing scheme and should be boycotted because they produce nothing of value anyway.
Woody
The DeVos family, owner of the Orlando Magic (playing in the Amway Center) sold thier WNBA franchise over a decade ago soon after a Lesbian kiss-in protest was held at a home game…
ClarkDoug
Didn’t buy the Amway crap 30 years ago ’cause even as a high-schooler I realized it was a crappy Pyramid scheme. Funny, never knew it was anti-gay too!
nature boy
@sfmatt Obviously you haven’t yet really been confronted by fundamental discrimination for being gay, or you wouldn’t write such ignorant comments.
…maybe one day you will fall in love with someone you want to create a legally recognized family with… maybe then you will regret putting even a dime in the coffers of a business that’s actively fighting against your right to marry… that chicken sandwich won’t taste so good then.
…or maybe one day you’ll be walking down the street and a group of bullies with baseball bats, and boot-clad feet will decide to take you out, just because someone thinks you’re queer…. it’s happened to plenty of your “mary” ancestors… would your friend who works for Amway be upset if you were gay-bashed??? Maybe then you’ll take a more active postion on educating those “friends” who work to fill the coffers of Amway, that the millionaires they are really working for, are secretly preaching hate and fighting against people like you, while happily taking your money in public.
Thanks to everyone on the LGBT community who expose this hypocrisy. Money talks.
Alexi3
This hugh contribution shows just how frightened the Religious Right has become that the culture is changing beyond their abilty to control it. They’re right; people have come to see their pronouncements, so long shrouded by cherry-picking lines from Scripture, for the hate and intolerence it actually is of people simply because they are different.
John E.
Whatever or Who ever dominates the rights of others Yes, I believe the rights heterosexual marriage however if a couple wants of the same sex the same rights So what it does dictate in any good book or Bible and/or holy Curran or whatever. The Churches are changing In fact the U.S. National Episcopalian and Anglican gave approval for same sex Civil Union or marriage, in their modified “book of Common prayer.” No one reports this All they do is find who is against Equal marriage. It is also who ever wants defend Equal Marriage their right as freedom of Speech We can all go against this or defend this. It is our right go against anybody or anyone who goes against equal marriages.
StevenX
Most people with class already boycott Amway. After all, this is a company with such a shady reputation that they changed their name in the US for a few years to let the furor die down… They have their name slapped on Orlando, FL’s major arena, locals call it the Pyramid Scheme Center.
gary
@nature boy:
Yes, I think a lot of people, Christians, Amway employees, Tea Partiers and so on would be very upset if gay people are “gay-bashed.” You keep pushing the false narrative that all before mentioned “hate” you and want you to die. You need to get out of that vast echo chamber of the gay ghetto and go meet some of these so called “Haters”. I mean come on….
Michael
Amway also owns laura mercier and Revive so think about that next time you’re at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Sephora, or Saks Fifth Avenue.
Scott Johansen
The trolls on this site are a fascinating bunch. Claiming to be gay, then making some of the most IGNORANT remarks about gays that even Rush Limbaugh would say is over the line. lol, man, can you imagine walking this earth trolling on a website daily as a hobby?
ThatDude
@gary: Speaking of being dead, can you get cancer and die already. The world needs less people like you in it. Here’s hoping that tumor starts growing soon.
Carlson
@gary: you and your alias SFMatt are nothing but Christian, bible thumping whack jobs, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Don’t be angry at us because we don’t subscribe to your FAKE fairy tale book written by a bunch of disgusting old men, for disgusting narcassistic people. You can believe all the Jeebus BUY-BULL you want, but don’t be resentful the rest of us have common sense. You sound angry boo boo.
ZaddO
@gary: LOL you’re sooo bad at trolling. Some trolls are really good at what they do, but bad trolls literally make me laugh out loud uncontrolablly. Lol it’s cute though.
Elloreigh
Ah, yes – the De Vos and Van Andel families, who together more or less own Kent County, Michigan. Enter another basically homophobic denomination along with them – the Christian Reformed Church – the other controlling force in that area of western Michigan.
Wouldn’t give them a dime of my money. Not that it matters – they’re rich enough that they wouldn’t even miss it.
Steve
As an economic tool, boycotts are basically silly. If you can get a substantial fraction of the people to boycott a brand, the brand will notice. But, if only a fraction of a percent of the people participate in a boycott, no one notices. Usually the only thing that gets noticed is if the media pick up on the announcement. For gays to boycott almost anything, has no effect. That’s part of being a small minority.
Of course, we can choose not to buy from them. But then, I don’t think I have bought any Amway products for many years, anyway. And I am pretty sure I have never eaten any food from CFA. It is not necessary to choose one company to not buy from… You can refrain from doing business with several, simultaneously, if you want.
Carl
@Steve
You’re kind of an idiot. No offense, but I mean…yeah you are. Do you REALLY expect the gay community to not boycott a company that spends money against their rights? I mean…how many gay people do you honestly interact with? how self hating are they?
You need to get out more. 99.9999% of gays are very proud, dignified people who won’t sell out their integrity to please your homophobic friends pockets. Sorry to break it to ya. And just so you know, gays are some of the highest earning demographic in this economy. LoL a gay persons poor is a straight persons middle class. And we spend …and boy do we spend. Round up some 30 million gays and thats a whole lotta millions. but keep concinving yourself that A.) We don’t matter at all and B.) We should be buying products at homophobic establishments.
VegasStan
@Steve: Why do simple minded people like you not grasp how counter productive it is for someone who is part of a group to help a company that targets their cause? Like seriously. How many brain cells and are they conflicting each other?
Art Smith
@Steve: Who said every boycott is about making changes in the economic shift for a business? It could very well just be a person staying loyal to their integrity and dignity. There’s a peace of mind and self respect that comes with the courage to stand with your convictions. There’s a piece of internalized hate that comes with patronizing a place that is vocally against who you are. Not purchasing a product from a homophobic outlet doesn’t always mean the person thinks them not being a customer will shut the business down, it often means, they are being true to themselves and not wavering on their personal convictions. Believe it not, not everyone thinks about money-money-money 24/7. For some of us, our integrity is more important.
OlympianBackwards
@Steve: The gay dollar means more than you think it does. If it didn’t, there wouldn’t be a disproportionate level of companies being loudly in favor of gay rights. There wouldn’t be cities across the country who are begging gays to visit, even if the committee can’t stand us, they know our $ is valuable and resourceful. And there would be far, farrrr more companies speaking against us, or pulling a Dan Cathy. Believe me, there’s many a conservative companies out there, but they know the value of a gay dollar, which is more prominent than any other. Go to any savy business corporation and tell them that a majority of gay people are planning a boycott and just wait for the frightened facial expression. They do care and it does make a difference. But you’re more than welcomed to convince yourself otherwise if it makes you and your side feel better.
hotboi2805
People, people!!!! chick fil a is not the only ones who are anti gay corporation theres the following as well; urban outfitters, exxon moblie, wal mart, A-1 Self-Storage Company, The Salvation Army, forever 21, Boy Scouts of America, AutoZone Inc, Cracker Barrel restaurants, Cinemark, Domino’s Pizza, Golfland Entertainment Centers, Insure.com, Manchester Grand Resorts, Meijer Inc, Dish Network, OutsidePride.com, Koch Brothers, Amway products such as cosmetics, food products, gyms, hotels, car-dealerships, and target used to be well they still are but the owners wont admitted that there against it. but com’n are you actually gonna boycott all these companies. and some others not listed as well.
hotboi2805
People need to take a chill pill. If I boycotted every restaurant, clothing line, and entertainment provider, whose political ideology I disagreed with, I’d be hungry, naked, and bored. How does one’s stance on gay marriage affect chicken sandwiches and waffle fries? It doesn’t.
Chick-fil-A has gotten some seriously undeserved feedback for simply stating that they’re supportive of traditional marriage. Who cares? What does that have to do with chicken? Are they refusing to serve people based on their sexual orientation or their stance on gay marriage? Maybe that would be a story worth reporting.
Oh my gosh, alert the presses that there is a company that espouses family values! How dare they, as a private company, stand up for their beliefs? I mean, what has this county come to? How dare they stay married to their (first wives!)
Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno is even threatening to block the restaurant chain from opening a second store in the “increasingly trendy” Northwest Side ward. Why does Mr. Moreno want to deprive his constituents of flaky biscuits? Furthermore, is he going to go around to every business in his district and ask if they support gay marriage, and shut them down if they don’t? Yeah, that’ll be good for the economy.
This whole thing is silly. This is a private company, and the personal views of Dan Cathy have nothing to do with the product they provide or the service they offer. They’re not refusing to serve anyone based on their sexual orientation, race, or gender.
Give Chick-fil-A a break, and as (THE COW) say’s: “Eat Mor Chikin.”
cruzrwgt
Welcome to the land of the enlightened, Fred Karger!
There is more. Much more. The DeVos family is a big supporter of Hillsdale College in Michigan. The same right wing school that Virginia Thomas – wife of Clarence Thomas was affiliated with. These people are the epitome and the center of the vast right wing conspiracy that Hillary Clinton spoke of. Their fingerprints are on so anti American democratic efforts to create a largest banana republic in the world. You should not just boycott Amway. You should include public actions whereever the DeVos owned Orlando Magic play basketball. Or better yet, public action on Rte A1A in Manalapan, Florida. Thats where their beachside home is located and their Cayman Island registered yacht is docked. Let them see us!
cruzrwgt
Welcome to the land of the enlightened, Fred Karger!
There is more. Much more. The DeVos family is a big supporter of Hillsdale College in Michigan. The same right wing school that Virginia Thomas – wife of Clarence Thomas was affiliated with. These people are the epitome and the center of the vast right wing conspiracy that Hillary Clinton spoke of. Their fingerprints are on so anti American democratic efforts to create a largest banana republic in the world. You should not just boycott Amway. You should include public actions where ever the DeVos owned Orlando Magic play basketball. Or better yet, public action on Rte A1A in Manalapan, Florida. Thats where their beach side home is located and their Cayman Island registered yacht is docked. Let them see us!
Will
Karger heads “Rights for Rights” must be a very small organization
Kev C
@hotboi2805: It’s not just talk. Dan Cathy and his family donate serious money made from selling chicken sandwiches to assorted anti-gay groups working to oppress LGBTs.
Boycotting is actually very easy. You simply don’t spend your money with a douche company but spend it with a friendlier source. And making a small effort can usually find sources that are superior to the hate suppliers.
cruzrwgt
Then boycott banana republicans DeVos owned Orland Magic where ever they play and organize a musician boycott of performing at Amway Area in Orlando.
Its gets even creepier. They are big supporter of Hillsdale College in Michigan which Supreme Court spouse Virginia Thomas was affiliated with. Their modi operandi is to transform the USA into their own banana republic. Their govt in exile resides in McLean, Va.
gary
@ThatDude:
LOL….Just proved my point! You stay on that gay plantation dude.
Chris
@gary: Your life must be so sad, that you have to come here to Queerty and spew nonsense in order to feel some connection to the world. Live your life, allow others to live theirs.
Mark
Heck I completely forgot about Amway and I don’t know anyone in my group of friends, which is fairly large, who even use the stuff. Wow!
By the way, don’t forget the Support Starbucks Day on Tuesday, 7th August. While we’re at it, also supporting Amazon, Home Depot, JC Penney, et al who support us.
Brandt Hardin
If companies are people and people vote with dollars then the destination of the restaurant’s donations are open for public debate. It very well should be an issue as to where peoples’ hard-earned money goes after the chicken goes down their gullet. This issue has made our little feathered friend the modern martyr as Chick-fil-A laughs all the way to the bank. Watch the poultry be nailed to the cross and pierced by the spear of destiny at the hands of those devious cows on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/08/holy-rollin-poultry-on-cross-chick-fil.html
OutMaturity
Saying goodbye to Amway, though honestly I have NEVER bought from them anyway.
What I can do even more though, is to pass this on to ANYONE I know so they can make the same decision….not to buy from Amway EVER!!
Alexa
Amway changed their name to Quixtar in the US for several years, which is one of the reasons for thinking they had disappeared. My boss at the time sold their stuff and I bought a couple of things from her before I found out it was really Amway and refused to buy any more. Bitch is probably still selling it, and eating at Chick-Fil-A.
Steve Leong
I will definitely boycott Amway! How sinful to promote hate and discrimination under the guise of Christianity. Especially by pouring such an amount of money into bashing another group’s rights.
Sometimes we need to step away from the immediate situation, and look at it from a distance. It’s way less hurtful that way. Chic-fil-A may get their moment of glory when carloads of anti-gay rights people flood their restaurants urged on by Mr. Huckleberry. This moment will pass. The establishment will have lost all customers who are Gay, Gay family, and Gay friendly. and have a reputation of discrimination. As the Bible states, “what one sows, so shall they reap”. The same will go for Amway. If I may quote a line from a great song, “When I find myself in times of darkness, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, LET IT BE”.
It’s time the LGBT community take a seat at God’s table. For years, many “straight” Christians have been calling it exclusively theirs. God created ALL, including Gays.
I took a seat at the table in 1988, and accepted my life as the Gay man God created me to be. Since then, my life has been showered with miracles. My prayers are answered. I’m not promoting Christianity, any spiritual outlet one is lead to will start you on a path to understanding why we were created the way we were. The LGBT community is blessed with the power of creativity. We have had to create ways of being accepted through out our life. We have strengthened that muscle. We ARE created in the image of God (the creator)!
One day soon, we will ALL work together, both Gay and straight to find solutions to the sufferings in this world.
Steve Leong
@hotboi2805: Yes. Why not? Perhaps there should be a list of all “anti Gay Rights” companies out there. Those who support the LGBT community deserve our business, and there are a lot of Gay supportive companies out there.
nature boy
@hotboi2805 LOL yes, I do not support any of the companies on your long list. It’s very easy, actually, there are good alternatives in each category. The rest of your comments (and @gary’s) only make sense if you are actually straight homophobes using phony profiles to try and create some sense of conflict in the gay community on these issues.
@Steve Leong Beautiful, thanks for posting. I agree 100%. Jesus would welcome gays to his church.
gary
@nature boy:
Hey Nature Boy,
So Iam not queer eh? How do you know that? Because I don’t toe the “queer’ party line? Because I actually use critical thinking skills. Because I question everything and I am not just some trendy follower of “group thought”? Because I don’t make broad sweeping generalizations about groups of people (e.g. Christians, Blacks, and etc.). Because I don’t go ga-ga over GA GA? Who the hell made you my moral superior? Telling me what to think!? You are worse than any Christian Fundie. You have your own doctrine and anybody who disagrees with you are reprobates. Get a clue dude…some of us gay dudes believe it takes more than getting a “tat” to make us edgy. We actually think for ourselves and don’t let the Dan Savages, the HRC and the eternally offended GLAAD group set our priorities.
Truth Hurts
@gary: You’re posts scream angry black man. You black gays are some of the most bitter, jaded, resentful and homophobic in the entire world. Because everyone does want to do you, you’ve turned yourselves into NASTY, bitter souls. 99% of you do nothing but play the race card toward the gay community, with nothing but ignorant posts, then you want the gay community to actual empathize with you? hah! What I’m observing is a majority of gays actually noticing this recent trend of homophobic gay black individual in mass. You all are angry, angry little souls and trust me, you will be on your own isolated island considering the black community doesn’t want to have anything to do with you (and that’s where your real anger comes from and we all know it) and the gay community is puking over your martyr woe is me ploy. STFU already.
J.R
@Truth Hurts: Well said. From my experiences, gay black males struggle between being extremely religious and internalized homophobia, coupled with frustration over the black community not being accepting of them, and they bottle that all up and in a twisted way…it manifests out toward the gay community. They are just hurt, but don’t seem to have any grasp for how to handle it. One solution would be to address the homophobia within their surroundings, but since that takes too much effort, it’s easier for them to blame gays, all while eventually turning into nothing short of a self hating gay themselves. That’s the classic case here with gary and other black gay men I’ve interacted with.
Mark Willington
@gary:
Actually, you’re part of a group think yourself, just on the polar opposite end. Your eagerness and obsession with belittling the gay community or siding against them is the internalized homophobe group think. They say, think, act and verbatim talk exactly as you do. They resent the gay community, and resent what the gay community stands for, all while being hyper critical of what the community does. You’re a bird of that feather, flocking together, in a cryptic identical manner. You’re fixation to be seen as different as gays has resulted in you being exactly like every other internalized homophobe. How can you NOT see that? There’s nothing different, or unique, or hip about repeating talking points from self hating gays like yourself that we’ve heard before. You’re actually being more and more predictable with every post. Work on your anger issues, because you do sound very angry. I assure you, the gay community couldn’t care less about your anger, or you, so ultimately you’re just aging yourself, and personally I couldn’t give two blanks. But you do sound like you’re in need of professional mental help and I hope you get it.
BeachNow1984
@gary: You just attempted to call out the gay community for making sweeping generalizations about blacks and Christians, after a string of posts where you insulted our people, generalized all gays, and made blanket statements yourself? I’m gonna join the other posters and ‘go there’ since you and your kind is so willing to go there yourselves. You come on here and think because you’re black and Christian that you’re somehow immune from criticism, and are OWED something all while you spew nothing but homophobic garbage. All you’re doing is reaffirming every stereotype people have of gay LGBT. You think you can come at gays with your ignorance and not get a response back because you’re black? get over yourself, and playing victim because not every porn star looks like you. It’s people like you that intensify black homophobia, AND create more racism in the gay community. You’re trying to win gay people over by mouthing off homophobia and criticizing gay culture than demanding they bow down to black culture and black gays? b-tch please! get that chip off your shoulder. it’s getting heavy.
You don’t EVER get respect in society when you’re not willing to give respect, and ALLL the gay community observes from the black community (especially gay blacks like you) is disrespect. Don’t act all hysterical because you got a taste of your own medicine. You’re not owed crap!
gary
@Truth Hurts:
Uh, Dude….I am European …as in “White”. WTF are you ranting about Black dudes for? And talk about being angry. Wow man..take a chill pill! And for the record I love Black men….
Dynex
@gary:
Maybe our community should join the Baptist Church like you? or make it a point to listen to Hip Hop like you? start embracing urban ‘street’ culture like you? basically, do embrace everything that stands against are people just to make you and the black culture feel comfortable, while neglecting part of our own identity, all so you can overcome your insecurity.
You’re nothing but a stereotype yourself. Loud, obnoxious, ghetto, and playing the race card in the same sentence you throw out homophobia. Looks like the posters above read you like a summer novel, and accurately too.
MJ
@gary: Gary, why you so mad? because you got called out? because the majority of gays don’t identify with you, want to hang out with you, and see you as nothing but an angry little sad lost soul? Don’t be angry you got the cold shoulder from the gay community. Be angry at yourself for being a social misfit who is so miserable in his own life, he’s gotta come on a gay blog to rant how much he doesn’t like gays. That right there is rich bro.
USC Trojans Fan
@gary:
Do you really think you are ‘different’ though? I mean do you really see yourself as some against the grain gay force? LoL how old are you? A someone who’s most likely older than you, in my late 30s here, and has been around the scene for some time….people like you are nothing but tired, played out punch lines in the community. We see your type come and go on a daily basis. You were beat with homophobia insetlled in your head since childhood. Now in adulthood, you can’t quite shake that homophobe off; try as you may, it’s there. That internal struggle between loving the c(0)ck and hating being gay results in an angry little man who resents other gays having the integrity to be who they are, be comfortable in their skin, and be happy with being gay. None of which you remotely are. Instead of ironing out why you have these deep rooted issues, you analyze the gay community and throw what you precieve to be their flaws at them, all to make yourself feel better. Almost like convincing yourself “well, I may be gay, but atleast I’m not like THEM” = a defense mechanism.
Boo boo, that doesn’t make you different, or original, or one of a kind. Going out of your way to not be part of the community or branded in the gay culture doesn’t make you some enigma. LOL do you realize how many of you the average gay person has met before? do you realize how often we laugh, yet feel pity when you walk away? Like a 12 year old coloring their hair purple to be different, you’re just like every other 12 year old in the mall with purple hair. A cry for attention, in all the wrong places.
Best of luck with that.
MCJackson
USC TRojans Fan went and gave gary a verbal papsmear y’all. Dang boy. That was brilliant!
and as a black dude, while I normally don’t appreciate the backlash against black peeps at all: but in this situation, hey, if you gonna open yourself up for criticism, and can dish it, you better step up off the jump and take it. gary is what we call ‘homo thug lover’ in the queer black crowd. look it up. they are da most homophobic on the block but they sure do love them some man meat.
Austine
@gary: gay, why do guys like you care so much about the interests of gay men? what is it to you anyways? so, some like Lady Gaga…and? there’s not a thing harmful in that. There is something however very harmful and almost creepy about sitting on the sidelines and taking mental notes of the hobbies, interests and likes of the larger gay community then bashing those things. it speaks volumes and says you’re using those attributes as a negative, not because that singer is negative, but because gay men like her it’s negative. that is a mental disturbance and locked in prejudice. yeah, there are cultural elements to the gay community. there’s the beautiful rainbow flag. there’s some artists many enjoy. there’s various pillars we stand for. just like every other group and demographic has their own. and they are harmless in many respects, and helpful in galvanizing in more respects. to obsess over what gays like, as if they are bad things, says far more about YOU than it does about gay people.
instead of dictating other people’s lives…go out and live your own. you sound miserable in it.
Austine
@gary: gary, why do guys like you care so much about the interests of gay men? what is it to you anyways? so, some like Lady Gaga…and? there’s not a thing harmful in that. There is something however very harmful and almost creepy about sitting on the sidelines and taking mental notes of the hobbies, interests and likes of the larger gay community then bashing those things. it speaks volumes and says you’re using those attributes as a negative, not because that singer is negative, but because gay men like her it’s negative. that is a mental disturbance and locked in prejudice. yeah, there are cultural elements to the gay community. there’s the beautiful rainbow flag. there’s some artists many enjoy. there’s various pillars we stand for. just like every other group and demographic has their own. and they are harmless in many respects, and helpful in galvanizing in more respects. to obsess over what gays like, as if they are bad things, says far more about YOU than it does about gay people.
instead of dictating other people’s lives…go out and live your own. you sound miserable in it.
C.A.T.
@Ron Jackson: you got that right. products are overpriced
they rank up to the likes of USANA
Ehud Avni
That’s a really good idea. The PBSO will show up, one of them will yell “gun!!”, & then they’ll fire a couple hundred rounds. After that there will be “an investigation” & then a cover up. Protests are called riots in PBC, & deadly force is used to “protect” the officers.
Scott Rose
Hello: Please consider signing and sharing this petition. The petition demands that the Editorial Board of the journal Social Science Research retract the notorious, invalid, defamatory, anti-gay Regnerus gay-parenting “study.” According to the journal’s own Peer Review Policy, it takes MONTHS for the editor to locate experts to carry out peer review of submissions on esoteric topics like gay parenting. But, SSR’s editor James Wright did NOT get topic experts, the BIGOTS he had do the peer review had CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, and Regnerus’s submission was accepted for publication in only 5 ½ weeks, LESS TIME than the journal usually spends just to LOCATE expert peer reviewers. Be sure to read the full petition text inside the petition at this link: http://tinyurl.com/8q7ync4
Macmantoo
I don’t feel any boycott of any company is worth the time unless all gays and their friends are involved. One, I don’t know that Amway sells anything that most of us would buy in the first place. At least not that I have bought in my many years on earth. And I would say I’m one of the oldest on here at 65.
As far as Chik-fil-A goes, just not purchasing their products will hurt them in the long run. This one day “appreciation day” is a joke. Of course they’re going to get every religious nut out there to go on that day to show us gays. But will they keep going week after week? It’s the long term effect that hurts a business. I won’t give my dollars to any company that is supporting discrimination against my rights. I would say over the year or two Chik-fil-A might have a problem making up the gay dollars they lose if all gays won’t eat there. That’s why the Blacks did so well with their boycotts in the 60’s was solidarity. That’s something we lack and why it hard for us to accomplish a boycott.
Crystle
@Macmantoo: Actually, you’re very mistaken. Gays have been extremely succesful in making a PROMINENT showing of their anti Chik Fil A stance, boycotting it, and not only are a strong majority of gay people boycotting Chik Fil A…but the most impressive thing about the community is how actively we’ve educated and spoken against Chik Fil A on our facebook and twitter pages. Thousands of gays expressing their opinions. So we are extremely connected, outspoken, and tnecaious as a community and I’m extremely proud of us in our approach to Chik Fil A. We didn’t waver, we didn’t apologize, and we stood strong. I don’t know a single one of my MANY gay friends who plans to ever eat their again. Most agree the food was overrated anyways, and the guilt trip that would come from going there would never be worth it.
Cam
@gary: Said….”Yeah I am queer, but you dudes throw the word “hate” around way too easily. Just because someone is opposed to gay marriage doesn’t automatically mean hate. ”
___________________________
No you aren’t. The FIRST thing that all the anti-gay trolls say is “As a gay man, or as a lesbian I think….or in your case “Yeah I’m queer” just before they launch into a phony comment as to way it somehow isn’t hateful that somebody is opposed to civil rights.
Nice try bigot.
toren123
I thought of the Knights of Columbus in bed with the Mormons is hilarious. Old guys & boy missionaries!!!