Daniel Duty is the Director of Enterprise Strategy at Target. In 1992, Duty was appointed by Target’s CEO as a co-sponsor of the company’s LGBT business council. Duty provides an insider’s perspective on being gay at Target and how the company overcame public and media backlash for supporting a candidate that opposed gay rights. Here, he discusses the clusterfuck that is Target’s relationship with the LGBT community after it donated money in a failed attempt to elect proud bigot Tom Emmer governor of Minnesota.
What is it like to be gay at Target? What is the general attitude towards LGBT people?
Duty: It’s funny that you ask that question. I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else as a gay person. I’ve had a fantastic career here for the last 10 years. I started many, many pay grades below where I am today. Target has been nothing but supportive of me and my career. As an out gay man who has been advocating very intentionally both inside and outside the company for inclusiveness, the only things that I’ve gotten back from Target are praise, reward, and support. And you could hear that story from people across this company, because I talk to them all the time.
It’s really a great place to work – you can be out, you can be open, and most people are. We have several top executives in the company who are openly gay. The fact that we are such a community-oriented company feels good, because Target is spending lots of money on GLBT issues and organizations. The company is supporting us every day, as employees, to go out in the community and be volunteers for gay organizations and causes. We have celebrations here in the headquarter buildings. In some ways, we don’t think about it all that much, because it is so easy. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone else, you are who you are, and that’s widely accepted throughout this organization, from the top down.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Did the company turn to you during the public and media backlash against Target? Did the company seek the advice of the LGBT business council?
Duty: Yes, actually, I think I got one of the first calls when that news broke. Really, the great thing about the business councils and how they are used here at Target is that the company does rely on them. They really respect their opinion on how to handle different issues. So, not only did it feel good, but it was natural for our top executives at Target to call the GLBT business council in that situation and say, “This happened, it wasn’t our intent, but help us think this through–how do we handle this?”
What was your immediate advice?
Duty: My immediate advice was to understand what had happened and what the facts were. A lot of what we talked about was to continue to do what we already do so well, which was showing the community that Target is not only a huge supporter of not only its GLBT team members, but also a huge supporter of our community and the issues that are important to us. We talked a lot about how to continue down that path and even enhance it where we thought there was opportunity.
What was the insider response from the LGBT employees at Target? Did you come together to work through this?
Duty: We definitely came together to work through it. I think there was a lot of surprise, quite frankly, because we know internally what a great place Target is to work at. It was hard for us to fathom that all these people on the outside were saying that Target had done something terribly wrong, that it was not supportive of the GLBT community when, in fact, we knew very differently. So, the response internally, from both the GLBT team members and straight members in the company, was one of a little bit of surprise and “How can we make this right, how can we assure people that we are the company that we say we are and the company we’ve been living day to day.”
I would say there was a huge coming together of not only the business council team members, but other executives throughout the company. They were saying to us, “How can we help? What can we do? This is not Target.” I think we felt really good about the company response. And what Target did so well, and I think what made us feel so good, was that the first thing Target was concerned about was the team members. The first concern wasn’t “How do we send a message to the outside world?”. It was “How do we ensure our own people feel good about us and that we are going to live up to the inclusive environment that we always talk about?”.
What are the biggest issues on the table right now for the LGBT business council at Target?
Duty: We put together a strategic plan every year for issues we want to focus on. We divide that plan into two aspects: one is workplace issues and the other is marketplace issues. The workplace piece of our plan is helping the company think about how to be one of the best places for GLBT team members to work. When you walk into Target there is a huge sign on the wall that talks about our inclusive culture–that is our core value here at Target. What we do, as a business council, is help advise the company on how to continue to drive that inclusive culture, especially with regard to GLBT team members. One of the issues we talk about is benefits. Target has pretty comprehensive domestic partnership benefits, but there are always new things that we are discovering and thinking about that we bring to the company’s attention. We work with them to make sure we are really getting true inclusiveness for all of our GLBT team members.
The other piece is our marketplace plan, which helps the company understand the GLBT consumer. What is he/she looking for? What motivates him/her? What kind of marketing messages might be important to that community? We really act as an advisory board to the company on thinking about that GLBT consumer segment.
Do you have any suggestions for people trying to get an LGBT organization started within their company?
Duty: The first step is you have to find each other. Get together and really talk about what it is that you want to achieve as an ERG or business council. How do you align your goals and objectives as an ERG with the company’s strategies, goals and objectives? What I have found very powerful, here at Target, is that where we have been able to align our goals with the company’s goals, we got to make progress faster. Talk to the company about how your goals are the same as the company’s.
The second piece that I think is important is that it’s important to build allies throughout the company. We have many, many allies in this company, gay and straight, who are supportive of us. Using them to help spread our message and objectives has been very useful in making things happen. Having those allies, especially in the executive ranks, is important.
Do you think that the backlash against Target ignited the company to do more for the LGBT community?
Duty: I don’t know if it sparked us to do more because we were already doing so much. We would have pushed the organization to enhance what they were doing no matter what happened. I feel that the difference between today and yesterday is that we are starting to talk about what we are doing more publicly so that people understand all the great things we’ve always been doing.
At the end of the day, Target has always been highly invested in the GLBT community.
This post originally appeared on Dot429 and is republished here with permission.
justiceontherocks
He’s a company shill – what do you expect him to say?
People who screw up always say what this guy does: “It’s not us. We’re not like that.” Too bad the facts say otherwise.
Crabby
another Chris Barron type delusional fool, mental illness is everywhere these days!
Sparky
Let’s not forget that Target donated even more money to Tom Emmer after the original scandal cooled down. You can believe this “Christopher Barren” of the Target corporation or you can believe the facts.
Fitz
What a fucking tool. The word KAPPA comes to mind.
Mac McNeill
Bullcrap
Spike
Stopped shopping at Target when I first heard about the donations, not going back cuz they hired some sell out gay to build bridges. Oh yea, and have never bought Coors. Some boycotts are worth respecting/following.
Gigi
Why the story Queerty? You get some Target coupons?
SteveDenver
Target doesn’t need my money, I’ll take it where I’m not openly insulted and opposed. That’s a plain and cogent as it gets.
@Spike: Coors would never have had LAGER if Scott Coors had not come out as gay, lived out and proud, and firmly pushed along the social mentality at the family firm. The fact that Mary Cheney was head of LAGER and then disappeared into family wealth and fell mute on lesbian/gay issues — supporting Bush’s second campaign — does not speak well.
David
I see their big red Target Bullseye as a symbol for homophobia.
KC
This changes nothing for me. Still not shopping at Target, Best Buy, Urban Outfitters or Chik-fil-a. Still not using 3M products, and still not donating to the Salvation Army. And I don’t miss any of them (well, Ok, maybe Chik-fil-a just a little bit, but McDonald’s southern-style chicken sandwich is a close enough alternative 🙂
Yuki
I still fail to see why it was such a big deal.
Target has a record of good history with gay people and employees.
They donated to someone who was–as far as I am aware–first and foremost pro-big business.
They apologized for the anti-gay implications, explained their position, and continue treating gay employees well.
So… why the rage? I understand for Chick-fil-A, for instance, but not Target.
B
No. 1 · justiceontherocks wrote, “He’s a company shill – what do you expect him to say? People who screw up always say what this guy does: “It’s not us. We’re not like that.” Too bad the facts say otherwise.”
… What apparently happened is that Target donated to a group called MN Forward that then passed out money to an anti-gay candidate. MN Forward’s web site is available (still) at http://www.mnforward.com/ and if you look through it, you’ll see a lot of “pro-business, anti-tax” stuff and no anti-gay stuff, even for its description of Tom Emmer. This isn’t surprising: Emmer probably talked about being pro-business and lowering taxes and skipped his anti-gay stuff because pro-business people want less regulation and lower taxes and could care less about what you do in bed unless it involves a product they could sell to you. Emmer probably talked to fundamentalist church groups about opposing same-sex marriage and skipped issues that fire-and-brimstone Christians don’t care about (talking about transportation planning for the next 50 years is not going to go over well with a crowd that thinks the world is going to end in 6 months). You know, a politician who (surprise, surprise) tells his audiences what they want to hear.
Given that, Target could easily have screwed up by not vetting MN Forward’s candidates carefully enough. It’s too bad, but not necessarily intentionally anti-gay. I’d give Target the benefit of the doubt on this one – if Target tightens up its procedures for deciding who gets a donation. After all, Target’s best people aren’t going to be assigned to doling out donations to political candidates, but rather on how to run the business as efficiently as possible and on how to expand it or otherwise increase profits. If your business model is to sell at the lowest possible price, you have to be sure that the operation is very efficient.
As they say, “don’t attribute to malice what could easily be explained by stupidity.”
the crustybastard
A person Target pays to tout Target’s gay-friendliness boldly takes a position endorsing Target’s gay-friendliness? Shocka!
Loved the hilariously softball questions, too. “Can you think of any way that Target could be even more awesome? How awesome is it to work for such an awesome company?”
Still not shopping there.
[img]http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/hs275.snc3/23311_142938299074355_4980_n.jpg[/img]
And Yuki, the problem wasn’t that Emmer supports pro-business policies. It was because Emmer also supports people who advocate MURDERING PEOPLE FOR BEING GAY.
And Target didn’t apologize for that — they rationalized it, just like you.
JM
Yeah, that does sound like a shill. His enthusiasm is too great, his story too perfect. Plus he’s being paid by Target.
@B: “talking about transportation planning for the next 50 years is not going to go over well with a crowd that thinks the world is going to end in 6 months”
LOL!
“don’t attribute to malice what could easily be explained by stupidity.”
Right on. I, too, would give Target the benefit of the doubt. Once. Unfortunately, they continued to donate to Emmer even after the shit hit the fan. So, I say lets nail them to the wall. Well, you guys can, but I’m in Canada… =P
B
No. 13 · the crustybastard wrote, “And Yuki, the problem wasn’t that Emmer supports pro-business policies. It was because Emmer also supports people who advocate MURDERING PEOPLE FOR BEING GAY.”
But the facts seem to be that Target donated to MN Forward which funded a number of campaigns, including Emmer’s. Target probably checked that MN Forward was a legitimate pro-business group (not a sham funneling nearly everything to itself) and simply failed to check the background of each candidate, and Target could have assumed that MN Forward would have done that.
If you look at Emmer’s web page (last updated it seems as the votes were being counted) there’s a link to an “issues” page http://www.emmerforgovernor.com/issues/ that has a number of topics including “Social Values As Governor, I will continue to support the rights of the unborn, the elderly and the infirm. Read More,” with no explicit mention of marriage issue. You have to click the “Read More” link to find out that Emmer opposes same-sex marriages, and there is nothing about him supporting people who want to murder gays – if he did support such people, he tried to keep it really quiet. It’s possible that Emmer was simply pandering to the religious nuts – pandering requires saying something but when obviously pandering, the usual procedure is to keep any nonsense you are expected to spout as well buried as possible.
Given that, I find it plausible that Target simply didn’t notice some things about one of MN Forward’s candidates until there was a public reaction.
chiDan
Me shopping at target? Absolutly. Beats the hell out of shopping and supporting walmart!
Righwingers are sociopaths (John from England)
@B:
B, really?
You think an organisation that makes THAT much money wouldn’t do their homework?
I’ve had my own small business and now doing an MBA, my tutor would lynch me if I came out with what you just said. And imagine that….we don’t have a billion dollar industry to look after.
You’re off the…planet.
@Gigi:
You know it right?!! This is an advertorial. Used to do it but not as horrid when I used to run a magazine. We were more ethical and subtle. I was literally reading this in severe eyeroll.
Queerty isn’t ethical or nice, so this isn’t really a shock per se, just hilariously PR!
the crustybastard
@B: So you imagine a company that cannot stop trumpeting how diligently it spends millions toward socially conscious community projects simply can’t be bothered to learn how its political contributions are spent?
Don’t be naive. Target knew exactly what was going on, and Target deliberately laundered $150K to Emmer through MN Forward (making Target the PAC’s biggest donor). What’s more, Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel personally wrote Emmer a $2K check, the legal maximum.
“These are nice people…and you know what? I respect their point of view.”
That’s what Tom Emmer said about You Can Run But You Can’t Hide International, Inc. a fundamentalist Christian rock ministry that Emmer supports with personal donations. Here’s the kind of hateful, slanderous views YCRBYCH’s spokesman, Bradlee Dean, espouses over the public airwaves, views that Emmer evidently respects:
“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians. They know homosexuality is an abomination. If America won’t enforce the laws, God will raise up a foreign enemy to do just that. The bottom line is this… [homosexuals] play the victim when they are, in fact, the predator. On average, they molest 117 people before they’re found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?”
Go listen to the broadcast here [http://minnesotaindependent.com/58393/gop-linked-punk-rock-ministry-says-executing-gays-is-moral]
Dean also promotes the Bryan Fischer’s manifestly false revisionist history that Hitler and the SA were gay, promoted some homosexual agenda, and didn’t really persecute gays. [http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2011/02/video-bryan-fischer-speaks-with-bradlee-executing-homosexuals-is-moral-dean.html]
If you don’t mind your money going to support these “nice people,” you keep shopping at Target.
adman
Ugh defending straight individuals by taking their “privileged” stances towards society’s institutions to heart. Non-hetero apologists for the excesses of ethical worms like these are fooling themselves. Really, look at your life and ask yourself honestly, how many straights would you really defend? They live in a mythological reality that overlaps the real world by law. They believe they are superior, they know it in their hearts, when the evidence says they are simply a majority and couldn’t be more mistaken.
For me the number is 3. Really, 3 straight people, my family, my partners family, dozens of frenemies who have “accepted” me all of my life as long as I “remain discrete”, all of them. I know 3 heteros who I can stick up for in good conscience. OK, 5 on my best day. And you know, strangely these are the ones who know the least about LGBT reality, and are really just plain old straight people, trying their best, warts and all.
Homophobia encourages us to dehumanize LGBT’s for our own personal gain by promising zero consequences and instant “good guy” status, and this silly cunt has got it bad. Oh well, she ain’t the first, won’t be the last. Dizzy queen, doesn’t she know she’s just an “issue”? When the PR budget skips to the next project she’ll be scuttled from the racket and hung out to dry. How was being gangsta with the “big boys”, miss thang? Did you bust anything?
Shannon1981
Not buying it. He is the Chris Barron/Matt Hissey of Target. He gets paid big bucks to sit on his ass in some office all day, spewing lies, and he is ok with that as long as he gets a hefty bonus.
Daez
For those that are hating on Target and boycotting it. Please tell me, where exactly do you shop. Seriously! Do you think Wal-Mart is more gay friendly? You think they really care about anything other than their bottom line? What about . Stores will always look out for their bottom line, and the only reason they gave money to this guy is that he was the most pro-business candidate. Why do we honestly think that any corporate company gives a damn about anything more than just dollars?
Cam
Fuck them, they responded to the outrage by making ANOTHER donation. Until the extreamly anti-gay CEO is gone and stops donating to anti-gay candidates, I don’t want to hear that they are supposedly gay friendly.
Cam
@Daez: said…
”
For those that are hating on Target and boycotting it. Please tell me, where exactly do you shop. Seriously! Do you think Wal-Mart is more gay friendly? You think they really care about anything other than their bottom line? What about . Stores will always look out for their bottom line, and the only reason they gave money to this guy is that he was the most pro-business candidate”
_____________________________
Give me a break, If David Duke, the Klansman was running for office and was very pro-business, would you yell at black people for not wanting to shop at a store that donated to him?
Pat Duffy
@Daez: Actually, I shop in locally owned stores. Even in small towns there’s more than a big box store. Heck, there’s a strip mall 3 blocks from my house who’s stores pretty much carry everything me and my partner need, excluding the Bible store, the African American Beauty salon(we’re old White Queens with little hair;>)and the Fundie 2nd Hand shop….
Shannon1981
@Cam: Well said. Exactly. Gay people are supposed to just ignore these practices, but every other minority group is justified in their outrage? Nothing doing.
Also, I will say this, as I just had this conversation with some straight allies who aren’t necessarily as *activist* oriented as I am: I get that people have daily lives to lead. They don’t have the time, resources, or money to sift through all the information and choose based only on a company’s associations, beliefs, and practices. But something as simple as opting for a McDonald’s Chicken sandwich instead of a Chik Fil A one, and telling your friends and family to do so as well can eventually make a real difference. Donate to Goodwill instead of Salvation Army. Don’t shop at Target. That’s 3 things, 3 easy things, that I just typed in a few seconds that ANYONE can do to make a difference, to show people that what they are doing is unacceptable. Nobody is saying everyone who is pro gay rights has to crusade in the streets 24/7 or completely alter their lives. I chose to do so because it means a lot to me. But I get that not everyone can do that. However, knowingly, deliberately supporting organizations with ties to anti gay groups and politicians makes you no better than them.
hephaestion
Jim Dandy interview! Except that he never explained why Target gives tons of money to anti-gay politicians who are destroying our lives.
Other than that, an inspiring interview.
JAW
@Cam:
Well said… it is time that we stop the stupidity of sending business away from a Company like Target that has supported us. Target has been good to it’s gay employees and to the gay community in Minn and other places long before other companies.
All of u who are hating on Target… tell me who has done more for us??? or even a company that has done even half as much.
Mikey
That’s nice. Still not shopping at Target. Why take the chance even a penny of my money is going to anti-gay causes or politicians? There are so many other places to shop. And, frankly, because of their crappy customer service and the prices going up, I wasn’t shopping there much anymore anyway.
Does this hurt Target? I don’t know. I don’t shop there and because I won’t shop there, anyone in the car with me on a shopping trip (my b.f., his family, etc.) aren’t going to be shopping there when they are with me. It adds up.
justiceontherocks
@B: That “response” is lamer than your interview, and the people have voted on that.
When you spend as much money on government relations as Target does, ignorance is no defense.
Cam
@JAW: said…
”
All of u who are hating on Target… tell me who has done more for us??? or even a company that has done even half as much.”
___________________________
I’m sorry, but Target granting it’s employees domestic partner benefits does NOT make up for supporting a virulently anti-gay politician. One who has ties to a group that feels it is ok to kill gays.
If people like this man get elected, they can overturn gay rights in that state. Would it still be ok then because , well gee, Target treats it’s gay employees right…and they’re really sorry that sodomy is now illegal, but we just wanted to elect a pro-business guy.
David Ehrenstein
@Fitz: You mean KAPO.
JAW
@Shannon1981:
Shannon… I am not as much as an activist as you either. It is good that you are able to enlighten us as well as your straight allies.
My question is… why McDonalds over C.F.A? what has Micky D done for us? I was not able to find info… what about KFC, Burger King or others? where should I get my chicken fix?
You mentioned donating to Goodwill… Why?… What have they done for us?…
Why not donate to a local adis thrift or other local group that has help support us.
What retail companies have donated to only pro gay candidates?
Again, I am not an activist like you and many others. I am just a gay man that tries to support people and companies that have helped support us for many years. SO any help that you can give me, and others that do a better job will be greatly appreciated.
ML
I’ve changed my shopping habits and no longer even think about shopping at Target. They can use their profits to support whatever politics they choose but they can also rot in Hell for all I care.
SouthSideShorty
Waaaaaa waaaaaa waaaaaa
Jesus Christ, I’ve never heard so much whining. If it makes you feel good (or great!) to boycott Target, go for it, but don’t ever fool yourselves into thinking you’re making a difference in their bottom line. You do not have that much power. Their political donations are benign, and never intended to shoot down homosexuals (trust me, they care much more about taking our money than they do about keeping us out of their stores). If you guys would look at this from a common-sense POV and not that of the perpetual victim, you would understand that this company is in the business of making money, not promoting hate. Sheeesh.
Derek da Silva
Glad to see there are so many staying true to the Target boycott. I always think I’m the only one that values my rights more than my convenience – you all amaze me. Thanks for being educated and standing up!
JAW
@Cam:
I do understand what you are saying… What I do not understand which companies out there have supported only pro gay candidates.
Or is the only reason u boycott Target is because they got caught?
Have you researched other companies to find out who is better a better place for us to shop??
How do you know that shopping someplace else is helping to support a company that does not even offer benefits to LGBT employees?
I need help before I would consider a boycott… can you help me?
JAW
@ML:
@Derek da Silva:
Where have you found to shop that is not helping the anti gay candidates and also is a good place for us to work?
I need help
justiceontherocks
@JAW: You shouldn’t assume that a large publicly traded corporation has positions on “social issues” at all. Their lawyers have all told them that is inconsistent with their duties to their shareholders (owners) to make money.
You’re better off shopping with locally owned stores where you know the people involved.
And, yes, Target is in the cross hairs because they got caught, not because they are better or worse than others.
Francis
SouthSideShorty, it’s about principle. And standing up for yourself and standing strong for your community in the face of actions that directly hurt it. Target has not stepped up to the plate for our community and has actually done things that directly injure our community. So, why reward them with a dime? Not going to happen.
JAW
@justiceontherocks:
Are you saying that Gay rights are just a social issue??
or are you talking about something else… perhaps you mean they should stay away from cocktail parties
Reading the above interview, I see that Target is on our side. I also understand that they may do things that we do not all agree with… Hell I would bet that there has not been a candidate out there that has ever received 100% of the gay vote.
justiceontherocks
@JAW: Most corporations only think about political issues that directly impact their business. “Gay rights” concerns don’t. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, just that that’s how it is.
Shannon1981
@JAW: McDonald’s immediately fired a manager for not hiring a transgender teen and leaving nastiness on her answering machine.That is evidence of workplace equality practices as an alternative to the widely known bigots of Chik Fil A, no matter their attempts at damage control. Salvation Army is run by fundies, and has ties to anti gay religious groups. I believe Focus on the Family might be one- but I’ll hunt links when I get home- at school right now. Goodwill practices workplace equality, and advocates finding jobs for the “undesirables” of society- ex prostitutes, ex cons, people with skeletons in their closets, pretty much.Again, a useful, widely known alternative to Salvation Army. And those are examples I generally use for straight allies, because they are less likely to hunt smaller, local, pro gay organizations and businesses. Those are major, nationally and maybe even internationally recognized places to shop or not shop, donate or not donate, eat or not eat.
As for finding out if you aren’t sure- often(if not always)campaign donations and the like are a matter of public record. Its pretty easy to look around political sites, see who supports what, and where they get their money. Like I said before, it takes time and effort, and how far out of your way you go for this stuff is a personal choice.
And yes, often local, if you live in a community with lots of gay friendly organizations, is the way to go. For instance, safehouses for gay teens, things like that, or local businesses run by members of the LGBT community. However, most straight allies aren’t gonna hunt around for stuff, so to keep them away from the more evil corporations, I give them examples and alternatives they can easily find and live with. Every little bit helps, ya know?
And if ur interested- HRC has lists of business who do and do not practice workplace equality, complete with ratings. I know some people on this site have different feelings about some things are handled by GLAAD, HRC,Change.org, etc…but they know their shit. If you ever question business practices, I say check them out.
JAW
@justiceontherocks:
Then why had Target been paying to help sponsor the Gay pride parade in Minn… plus pay for tables at the HRC dinner etc until we would not take the money??
Target has put their money where their mouth is, and supported us, for many years. Many other Companies have been good citizens to us and to others also. Most companies put a lot of effort into looking like good people to have in the community.
Tell me other companies that have been better to and for us??
justiceontherocks
@JAW: I’m not here to defend companies. Most of them have done both supportive and negative things. When any of them, Target included, spends money in support of gay rights organizations, you can be sure they have a business purpose behind it.
JAW
@Shannon1981:
Good to hear what Micky D’s did for our Trans teen. same with Goodwill… but as others have said (and I disagree with) the fact that a company is a great place to work including McD’s, GW and Target does not matter. The only thing that matters to most here is that one Company got caught donating to a PAC that they thought would be good for their business.
When Target began to offer benefits to us, donate to and sponsor LGBT groups and events they pissed off a lot of folks on the right, and far right. Target knew it might cost them sales and profits, but they knew it was the right thing to do. We need to recognize that, and continue to support them.
I have been a member of HRC for many years and have used the guide often… we all should. I believe that if a company is a great place to work, odds are they are also good for us in general, most (if not all) of the time.
Shannon1981
@JAW: I think it becomes a matter of balance oftentimes. Do their good deeds outweigh their bad? For instance, Target is supporting a dangerous politician right now. Someone who would happily jail homosexuals- or worse. ANYTHING to help people who would criminalize our very existence, no matter their inside practices just isn’t ok in my book. That, of course, is a matter of personal choice, whether the good outweighs the bad company to company. Also, as far as some restaurant chains- KFC and Burger King among them- they are franchised. That is why sometimes on coupons, offers,etc it says ‘at participating stores’ in the fine print. While to maintain consistency nationwide they have to adhere to menu/preparation standards, and perhaps the same GENERAL policies… they may have different practices under franchises owned by different people/entities. So there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle, and what pieces you value most are up to you, I guess.
Raza
Again, Target messed up, as many others have pointed out, by donating to a PAC who, in turn, donated SOME of the funds given by Target and Best Buy to Tom Emmer. MN Forward, much less Target, knew nothing about Tom Emmmer’s anti-gay stances.
Jeez, people -I’m a loyal Dem, so nobody can accuse me of being a “Chris Barron” quisling – but calm down! Target really IS one of the most inclusive places to work for- anybody wanna bet that Wal-Mart DOES NOT include “sexual orientation” in their non-discrimination policies? So why would you shop there- besides the fact that Wal-Mart has rarely ever supported gay rights or causes- while Target- and Best Buy- actually do, actually do, and on a regular basis.
Instead of meeting and working it out with the CEOs at Target, and respecting them for their need to support pro-business candidates, the “gay community” ( a laughable term, since we barely ever agree on anything, much less act as a unified community) has bashed Target continuously, one of the few corporations who is an ally of gay people.
I say this as a critique to myself as well, as a truth I need to realize as well- for those people who are our friends, and unintentionally do something that seems harmful or degrading, we should forgive them and continue our relationship. For those people or businesses who stand against us- we can teach them that inclusion and equal treatment is better for business by standing together as a united front.
greenmanTN
No, you can’t fault Target for donating money to “pro-business” political candidates I suppose. (Though there’s plenty of room to debate whether Republican “pro-business” policies, where corporate profits trump everything including their communities’, constituents’, and patrons’ financial well-being and ability to actually buy things, are ultimately healthy for America.) But financially supporting politicians who oppose rights for segments of your customer base? You bet your ass I can and do fault them for that! And I don’t believe Tom Emmer’s anti-gay politics stop at marriage equality. We wouldn’t be debating this if those donations had gone to an anti-Semitic or racist candidate so I don’t understand the defense of it in this case.
Whether you feel their employment policies overcome this MN Forward/Tom Emmer debacle is up to you, but I’m not ready to give money again to Target until I’m reasonably sure that some part of it doesn’t end up supporting politicians who actively oppose my rights. Especially with the SCOTUS’ recent decision about virtually untraceable corporate support for political candidates I think socially conservative “pro-business” types are doing quite well enough without me giving them any help.
Fitz
The smart plan for them would be to just focus on selling decent working-class crap in a decent storefront. Stepping into politics was very stupid.
Cam
@SouthSideShorty: Said…
”
Waaaaaa waaaaaa waaaaaa
Jesus Christ, I’ve never heard so much whining. If it makes you feel good (or great!) to boycott Target, go for it, but don’t ever fool yourselves into thinking you’re making a difference in their bottom line.”
________________________________
Sorry, but you’re BUSTED, you have been on here time and time again attacking the gay community for not being “Tolerant” of republicans etc… so in this instance, a politician who was associated with a group that was calling for gays to be killed received money from a store that caters to a large gay clientle. Just curious….why not call on THEM to be tolerant…oh, thats right, you’re just on here to attack gays.
As for it effecting their bottom line….are you blind? Their sales dropped nationwide, several massive mutual funds threatened to sell of Target stock if Target didn’t change it’s donation rules, and the company tried several times to issue apologies. So tell me again how worthless the boycott is?
JAW
Do you folks realize that about 80% of the Fortune 500 companies give money to pro business candidates. Most of those candidates are Republican. As we know most Republicans are not Pro Gay rights.
We need groups like HRC GLAD etc to monitor the contributions of the anti gay candidates so we can know who is getting money from whom. Target is being unfairly attacked by a small group of extreme uninformed LGBTQ people. There are plenty of companies that do much worse things then Target. We need to find out who they are.
B
It seems that a few people don’t like hearing the facts of life, hence the following silly responses:
No. 17 · Righwingers are sociopaths (John from England) wrote, “@B: B, really? You think an organisation that makes THAT much money wouldn’t do their homework?”
No. 18 · the crustybastard wrote, “@B: So you imagine a company that cannot stop trumpeting how diligently it spends millions toward socially conscious community projects simply can’t be bothered to learn how its political contributions are spent?”
No. 29 · justiceontherocks wrote, “@B: That “response” is lamer than your interview, and the people have voted on that. When you spend as much money on government relations as Target does, ignorance is no defense.”
….
Guys, get a grip and show some sense of reality. For a business the size of Target, $150,000 is a drop in the bucket – pocket change. Things like this happen all the time – they were donating to a pro-business group, not Emmer directly. Nearly all of the $150,000 went to things they probably support (pro-business policies, lower taxes). Why would their employee notice that Emmer has an anti-gay position when Emmer himself was burying his anti-gay position several levels down on his web site (and all he said was that he thought marriage should be between a man and a woman – any really strident anti-gay comments didn’t appear there, even if he spouted some at a campaign appearance at fundamentalist churchs.)
Employees sometimes screw up. This is one of those cases.
Finally, as a word of advice to “John from England”, who claims to have run his own business and is now working on an MBA (the logical fallacy known as argumentum ad verecundiam or “appeal to authority”), once John gets more experience in the real world and sees how large corporations actually operate, he’ll find such screw-ups to be more understandable than they are to him today.
Michael
What a great job! Get paid to brainstorm ideas to better feather your nest with benefits for half the day, then kick around ideas about how to make people like you better. Sounds like a routine conversation overheard at any Starbucks.
justiceontherocks
@B: You’re the one who needs to get a grip you arrogant little smart aleck. And Target should get a better bank for their buck than to pay you to write your crap.
Please go sing Kumbaya with a focus group and let the grown ups handle things in the real world.
Matt Ford
I sold what stock I had in Target last July and still stand by that action. My family and I have found lots of other options (and not Walmart). We shop locally and Costco. If anything, it has been interesting to discover new shopping patterns and as a result, have found better deals. Now, when I drive by a Target, the red bull’s eye logo has a sinister connotation.
Perhaps, when the CEO is booted from the company, we might consider darkening the door…but then again, I still have not had a coors since I was in my teens. Companies make mistakes all the time but this was a grave one in my book. People can always spend their money any way they choose, I choose not to let go of my money if I know it is going to be used against my family and friends. Target has apologized to the employees but not to the customers. That might be another step to consider. Also, when is it a good idea for corporations to buy elections?
Shelley
I could see the pro business rationalization BUT
As a member of the GLBT community we know that putting business aside, we are left with the MORALITY of the people Target supports.
These idiots (and their trained gay monkey) seem to forget that little detail.
Sorry Target,
STILL NO LOVE!
B
No. 54 · justiceontherocks wrote, “@B: You’re the one who needs to get a grip you arrogant little smart aleck. And Target should get a better bank for their buck than to pay you to write your crap. Please go sing Kumbaya with a focus group and let the grown ups handle things in the real world.”
To be blunt, you’d look a lot more mature if you didn’t make false accusations about Target “paying me” (which is a lie on your part.) As to your “grown ups”, real adults realize that people make mistakes, which is most likely what occurred in this case. I’m sure Target has made some adjustment to procedures for vetting political groups Target gives donations to, but sometimes you have to see something go wrong before realizing that there is a problem.
Also MN Forward supported both the Republican and DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor) parties – based purely on how “pro-business” they were. MN Forward’s “about” page states, “MN Forward is a new organization established to ensure that private-sector job creation and economic growth are at the top of the agenda during the 2010 campaign. We are working with a broad coalition of Minnesota job creators to elect candidates from both parties who support policies that enhance job growth in Minnesota.” The page also states, “Minnesota job providers have a stake in Minnesota’s future, because we live here, too. Together with our coworkers, customers, families and friends, we send our children to local schools, volunteer with local charities, support local businesses – and we value the economic opportunity and quality of life our state offers.” This does not sound like an anti-gay group to me. And, as I pointed out, you have to do some searching to find any anti-gay statement on Emmer’s campaign web site and all you’ll find is a statement that he consistently supported a constitutional amendment to “protect traditional marriage” (with no mention of gays or lesbians). It’s all low key enough that it would be easy to miss (and easy to write off as marketing if you did find it).
B
No. 56 · Shelley wrote, “I could see the pro business rationalization BUT As a member of the GLBT community we know that putting business aside, we are left with the MORALITY of the people Target supports.”
Read http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ155.107.pdf for a discussion fo Minnesota’s campaign finance laws: Target could not legally give Emmer $150,000 in a year, but could contribute that much to MN Forward (a political action committee) that used its contributions to support a number of candidates, including Emmer. MN Forward couldn’t donate more than a couple of thousand dollars to Emmer either, but could do its own thing to support him and the others.
A fair statement would be that Target donated to MN Forward, which mostly used its funds to run its own campaign in favor of a slate of “pro-business” candidates that included Emmer. It seems that Target really supported a PAC that supported Emmers along with a number of other candidates.
the crustybastard
@B: No, yours would not be a “fair statement.” It would, however, be a note-for-note repetition of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel’s asscovering “official statement.”
You and your fellow Target Team Member JAW can stop cheerleading Target now.
[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QVu_pLel-hM/TTheWvbDiZI/AAAAAAAADVQ/kgo0xyvCt38/s320/target%2Blady.jpg[/img]
Sapphocrat
Dear Dan: What a gigantic, steaming pile of horseshit.
matt
The reporter here is a total f-ing idiot to publish this BS… OMG, you never questioned these ignorant answers…. I am not sure who is the more stupid (Queertly had the SOB right here, you could of showed him what an ignorant F he really is… instead you just published this BS. Why didn’t you just get corporate to give you the standard responses they gave you last year when they funded the campaign… this is the same pile of shit!
This guy is a puppet…. bought and paid for… probablly even has an electronic vibrator egg up his ass that corporate controls for their jollies. He knows where his next Lexus is coming from! CONTINUE the Boycott of TARGET.
Mark
This Duty guy drank the Kool-aid so long ago he forgot he even drank it. What an idiot and sad excuse for a man. I’ve not been shopping at Target since this broke and still don’t and won’t.
Duty, get some backbone and stop drinking the kool-aid. You’ll be much better off when you have a working brain again.
justiceontherocks
@B: Well Johnny One Note, people do sometimes make mistakes. If you honestly believe that this was one of them, and not a PR miscalculation, it proves you know zero about the way multi-national corporations operate, but you don’t seem to know anything unless you’re reading your company talking points.
Anyway, let me give you the benefit of the doubt and say this may have been one.
Where is the acknowledgment from your employer that it was a mistake?
Right Wingers Are Socioptahs (John From England)
@B:
You are as usual full of shit B.
Blah, blah…blaaaah.
I’ll give you that much, you right wingers are relentless with the crap that comes out of your mouth, no wonder you strategically always get things done and get human beings to vote against anything that would actually help them.
I’ll be sure to tell the large businesses I work for that apparently all that dough they spend on either there CSR departments, social media or PR is just a waste of time and money because B on Queerty knows EVERYTHING and they can actually get away with killing someone because apparently, big businesses don’t know who they politically support! Ahem!
Maybe Americans are imbeciles afte all B, good business strategy.
For any American with a brain cell that wants to actually run CSR business that consumers-their target frigging group-supports, google the Red Cross twitter incident. They’ve literally quadrupled their donations.
Very, very smart PR when you fuck up as a business.
Cam
Targets donation could have been a PR mistake…you know, if they hadn’t donated AGAIN after the blow up. sorry but anything they offer can be found on Amazon.
B
No. 59 · the crustybastard wrote, “@B: No, yours would not be a “fair statement.” It would, however, be a note-for-note repetition of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel’s asscovering “official statement.”
That’s a lie on your part (it was a fair statement). If you have a link to the CEO’s statement, why didn’t you post it? It is not
“ass covering” either: I cited Minnesota’s campaign finance laws and pointed out that the PAC in question supported a number of candidates including Emmer. I provided citations:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ155.107.pdf for the campaign finance laws.
http://www.emmerforgovernor.com/issues/ for Emmer’s campaign site’s “issues” page (to show that his anti-gay positions were buried so that most readers wouldn’t notice)
http://www.mnforward.com/ for MN Forward’s web page, which shows that they supported a number of candidates, not just Emmer.
Meanwhile, you and the immature “John From England” (who just posted a mindless personal attack in No 64 saying, “@B: You are as usual full of shit”) have not produced any citations whatsoever – just mindless babble. Then we have “justiceontherocks” in No 63 trying a variation of the “when did you stop beating your wife” question, by pretending that I’m employeed by Target (I’m not). Even funnier, we have “the crustybastard” in No. 18 blathering on about some right-wing talk-show loons, claiming Emmer said, ““These are nice people…and you know what? I respect their point of view,” in regard to some so-called Christian radio ministry where one person associated with it went over the top in some hollocaust-denying/homophobic rant. Guess what: Emmer (being a politician) probably doesn’t listen to that radio station but knows better than to piss off its listeners (whose votes he obviously wants to get).
Guys, get a grip. You are making a mountain out of a molehill and are lashing out at anyone who has the nerve to state the facts objectively.
Brian Miller
If Target should accept criticism (and shopping boycotts) for supporting a pro-business Republican who (like most of them) is anti-gay, will LGBT people be willing to accept criticism (and employment boycotts) for supporting anti-business Democrats who are pro-gay?
If not, why not?
This is the dangerous road we’re headed down. The same people demanding boycotts of Target are more than willing to explain away REAL homophobia — like President Obama’s opposition to marriage equality and Vice President Biden’s strong and enthusiastic support for anti-gay federal laws including DOMA and DADT.
Double standards don’t help the LGBT community.
JAW
@the crustybastard: #59
Funny that you made me out to be a Target team member… I have worked for the competition for many years in management.
Our management associates have been “encouraged” to join company PAC’s. I used the word encouraged, because if you did not, your promotions got lost in the mail. Our company received 100 on the HRC list for the last few years.
If you noticed the team member that did the interview has been a part of their Gay group for 19 years. I would bet that many of the people making posts on here were not even born, or perhaps still in Diapers. Being gay back in 1990 was a lot different then it is today. Very few companies wanted anything to do with LGBT people, let alone tell us it was ok to be out.
There are tons of companies a lot worse then Target, and very few better then they are for us.
My quest for everyone is to research other companies and see what they do for us or against us… Lets not make Target the the only target of our wrath.
Let me give u an example… IBM won the game on Jeopardy this week. IBM used a new computer and beat 2 of the best players. They received $1,000,000 (one million) and gave a large part of it to World Vision which is a Christian and anti-gay group…. should we now boycott IBM?
How about sirius/xm radio… They took in Dr Laura so she can now blast gays and anyone else she wants. They also have a dozen other channels that preach hate about us… yet we do not go after them… Why Not??
Roman
Mr. Duty doesn’t get it. This is a classic example of the Minnesota Nice culture. To avoid conflict at all cost. Just talk about how great everything is on a micro level. The ability to talk directly and honestly about what’s at the heart of the conflict is missing. It’s frustrating to engage folks who can’t or won’t even admit there is a problem.
the crustybastard
@B:
In your estimation, “stating facts objectively” means copypasta from Target’s, Emmer’s and Minnesota Forward’s websites, combined with parroting talking points from press releases?
Bwahahahaha! You’re a regular Bob Woodward!
In regard to what you called my “blathering” about “some so-called Christian radio ministry where one person associated with it went over the top in some hollocaust [sic]-denying/homophobic rant. Guess what: Emmer (being a politician) probably doesn’t listen to that radio station…”
Had you bothered to follow the links I provided, you’d have learned it wasn’t ONE rant, and it wasn’t ONE person: antigay bigotry is central to that ministry. Oh, and guess what? Emmer has both donated money to that ministry, and appeared on their radio show.
the crustybastard
@JAW:
Um, posting under a pseudonym is hardly clear and convincing evidence that you don’t work for Target. Regardless, the point ISN’T that there are other companies that may be worse. Sure there are.
The point is that Target cannot claim to be progressive and gay-friendly WHILE they try to put an ultra-regressive homophobic bigot like Tom Emmer in the governor’s mansion.
It’s not a very complicated concept.
B. Allan Ross
@B: Target donated MORE after the gay shit hit their anti-gay fan! They clearly knew what and who they were donating to with the second donation, and whether you believe it or not, a major corporation NEVER gives a cent to anyone in the first place “accidentally”. It is an intentional investment; they DID know and DO know Minnesota Forward’s anti-gay heart. It has always been extremely hard to ignore.
B
No. 70 · the crustybastard lied by saying, “@B: In your estimation, “stating facts objectively” means copypasta from Target’s, Emmer’s and Minnesota Forward’s websites, combined with parroting talking points from press releases?”
First, I didn’t exactly copy and past or parrot anything Emmer, Minnesota Forward, or Target said, either on their web sites or in their press releases – I rather cited a few URLs and commented on what was in there, with a few short quotes to indicate what I was commenting on.
Now, this may be difficult for the “the crustybastard” to understand, but quoting something for purposes of commenting about it is not at all the same as saying it represents your own opinion.
Then “the crustybastard” goes on to say, “Had you bothered to follow the links I provided, you’d have learned it wasn’t ONE rant, and it wasn’t ONE person: antigay bigotry is central to that ministry. Oh, and guess what? Emmer has both donated money to that ministry, and appeared on their radio show.” How silly can you be? Neither Target nor Minnesota Forward is supporting that “ministry”. Emmer’s campaign apparently gave someone associated with it a $250 donation – basically a token bribe to get the guy to say nice things about Emmer! That he appeared on a radio show is hardly noteworthy – of course he did: its a hell of a lot cheaper than paid advertising and sending out letters in the mail.
Then we have No. 72 · B. Allan Ross saying, “@B: Target donated MORE after the gay shit hit their anti-gay fan! They clearly knew what and who they were donating to with the second donation, and whether you believe it or not, a major corporation NEVER gives a cent to anyone in the first place “accidentally”. It is an intentional investment; they DID know and DO know Minnesota Forward’s anti-gay heart.”:
This also shows a lack of understanding of reality. Minnesota Forward is not anti-gay but “pro-business”, with blinders on. It’s not like they are donating to Fred Phelps.
You guys need to learn to distinguish between “anti-gay” and “all that matters is making a buck.”
justiceontherocks
@B: Every time you post on here the rest of us have the same thought: “don’t attribute to malice what could easily be explained by stupidity.”
The only person who “lied” here might be you when you deny being a shill for Target. Best case you’re just another deluded tenth grader who thinks being “gay-friendly” means throwing the homos a bone once in a while.
Please become an ex-gay, if you aren’t already.
B
No. 74 · justiceontherocks showed how confused he is by saying, ”
@B: Every time you post on here the rest of us have the same thought: “don’t attribute to malice what could easily be explained by stupidity.””
LOL – that’s the phrase I introduced into this or some other discussion, and you can apply it to Target’s executives. If Target was really anti-gay, Target wouldn’t treat its gay employees as well as they are reportedly being treated. You are seeing a vast conspiracy when the most likely explanation is far simpler – they were evaluating whom to support purely based on who would do what they wanted regarding regulation and taxes.
Then justiceontherocks lied by saying, “The only person who “lied” here might be you when you deny being a shill for Target.”
Nope…no association with Target – I just see no evidence of an anti-gay agenda. They simply believe that less regulations and lower taxes matter enough to support candidates who pander to the religious right wing to get votes.
Otherwise, I suggest you take an anger management class – there is no excuse for the sort of personal attacks you go in for when you see a statement – objectively stated opinions – you don’t like.
B
In No 75, justiceontherocks also spouted, “Best case you’re just another deluded tenth grader who thinks being “gay-friendly” means throwing the homos a bone once in a while.”
In addition to an anger management class to help you avoid such childish outbursts, I would also suggest a refresher course in reading comprehension and logic. I said there was no evidence of Target being anti-gay. That’s not the same as claiming that Target is “gay friendly,” a statement I never made. I merely pointed out that Target’s behavior is not anti-gay. It’s not like they are lobbying politicians to pass anti-gay laws.
Soupy
Less regulation? That worked out really well for the mortgage market and Wall Street didn’t it?
justiceontherocks
@B: If you don’t want me to think you’re a tenth grader then don’t express yourself like one.
Target is a very big corporation. The people responsible for making political donations knew exactly what they were doing. They took a measured risk that it wouldn’t back fire with a constituency they like to suck up to. It didn’t work out that way.
There was no stupidity at Target. Your “defense” of them, on the other hand . . .
BTW – no anger here. Silly internet trolls make me laugh.
B
No. 78 · justiceontherocks wrote, “@B: If you don’t want me to think you’re a tenth grader then don’t express yourself like one.”
Look in a mirror instead of projecting your own failings on others.
Your claimed, “Target is a very big corporation. The people responsible for making political donations knew exactly what they were doing. They took a measured risk that it wouldn’t back fire with a constituency they like to suck up to. It didn’t work out that way.”
That is a very naive point of view on your part, bordering on a conspiracy theory – the most likely explanation is that they were donating to a conservative but not radical PAC that supports candidates (plural, not singular) that are in favor of less regulation and lower taxes. They most likely simply didn’t notice Emmer’s anti-gay positions (which Emmer downplayed for the general public), and he was only one out of 7 candidates MN Forward supported (4 Republicans and 3 DFL [basically Democrats, although DFL means Democratic Farmer Labor party, and is an affiliate of the Democratic Party). Of those 7, you have a gripe with one (Emmer) and all he says on his web page is that he is “pro-life” (i.e., anti-abortion) and that he consistently supported “the constitutional marriage amendment hat protects traditional marriage.” Of course the latter is nonsense – what he is really trying to protect is the votes he gets from the religious right wing. But it is not the focal point of his campaign – it was merely there to get the evangelical vote. What Target probably checked was whether MN Forward was being run efficiently and not keeping most of the donations to pay its staff.
I asked you guys to produce one anti-gay bill that Emmer might have introduced while a legislator and you came up empty handed. That should tell you something – he’s not a Pete Knight – the guy who pushed California’s Proposition 22, the predecessor of Proposition 8 (Pete Knight died before the Proposition Eight campaign, which is the only reason he wasn’t involved in that as well.) Pete Knight was really anti-gay; Emmer by contrast is merely venal.
JAW
@the crustybastard:
“Um, posting under a pseudonym is hardly clear and convincing evidence that you don’t work for Target.”
I use the same name JAW on all sites… it is my initials. Is crustybastard your first or sir name?
I googled it and did not find anyone with that Sir name… so it must be that you use a pseudonym that has no meaning, except a stupid one.
Since you have stopped shopping at Target, who is getting your money? I would guess that you have done research to make sure that the new store(s) have not donated money to the above candidate. I hope that you also made sure that they did not donate money to similar or perhaps worse candidates.
PLEASE help me know where I should spend my money.
justiceontherocks
@B: My only recent failure is wasting any time reading the sophomoric nonsense you write. You may rest assured that is over.
Do us a favor. Please make a copy of everything you’ve written to Queerty. Read it again in ten years. You’ll be amazed how naive and ignorant you were.
B
Regarding No. 81. I suggest that justiceontherocks follow his own advise. Once he gets some experience in the real world, he’ll realize that people screw up, and that there is a difference between being “anti-gay” and merely not noticing. He’ll look more like an adult if he refrains from his childish comments whenever he sees factual information he does not like.
justiceontherocks
@B: Troll, I’ve forgotten more about business than you’ll ever know.If you really think gazillion dollar corporations don’t vet political donations any more than you claim, so be it. But you could not be more wrong about that and you could not be more wrong that a contribution to a loudly anti-gay candidate is “anti-gay.” It is. Period.
The only real question is whether anyone should ever expect better from a publicly-traded multinational. My answer to that is no.
B
No. 83 · justiceontherocks, resorting to more name calling, wrote, “@B: Troll, I’ve forgotten more about business than you’ll ever know.If you really think gazillion dollar corporations don’t vet political donations any more than you claim, so be it. But you could not be more wrong about that and you could not be more wrong that a contribution to a loudly anti-gay candidate is “anti-gay.” It is. Period.”
Your business experience is quite evidently very limited as your use of the English language makes all too clear.
Target donated to a PAC, Minnesota Forward, that supported a number of candidates (4 Republicans and 3 Democrats). You object to one of them (Emmer). He is not “loudly anti-gay” if his campaign web site is any indication: http://www.emmerforgovernor.com/ does not even mention gays directly. If you dig through the “issues” page you’ll find that he claims to be a supporter of “traditional marriage” but says nothing negative about gays or lesbians. His “issues” page http://www.emmerforgovernor.com/issues/ states under “Social Values”, “As Governor, I will continue to support the rights of the unborn, the elderly and the infirm.” You have to click on the “Read More” link to get to his statement on marriage, all 27 words of it.
Now you may not like Emmer’s position (I don’t either) but to call it “loudly anti-gay” is a gross exaggeration – he barely mentions it. My guess is that he could care less but knowns that he couldn’t afford to say something that would get the religious right wing to stay home and not vote or vote for someone else.
Soupy
Doesn’t the fact that Emmer lost the election say enough?
B
No. 85 · Soupy wrote, “Doesn’t the fact that Emmer lost the election say enough?”
I posted the reason on a different thread: http://www.queerty.com/target-has-changed-its-corporate-giving-policies-oh-please-dont-believe-this-20110217/#comment-420111
Read http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1812 for the details. Emmer is “pro-business” to the point of being “anti-worker”.
BTW, in spite of that, Emmer didn’t lose by all that much: read http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110303194.html for the account of the election the morning after it was held: the count differed by 9,257 votes
out of more than 1.8 million.
flobanzak
Go to Target. Fill a shopping cart (no perishables). Leave cart. Walk out of store.