Reeling from the public stoning over donating money to help elect Republican Tom Emmer governor of Minnesota, you would think Target’s public response had moved beyond that shortsighted statement from CEO Gregg Steinhafel — about how Target makes political donations based on business, not civil rights. But it hasn’t. As an exchange with Target shared by a reader shows, it’s clear the company values more what Emmer could do for it (read: keep business taxes low) than what LGBT consumers can.
A reader forwards this message he sent to Target:
Dear Target,
I’m writing to inform you that I’ve closed my account with you and will no longer be shopping at Target due to Target’s donation of $150,000 to MN Forward, which in turn donated that money to Tom Emmer. I have seen your company’s response to the criticism you’ve been getting and find it to be insulting. Specifically, this quote gets to me:
“We rarely endorse all advocated positions of the organizations or candidates we support, and we do not have a political or social agenda.” – This statement is unacceptable and is morally reprehensible. Would Target have supported Adolf Hitler had he promised to cut taxes for businesses? What about Stalin?
By supporting Emmer, you are, in fact, supporting all of the ideals he stands for – one of which being:
Tom Emmer is anti-gay marriage, proclaiming “I believe marriage is the union between one man and one woman,” supporting a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Additionally, Emmer has supported You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Intl., Inc, a conservative ministry whose leader, Bradlee Dean, told radio listeners recently that Muslim countries that call for the execution of gays and lesbians are “more moral than even the American Christians.”
By supporting these individuals financially, Target has effectively destroyed its goodwill towards the gay community – and has thus lost my business until it can rectify this situation.
I sincerely hope Target reconsiders its campaign donation and rescinds it immediately. If Target truly wishes to remain impartial, it should not be donating to any candidates – or it should be supporting the ones which maintain all of its ideals and not just some.
And received this form response:
Target has long believed that engaging in civic activities is an important and necessary element of operating a national retail business. What’s more important than any one candidate’s stance on a particular issue is how we nurture thoughtful, long-term growth in the state of Minnesota.
Our support of causes and candidates is based strictly on issues that affect our retail and business objectives. To continue to grow and create jobs and opportunity in our home state, we believe it is imperative to be engaged in public policy and the political process. That is why we are members of organizations like the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Chamber of Commerce and many others. And that is why we decided to contribute to MN Forward.
MN Forward’s objective is to elect candidates from both parties who will make job creation and economic growth a top priority. We operate best when working collaboratively with legislators on both sides of the aisle. In fact, if you look at our Federal PAC contributions year to date, you will see that they are very balanced between Republicans and Democrats. For more information please visit www.target.com/company, and view the Civic Activity page.
Target has a large stake in Minnesota’s future, which is why it is so important to be able to provide jobs, serve guests, support communities and deliver on our commitment to shareholders. As an international business that is proud to call Minnesota home, it is critical that we have a business environment that allows us to be competitive. Our guests, team members, communities and shareholders depend on Target to remain competitive.
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hanson
Target Executive Offices
Now it’s likely that Target has been inundated with messages about its $150,000 donation of cash and services to the pro-Emmer PAC named MN Forward, so it makes sense they’ve prepared a form response to handle most of those queries, like the one above. But when Target receives communications from consumers intent on completely withdrawing from shopping with Target, they better wise up: This isn’t some irrational campaign that a few dozen people are engaged in. If America’s queers take the the hundreds of millions we spend at Target annually and move them somewhere else, it will certainly impact their bottom line. And their street cred.
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.
And don’t even get us started once we get all of our straight girlfriends to ditch Target too. Six dollar tank tops are available at H&M too, ya know.
EARLIER:
Will Gay Designers Like Zac Posen Stick By Target?
Best Buy Is Helping Expose Singer Matt Morris. Now He’s Returning the Favor About the Anti-Gay Company
RC
“If America’s queers take the the hundreds of millions we spend at Target annually and move them somewhere else, it will certainly impact their bottom line”
The silly thing is: Where else are they going to go?
Look I agree with the sentiments of protestors against Target, but who is Target’s natural competitor in the discounted variety retail sector?
Wal-Mart. And Wal-mart occupies the no. 1 spot on the Fortune 100, all the while scoring only 40 on HRC’s corporate equality index.
Target scores 100. The ironic thing is that even if Emmer manages to keep marriage illegal for gays, they’d have partner benefits if they were Target employees (again according to the HRC.)
It’s either a lose-lose situation or a lukewarm win, but the idea that Target isn’t an ally in some perverse way shouldn’t be discounted.
CJ
I’m boycotting boycotts.
peteNsfo
It really is such a shocking business blunder, it’s difficult to understand how they haven’t managed to find a way to please all sides.
RC, consider motivation beyond low prices… a deal is not a deal with such great expense of others.
And before you go there… no, I’m not stinkin’ rich & living in an ivory tower.
Vincent Truman
“Our support of causes and candidates is based strictly on issues that affect our retail and business objectives. ”
Fair enough.
My support of stores is based strictly on them not being pinheads. Ciao, Target!
Ricky Wuz Here
I found nothing wrong with their response. In actuality, it has coincided with what a few level headed posters have mentioned: the donotion was meant with the intent of bettering buisness prospects and was not about keeping us gays down. What is sad is that Target is an ally (well, as close as a corperate giant can be, I suppose) and as pointed out, their main competator is WalMart. WalMart is most likely going nowhere and I’m sure its CEO’s are just loving how the gay community has turned on its competition. “HAHAHA… you got a 100 on HRC and we didn’t but who’s really feeling the backlash! SUCKERS!!!” It’s so whatever. I will continue spending my gay dollars at Target until I learn that this donation was a direct intention to squelch gay right progressing.
Me
Dear writer, I feel that you are ignoring one simple fact in your argument. The fact that Target has supported and still greatly supports United Way who as a matter of FACT supports homosexuality negates your argument. In Fact because Target supports United Way so much they have also stated that they do NOT support the Boy Scouts of America because of the organizations homosexual policies. Also, I would like to forward to you an excerpt from this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/30/gops-emmer-says-targets-spending-free-speech/
“Target and other Minnesota-based companies, including electronics retailer Best Buy Co., Red Wing Shoes and snowmobile maker Polaris Industries Inc., donated to MN Forward after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed companies to spend money on elections. The decision overturned prohibitions on corporate campaign spending in about half the states, including Minnesota.”
I can’t help but feel that your article is quite self bias.
UMB
This just in, giant corporation supports Republicans who want to keep their taxes low. Next up, ocean blue, dog pees on tree, more news at eleven.
They donated to a Republican, not NOM, and they DO give a lot of money to LGBTQ causes AND Democrats.
Dave
My whole thing is, Emmer isn’t just anti-gay (that is my biggest problem with him, but not the only thing.) If anyone has done any research on this guy they would understand that he is anti-ANYTHING that helps the people of his state.
He wants to abolish 5 agencies: the Department of Human Rights, the Bureau of Mediation Services, the Housing Finance Agency, the Office of Enterprise Technology and the Metropolitan Council. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/06/12/emmer-budget-changes/
So ANYTHING that is supposed to help the poor in his state, basically he’s telling them to get lost and go eff yourselves.
Dave
\@Dave: On top of the issues I raised above, I don’t buy Target’s response. If that were the case, the Target’s CEO, Gregg Steinhafel and his wife Denise wouldn’t have donated the maximum each can donate to #1 Congressional homophobe, Michele Bachmann. (This can be easily verified at fec.gov.)
She’s not only the biggest verbal gay basher in Congress, but she is also a pretty WHACKED out person that needs to go back on her meds.
John k.
Bottom line: especially after the citizens united decision, corporations have a responsibility to use their money to do more than maximize their bottom line at all costs. I will not shop somewhere that I know supports anti-gay candidates FOR ANY REASON. this isn’t a contest between target and wal-mart; I won’t shop at either! If they want to worry about their bottom line, then we do whatever we can to make sure it isn’t in your bottom line’s interest to throw us under the bus. FUCK TARGET!
And I’m not too keen on the people here who want to give target a pass on this just because it’s expected that they would do such a thing. Shame on you! You’re part of the problem when you do that. I’m not saying if you don’t boycott every company that does this shit then you’re part of the problem, but don’t sit here and make excuses for them!
jason
I guess I was crazy to think Queerty could go 3 hours without another Target “article”
jason
@RC: To add to that, Wal-Mart ALSO donated $50,000 to an anti-gay candidate (Bill Brady in Illinois, and they gave it DIRECTLY to him, not through a 3rd party)
I think Queerty (and every other gay news site that is obsessing with Target) is doing a disservice to the gay community by not mentioning this. All these articles are just sending people to more anti-gay companies. I guess they just see it as we should reward Walmart because they’ve been consistently anti-gay, whereas Target is a flip flopper, giving tons of money to the gays for pride and such and then to Emmer. But, in the classic gay fashion, we ignore our enemies, and nag at our allies for not being strong enough allies until they just quit being our allies all together.
John k.
Target needs to say: thank you, but if you want our money, GOP, then nominate a candidate that supports the business policies we want AND isn’t terrible on civil rights. This is the only way change happens. Not sitting here as if this were acceptable. I think the hitler comparison is a bit much, but we certainly would not tolerate a company who donates to business friendly candidates who were racists. For some reason, people in this country, including some gays apparently, see no problem with this double standard. It has to stop.
shadow_man
For those of you claiming homosexuality is a “lifestyle”, that is a false and ignorant statement. Homosexuality is not a choice. Just like you don’t choose the color of your skin, you cannot choose whom you are sexually attracted to. If you can, sorry, but you are not heterosexual, you are bi-sexual. Virtually all major psychological and medical experts agree that sexual orientation is NOT a choice. Most gay people will tell you its not a choice. Common sense will tell you its not a choice. While science is relatively new to studying homosexuality, studies tend to indicate that its biological.
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/03/differential-brain-activation.pdf
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/dn14146-gay-brains-structured-like-those-of-the-opposite-sex.html
Gay, Straight Men’s Brain Responses Differ
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155990,00.html
http://www.livescience.com/health/060224_gay_genes.html
http://www.springerlink.com/content/w27453600k586276/
Mark
Yup, same letter and same person signed mine as well. A form letter from Target – sad. Oh well, they’ve lost me as a customer and many of my friends who are straight. Though they did give me a phone number to call and talk to them – yeah, like that will ever happen wasting money on calling a bigoted company.
Sapphocrat
@John k.: “Target needs to say: thank you, but if you want our money, GOP, then nominate a candidate that supports the business policies we want AND isn’t terrible on civil rights.”
And (they should add) if no such candidate exists this cycle, we’ll sit this one out.
Nobody’s holding a gun to Target’s collective head to donate to anyone or anything.
Joe Mustich, JP
So Target’s against marriage? Strange position for a retailer to take in the 21st century.
Onward to full civil and marriage equality rights,
Joe Mustich, Justice of the Peace,
Washington, Connecticut, USA.
And kudos to CT for being a marriage equality state since 2008.
Mike in SLC
For the people pointing out that the alternative to Target is Wal-Mart (which isn’t true, there is also K-Mart and Shopko on the national scale and other options on regional scales) and pointing out Wal-Mart’s low score. My response would be that Wal-Mart has never claimed to be a social leader, they claimed nothing more than they provide low prices. Target is held to a higher standard (as they should) because they have asked to be held to a higher standard by claiming to be socially progressive.
Ravayne
“Would Target have supported Adolf Hitler had he promised to cut taxes for businesses? What about Stalin?”
Sadly, that makes for an automatic fail from this letter.
I don’t like that Target made the donation, but I care more about the company being gay-friendly to its employees.
Ravayne
“Would Target have supported Adolf Hitler had he promised to cut taxes for businesses? What about Stalin?”
Sadly, that makes for an automatic fail from this letter. I mean, really. Godwin’s, anyone?
I _really_ don’t like that Target made the donation, but at this point I care more about the company being gay-friendly to its employees than about it seeking out tax cuts.
WalkderDC
This guy Emmer is associated with a group that says the killing of gays is moral.
Please don’t try to tell me that shopping at Wal-Mart, is somehow evil because they are the largest corp. in the country, when Target is donating to a guy associated with a group that advocates killing gays.
If you’re that desperate for cheap tank tops find your towns version of a Marshall’s
Jimmy
I’m pretty much stuck with Target because I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. Ever.
Mark
To those who say there is no comeptitor for Target – how about a this: I had planned on shopping at Target last Saturday. Instead I hit up Bloomingda’s white sale, Bed Bath & Beyond and got everything I need at a competitive price and much better quality – especially the linens. Some other things like baby clothes I will have to work on to find a replacement. Just a little effort over a few months could have a big impact.
And don’t be afraid to ask your friends to just “skip” this month and see if it reflects in their bottom line.
If you are in Chicago at Market Days I will be there with literature and alternatives for shopping in Chicagoland
ML
@jason: The defenders act as if we have only 2 choices, Target and WalMart, so we should obviously choose the one that’s least objectionable. Huh? Get out of the strip mall people! There are many places to spend your money.
Cam
@Jimmy: said..
I’m pretty much stuck with Target because I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. Ever.
__________________________
Please explain just what it is that Wal-Mart does that is worse to you, then Target sending in money that goes to a politician tied to a group that supports killing gays.
Chad
This is a gross overreaction. I swear, certain members of the gay community just like being up in arms about something at any given time, and here’s a new scapegoat. They didn’t give money to the guy; they gave money to another organization which, in turn, and not at Target’s bidding, gave money to his campaign. And this magically undoes all their previous ally status? Are we really so pathetically fickle?
Honestly, guys, shake the sand out of your Speedos and get over it. I, for one, am not going to stop shopping there. Hell, even if they *did* support him, that doesn’t at all affect their prices on paper towels. Go sop up injustice at Wal-Mart if you like; I’m unperturbed.
RC
@Mike in SLC: I hadn’t thought about K-mart. Very nice point; they even were named a best place to work in 2010.
There is no K-Mart nearby either of my hometowns, however. So I’m wondering if accessibility presents an issue.
nick
Hit them where it hurts… The Target credit card and pharmacy are two the largest money makers for the big corporation. If you want them to notice cancel your credit cards and change your prescriptions. Than show send a letter showing them how much revenue they are loosing.
Boycotts only will work if we show Target how much we spend there.
Rik
uhh I got the exact same response from the exact same bitch… guess it was canned. Nice to know that’s why it didn’t really address the specifics of my letter
Ted B.
I haven’t been in a Target since they started being known as “Tarjay”…grrrr. And I also avoid Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs quite easily with plenty of options. A pox on all their houses….
And the McDonald’s, Exxon/Mobil, Citgo and BP boycotts are still on in my household. I see no point doing business with stupid people….and I like carrying a grudge.
Xtian99
@RC:
are you serious with this post??? “Where will we shop if we cannot shop at Target or Walmart” gee I dunno, how about any store other than Walmart or Target, like the hundreds of mom and pop local stores that big box retailers like Target cuase to close each year
I mean granted you might have to hoof it to a few different stores, where as Target does “have it all”- but hey, sometimes sacrifices have to be made.
seemslike the real issue went right out the window in light of materialsitic/consumerish and good old American gluttony and sloth concerns.
timncguy
@RC:
“Target scores 100. The ironic thing is that even if Emmer manages to keep marriage illegal for gays, they’d have partner benefits if they were Target employees (again according to the HRC.)”
Well, if Emmer has his way, he will get the laws changed in MN to make it illegal for Target to offer partner benefits or any other gay-friendly policies they have in place.
Pat Duffy
@ML: THANK YOU!!!! Even in a town as small as mine(and hit bad by the BP Disaster)has more stores than Target and Walmart. And Truth is, I’d rather buy from an Honest Bigot than a two-faced “Progressive”. Been “Out” since the late “70’s” and no longer have ANY Interest in supporting those who ask for our Cash and then stab us in the back….no matter “good” it is for “Business”. I’ve also been around long enough not to expect Business to act Ethically…PERIOD. All I can do is NOT help them do it….
Sincerely,
PT Duffy
Gulf Coast
bump
You want local places to spend money try sites like http://www.thecountrydogs.com – I’m sure there are other sites that celebrate local towns and mom and pop shops too.
Hyhybt
@Ted B.: Two questions, then: how do you ever manage to buy gas, and what did McDonald’s do that was so horrible?
Mark
This is about Target supporting Emmer and Bachmann who are beyond hostile in their policies and legislation to boldly discriminate and malign GLBT citizens. Emmer supports a group that advocates executing homosexuals. How is that good for business, for Minnesota or it’s citizens? This is about Target looking the other way on their legacies of hate, intolerance, discrimination, violence, reparative therapy and worse while alleging that these 2 representatives are the best choices for business interests. Some things are a deal breaker. Target can’t have it both ways on this issue. They are out of touch with their customers. It’s bad business to support politicians who have bigotry as one of their fundamental values.
Steve
Good fucking God.
This is the lamest overreaction to a completely idiotic issue, mostly because it isn’t an issue.
Target is a business. It wants to be protected by someone who wants to support businesses. That anti-gay bigot guy obviously has an economic plan that Target feels will help them stay afloat. Target has still been vocal about its support for the gay community, and it still offers protection for its LGBT workers. To say that Target is anti-gay is the farthest thing from the truth, and in all honesty, Target is last thing the gay community needs to be up in arms about. We need to be focusing our energy towards the laws that discriminate us, not businesses that, in reality, support us.
Marco Luxe
@Ravayne: People forget that Hitler was democratically elected. He gain support of upper class wealth by promising a better business environment [namely, to protect their business interests by opposing nascent communist activity]. Sure, some of the corporate elite weren’t pro-murder of Jews, but they threw their political weight behind Hitler to protect their assets. That’s very cold comfort to Jews, and a history lesson for Target.
L.
Dunno.
We don’t want to shop at Target anymore – fine, that’s our right.
But we cannot blame a corporation doing what a corporation is actually required by law to do: maximize profits, and therefore support possibly unpalatable candidates who would ensure said corporations will “enjoy” a more profitable business environment.
(Executives could actually be prosecuted when they give company money to charities, as this is diversion of funds from possible profits, as any expense a corporation makes has to be justified as being geared towards increasing the bottom line. Zany? You bet. Legal? Alas.)
It may sound like a cliché, but the real problem is that politics *are* beholden to big corporations, which (or who, since they’re legally persons…) only have the means to influence, and sometimes actually write, legislation. And Citizens Union made it even worse. Call me a pessimist, but the future looks grim.
So yes, we can boycott (even if that’s hard to enforce, and harder to maintain medium- or long-term) but we can hardly lament the fact that Target is behaving exactly like any corporation *must* behave – at least until they’re not legally equivalent to people, or politics find another way to work
Dawson
Lets boycott all companies that have not done everything in their power to uphold basic human rights over making a profit. When there is nowhere left to shop we just won’t buy anything.
TommyOC
@RC: You both make a very interesting point. Unfortunately, since K-Mart sucks balls (in non-appreciable ways), assuming you can *find* a K-Mart nowadays, I can’t rely on them to fill my Target-ish needs.
Mountainword
Ok, here’s my thoughts:
– Target fucked up, and show no remorse. If a friend did that, how would you react? *Exactly*
– WalMart is worse than Target. But the lesser of two evils is still evil.
– If you’re worried about where to find baby clothes and tank tops, go to eBay.com, the best outlet mall on the planet, and buy from someone who’s life has probably been crushed by the shitty economy into selling what they have online. I’ve found great deals there.
– If you truly want to boost the local economy, stop upholding these corporate jackanapes that claim to support business. Wrong. They support big businesses like Target, WalMart, etc. So take your money, support a local small business, and that will go a long way to making your life and economy better. So you might have to pay $2.00 more for something – but economically (and morally) it’s sound thinking and practice.
a
First of all I rarely read queerty now that you’ve eliminated the old easy to follow format!
Second, I will NOT be shopping at Target this year or next.
Thanks.
Dev
@Mountainword: Problem with that one,
I live in a solid red state where we have a Constitutional ban on Gay marriage. The simple statistical likelihood that any Ma & Pa store I visit… which would support/have supported such a ban (and would vote Republican) is high.
Avoiding a major conglomerate by supporting local businesses, all to avoid supporting anti-gay action in a red state is ironic to say the least.
hephaestion
We need to find a pro-gay competitor of Target and move our business to them en masse.
This is our chance to help a worthy company – and make a huge statement at the same time.
mm
is there a website that will guide gltb consumers?
I believe Harvy Milk did that in SF. Isnt there a national website resource?
Im avoiding Target. I suspect after the first month or two it will be surprisingly easy. Their clothes suck. They sell cheap food like walmart. They’re headed to walmart status and that isnt good for anyone.
michael
I think we have a lot of Target corporate plants on this comment thread or stock holders. It is incomprehensible that anyone with even a drop of self esteem could see Targets position of economics over human rights as justifiable. I don’t really think any of these people that post this stuff are actually LGBT. So I would just ignore them. And there are always alternatives, even if it means having to go to an assemblage of other stores to get everything you need. Never let cheap prices or convenience stand in the way of your humanity.
Desmond Tutu “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
Steve
Don’t care. Its a FREE country.
Let them support who they want.
Don’t support Democrats anyway, they’re destroying the country
Won’t affect Target one way or another, Spent $100 there just today!
Tracy
One thing I’ve been thinking about is how the CEO prior to Gregg Steinhaffel, Robert Ulrich, would never have made such an arrogant move. Ulrich made a lot of money for Target and its shareholders, but his political agenda never interfered with his job. When I worked for Target eons ago, many vendors and agencies who interacted with Target employed gay individuals and had gay owners. I can’t believe Target would bitchslap their vendors, employees and guests at the same time.
L.
@jason: Target is the new Davey.
L.
@michael: “I think we have a lot of Target corporate plants on this comment thread or stock holders.”
Unprovable and defaming accusation. Nice.
“It is incomprehensible that anyone with even a drop of self esteem could see Targets position of economics over human rights as justifiable.”
It is incomprehensible that anyone with even a drop of knowledge of law could not see that the law *demands* that Target worry only of economics and the bottom line, whereas no law asks them to promote or protect human rights.
(I got thumbed down for mentioning that earlier, and I don’t expect to fare much better this time round.)
Do I think that the fact this is the legal situation is regrettable? You bet. But it is, sadly.
I have never said that people shouldn’t boycott Target – I only said I *personally* did not think it would accomplish much (legal and economic issues tend to trump moral ones).
But to boycott any company, I don’t have any standing in saying whether you should or not: people are perfectly free to shop wherever they decide, and based on criteria they set for themselves, so yes, people can boycott Target.
I will still think that getting the law changed is the better way out, even though I’m sadly aware the Citizens Union decision will make this even harder.
MM
When will the LGBT community see that capitalism and large corporations will never be loyal, never truly help, and will continue to HARM EVERYONE?
Elvis
Target and Walmart can lick my nuts…both are harmful to the gay community.
Captain_Phil
I have a gay friend who works with me at target, who was let go from wal-mart for “not meeting expected expectations”.This was after his direct boss saw him at a theater with his boyfriend.
G B
As a Minnesotan, I have a great love for Target as a local company who has donated MUCH money to the Prides here. This donation to MNForward is especially disappointing. I understand that Target would like to support a candidate whose platform for businesses is favorable for the company. However, Tom Emmer is the man who wants to lower minimum wage for “overpaid servers.” What especially irks me is that Target, a self-proclaimed “socially responsible company,” didn’t consider how this would look for its public relations. The company has two venues named after it (Target Center and Target Field), touts their donations to schools and the community, and is a GLBTA-friendly employer. Target should have known the backlash that would ensue. A true “socially responsible” company should consider a candidate for more than just business stances- maybe a “socially responsible” candidate as well?
Ms. Jennifer Hanson, the representative from Target, responded with the justification: “MN Forward’s objective is to elect candidates from both parties who will make job creation and economic growth a top priority.” One of DFL candidate Matt Entenza’s top priorities IS exactly that: job creation and economic growth.” He’s also a huge advocate of equal rights. Sounds pretty ideal, right? Instead they pick the candidate who seems very bigoted, taxing corporations less, and lowering minimum wage to employees… Hmmm…
Tom Emmer seems to be a man who, because he has seven offspring and a traditional, heterosexual family, considers himself to be a model for man(kind). Does being such also include the belief that all servers are overpaid and we should have DUI’s on our record?
DO NOT FUCK UP, MINNESOTA. VOTE ENTENZA ON AUGUST 10. (Sorry, personal plug, I know.)
As for Target… I do believe there’s a K-Mart alive and kicking somewhere close…
Hyhybt
@G B: OVERPAID SERVERS? That’s a new one!
MAP
I think it’s all well and good to slow down one’s business with Target over this–but of course one has to wonder what KMart/Sears has been up to, too. We all know Walmart is the lowest circle of laissez-faire hell for socially progressive politics…
Look, instead of wondering where else to shop, just fucking stop shopping for a month–take a break. Seriously, that’s a message that corporations will get a lot faster than “shop here, don’t shop there.”
Jesus, just read a book. If you can’t go without a six buck tank top for a month, you’ve got bigger problems than Target.
IGNORANCEisDEADLY
Just like the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, things don’t change until you hit the ignorant in the UNIVERSAL ACHILLES HEEL; THEIR MONEY LOL!!! THANKS FOR KEEPING US INFORMED!
Theo97279
If we succed in closing ONE store (The one in West Hollywood) It will cost them WAY MORE than 150.000,00 to relocate.
As for alternatives, I would rather buy from those small GAY-OWNED stores, that way we keep them from using OUR money to kill us.
Theo97279
I’m sorry, I meant SUCCEED!!!!
damon459
That’s all well and good Theo but I live in MT the only gay owned companies are a porn shops owned by someone in Oregon and a gay bar on the other side of the state. So where will I shop for the things I need? Besides Target is very gay friendly here in Missoula compared to other retailer. I know people who were fired from Walmart, Shopko, Kmart, Sears and others why because it’s legal in MT though Missoula now has a city ordinance protecting us from being fired though it has no real teeth. However I know many locals who work for Target and Best buy including two transexuals who were able to keep their jobs while transitioning no easy task in MT. As for mom and pop shops well we have a couple clothing stores but they’re owners fought against the city ordinance protecting the LGBT community from discrimination in jobs housing and public accommodations. So for the time being I will continue to support the LGBT employees at the local Target store by shopping there because in this economy I don’t want to see them loose their jobs.
Lance
This sucks! I boycotted Wal-Mart in 2008 after learning that one of the Walton heirs contributed MILLIONS to help get Amendment 2 passed in Florida (which discriminated against unmarried straight couples as well as same-sex couples).
Unfortunately, just today, I had to enter both Target and Wal-Mart because of a lack of shopping options in this town, and an immediate need to procure certain products. I would love to order items online and never enter either store again, but reality bites!
Luke Gibson
@hephaestion: Can we research how Amazon ranks on the gay-friendly index?
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