Friday, September 3, 2010
LGBT Pro-equality groups to protest Best Buy, Target at Edgewood Retail District
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 3:59 PM
Expect to be greeted by protesters if you go shopping for a TV tomorrow morning.
Two pro-equality organizations irked by Best Buy and Target's recent forays into the world of political campaign contributions will lead a protest tomorrow at the Edgewood Retail District where the big-box retailers have locations.
Georgia Equality and the Human Rights Campaign are none too pleased — and neither are some of the chains' shoppers and shareholders — over Best Buy and Target's contributions to MN Forward, a Minnesota political advocacy group on a mission to "elect a governor and state legislators who understand the importance of creating private-sector jobs and economic opportunity in our state."
Sounds tame enough. But the group's also endorsed and financially supported Tom Emmer, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who says marriage is between a man and a woman and has ties to a Christian rock band that, according to ABC News, has "been known to speak harshly of gays." (To be honest, the ties to a Christian rock band are bad enough.)
The two groups want the big-box retailers to "make it right" and shell out equal donations to pro-equality organizations. Pretty cagey move.
From a press release announcing the protest:
“While Target has issued an apology for this donation, they have refused to “make it right” by giving an equal donation to pro-equality organizations. Best Buy has failed to respond at all to the community,” said Jeff Graham, Executive Director of Georgia Equality. “We need to keep the pressure on Target and Best Buy to let them know that they need to take appropriate steps to win back the loyalty of fair-minded consumers.”“Every day that goes by, fair-minded consumers are wondering when Target and Best Buy plan to recognize that equality is good business,” said Jonathan Russell, Co-Chair of the HRC Political Committee in Atlanta. “Their leadership on LGBT workplace issues will continue to be compromised until they make it right.”
The fun kicks off at the corner of Moreland Avenue and Caroline Street at 10 a.m. and continues until noon.
Comments (14)
Showing 1-14 of 14
How 'bout both companies get out of the political game all together? They have no business buying votes either way. It really is a pain; but, I've been boycotting both since the news came out a few months ago.
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Target HAS NOT issued an apology for the donation. Target's CEO sent an internal memo saying he was sorry for the REACTION to the donation. That's like, "Sorry you got upset when I ran over your cat." or "Honey, sorry you caught me cheating."
I wouldn't accept that as an apology from my boyfriend, would you?
i'd certainly like to know what "edgewood adam" thinks about the shenanigans going down in his neighborhood.
Everyone report dsfhdsajflk for spam, please.
On subject, I think these protests are awesome. More power to them.
The protest is news to me but I will make it a point to shop at Target today during the event. Perhaps I will also donate to that group mentioned.
who cares for fucks sake this is retarded.
i passed these guys today and wondered what they are about.
it's a parody of liberalism.
Thomas - some Christian rock bands are quite awesome. Have you even heard anything by Jars of Clay? Know what you're talking about before your write.
Note: The band associated with Emmer is awful.
WWW,
My lovely girlfriend and i are now using drugstore.com for all of the purchases we used to buy at Target. I appreciate the Kroger and Lowes being over there but i pretty much loathe that whole shopping center.
Benjy:
Jars of Clay suck balls as does all Christian rock.
DanWoods,
Name one Christian band you are familiar with and maybe you have the right to laugh. BTW, U2 and Sufjan Stevens are Christian acts who have gained mainstream and/or indie acceptance b/c they don't talk about Jesus in every single song. But if you actually pay attention to the lyrics, it's clear they are often singing about Christian themes.
I'll be the first to admit that the evangelical Christian subculture has an overload of kitsch and intolerance. But it also has Derek Webb, Jars of Clay, Donald Miller, Claiborne. We're not all a bunch of Thomas Kinkade-loving, gay-hating, Dubya-voting, Michael W. Smith-listening, retrograde jerks.
Edgewood Adam: See above.
So by your reasoning because Black Francis often explores Christian themes or more specifically Catholicism then The Pixies are a Christian band?
Hey what happened to the three paragraph comment I wrote in response to Edgewood Adam?
Short version: If an artist is a Christian and writes songs exploring aspects of their beliefs, then I feel comfortable calling them a Christian act. That's true of Bono and Sufjan Stevens. Black Francis, I don't get the impression it's true of him.
If some corporation seeks to copy another artist, whether for profit (secular world) or to win souls (Christian rock world), it usually comes off as corporate and insincere. But if an artist happens to love a particular genre and happens to be a Christian, then they can write some decent, authentic music. It's simply unfair to generalize and say all Christian rock is bad, simply b/c it's written from a Christian perspective. That's like saying all political rock is bad simply because it's written from a (usually) left-leaning perspective.
Unless your problem is with Christianity in general and that leads you to say all Christian rock sucks. In that case, we really are never going to see eye-to-eye on this one and we should just get back to arguing with Pistol Pete about HIS over-generalizations of Muslims.
Benjy,
I don't know what happened to the comment but I'll check to see if it was caught by a filter. I can assure you I didn't delete anything.
Re: your comment to me above. The jab at Christian rock was a light-hearted piece of snark. True, I'm not a fan (and I heard a lot of during a colorful childhood that included many visits to suburban youth groups). But I don't hold anything against those who enjoy it (or Christianity for that matter). Hell, I even respect the people who play the tunes' musical skill, something to be appreciated regardless of the genre.
But for me, the message is too blatant. I'm the same way about other genres of music. That's a personal taste.
America would be such a better place if people who believed in a God had never found it. I grow weary of having to live in a society where Judeo Christian laws, schools, colleges, hospitals, homeless shelters, money, customs, beliefs, cuisine, morals and almost every facet of our lives have been touched by Judeo Chritians who risked their very lives to escape and build this nation we have today.
Celebrate all the diversity we have people! Where people who refuse to beleive in God can sit back, enjoy, and destroy what once used to be a stronger Christian and Jewish culture.
Can't wait to see what the future holds for us! We are really progressing!!
PS Benji - I am still looking for a Pro-Reform Islamic movement I can stand side by side with who denounces Hamas and Hezbollah, killing of Jews, and but not limited to equality for women and gays. I may have a better chance of starting a Christian Church in Syria.
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