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I’m pretty much a clothes horse. I spend a decent amount of money on colorful clothing that expresses my moods — Hey, I’m a colorful person.
Right now, I’m finding I need more hangers with little shoulder notches because I don’t have enough of these hangers for my tees and tank tops to hang upon in my closet.
And too, my vacuum cleaner bag is getting full, and I need to buy some more bags pretty soon.
Normally, I’d just head off to the local Target at the Mission Valley Mall and grab some hangers and vacuum cleaner bags. Not now though. I’ve had one of those “stop and think” moments about where I spend my pink dollars.
Target and Best Buy have now joined McDonalds and Denny’s as businesses I choose to avoid, when possible. This is because the parent company of Target and Best Buy donated $150,000.00 to a political PAC that is working anti-LGBT gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer (Republican, Minnesota) elected. (Target/Best Buy made that donation to MN Forward.)
Quoting The Daily Beast‘s Target’s Political Agenda?:
Is the $10 you spend on a shirt at Target going toward anti-gay groups? Target gave $150,000 to MN Forward, a political group that has endorsed and pays for ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, a fervent opponent of gay marriage. Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel denied any political agenda in an email to staffers, and insisted the Target’s support for the GLBT community is “unwavering.” Despite Target’s defense, a Facebook group called “Boycott Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics” already has 5,000 members. Best Buy also defended its $100,00 contribution to MN Forward, and said the corporation supported the group because it makes “jobs and economic issues a top priority in this election.” Corporations only recently became allowed to donate money to campaign advertising following the Supreme Court’s January ruling reversing campaign finance laws that had prevented their involvement.
Some “unwavering support” by Target, eh? Donating to a candidate who has not exactly been a friend to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. To quote Abe Sauer at The AWL:
Emmer says marriage “is the union between one man and one woman” and he supports the constitutional marriage amendment defining marriage as such.
The AWL has given us even more information on Emmer’s position on LGBT civil rights (as well as a take on the choice Target has made in choosing a “pro-business” candidate over LGBT community members and allies) in their piece Real America: Target CEO Chooses “Business” over Gay Rights:
Some of the details about Emmer’s anti-gay positions are only now getting more attention. For example, while his position against gay marriage was well known, his direct support for a group that advocates the execution of homosexuals overseas is just now receiving wider exposure (even though his possible finance violation associated with this group was known back in May).
There’s more in that articles from The AWL about how anti-progressive Tom Emmer is that you may want to read up on, but this gem from the first The AWL piece I linked to kinda sums up where this guy Emmer is coming from:
Emmer is popular with the Tea Party and has its “official” support, as much as anything is official in the party’s terrorism-cell-like structure. Not surprisingly, he also has the support of Sarah Palin. She endorsed him as a “hockey dad.”
Target’s CEO sent out an internal memo to their staff that’s included below the fold:From the internal memorandum from Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel, as reported by The AWL:
Dear Target Team,In the past week I’ve heard from some of you, including our GLBT team members, regarding your concerns with Target’s recent contributions to MN Forward, an independent expenditure committee that is supported by a broad coalition of large and small businesses throughout the state, including the Minnesota Business Partnership and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
As you know, Target has a history of supporting organizations and candidates, on both sides of the aisle, who seek to advance policies aligned with our business objectives, such as job creation and economic growth. MN Forward is focused specifically on those issues and is committed to supporting candidates from any party who will work to improve the state’s job climate. However, it is also important to note that we rarely endorse all advocated positions of the organizations or candidates we support, and we do not have a political or social agenda.
In the context of this contribution, some of you have raised questions regarding our commitment to diversity, and more specifically, the GLBT community. Let me be very clear, Target’s support of the GLBT community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our company. Some current examples of that support include:
• Domestic Partner Benefits
• Sponsorship of Twin Cities Pride
• Sponsorship of Minnesota AIDS WalkIn addition, Target’s rating of 100% on the 2009 and 2010 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index further demonstrates the reputation our company has earned.
As CEO, I consider it my responsibility to create conditions in which Target can thrive, and I promise to do so with the best interests of our guests, team, shareholders and communities in mind. I appreciate your input and understanding.
Sincerely,
Gregg
Well, Gregg’s explanation isn’t washing with me. The Human Rights Campaign CEI score isn’t going to factor in my decision to shop at Target at all because Target is politically supporting a candidate who is against equality under the law for LGBT community members. They’re supporting a “pro-business”/anti-LGBT candidate. That isn’t atoned for with their internal corporate policies that favor LGBT community members — to me, that makes their political donation to Emmer look like the act of an untrustworthy and duplicitous corporation.
I’m going to find a different store to buy my notched clothes hangers; I’m going to find a different store to buy my vacuum cleaner bags. And, of course, whatever else I’d normally go to Target or Best Buy for, I’ll be looking for some other store to buy those goods and services from.
Target needs to fix this soon, but if they don’t…well, I’m sure I’m not the only LGBT community member/customer they’re going to lose over their $150,000.00 political donation.
If Gregg Steinhafel and Target want to know how bad it can get, they need to start thinking in terms of “Manchester Hyatt.”
~~~~~
Related:
* MoveOn May Join Target Boycott
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23 Comments
K-Mart? I need to buy beach supplies.
any contact information on who to email at target about this?
And PreviouslyRemember back a couple of years and Target was allowing it’s pharmacists to not issue Plan B and other women’s medications.
The company execs promised to clear that up too.
Here is what the web says…Email: Gregg.Steinhafel@target.com
Phone: 612-696-6234
Fax: 612-696-6325
I wouldn’t expect the email address and phone number to work much past today, if these are even working now.
HRC’s CEISo Target proudly proclaims,
Perhaps HRC, that bastion of success
ful fundraising, might consider changing the formula for conjuring up their CEI so that behavior such as this cannot hide behind a rating system that now appears woefully inadequate.HRC’s CEI? Humbug.
Rarely mentioned, but…
…according to an article in the LA Times
CEO Steinhafel personally contributed as much as state law will allow [$2000] to Emmer’s campaign.
Once again, in the face of his claims that his and the corporation’s donations imply no endorsement of any discrimination against gays, we must ask the question:
Would he and they contribute to the campaign of a candidate who would deny legal equality to blacks, women, Jews, etc.?
The Corporate Equality Index….
….published by the Hilary Rosen Champagne fund, has been a fraud for years, repeatly ignoring their criteria
whenever it suits them [read, perhaps get donations from a particular company such as Coors].
They could pull 15 points away from Target’s 100% CEI score for that Emmer donation.And the HRC, if it were acting on behalf of their stakeholders in the LGBT community, would yank those 15 points immediately.
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist…..
Well, if I were the folks at Wal Mart….I’d be on this. QUICK. Wal Mart isn’t much better than Target, but they aren’t totally anti-Gay. I worked for WM in Long Beach, and they didn’t bother me a bit about how I had my hair or what I wore (I’m a soft butch)to work or anything like that. As long as I followed the dress code, I was OK-the dress code was a white shirt and black Dickies with the famous blue smock.
However, I’m NOT a big muckety muck at WM, unfortunately. However, I don’t shop at Target anyway-they’re too expensive for me-so I don’t mind boycotting them at all.
Go east (a few trolley stops)!You should have gone to extremely-GLBT-friendly Ikea for hangers and Sears Essentials for vacuum bags.
Ah. Tomorrow’s day has some stops!I remember when that very Sears Essentials used to be a K-Mart!
But, at least a trip to Sears Essentials is in my plans for tomorrow. If Sears Essentials doesn’t sell hangers along with vacuum bags, I’ll be at Ikea for those notched clothes hangers.
Hee-hee!
So, let me get this right…Wal-Mart – Number one retail sales by volume — bad for LGBT (they have a policy of “stay out of it”, but their corp execs donate to right wing causes consistently). Has an HRC CEI of 40. Is consistently on the “don’t buy” list.
Target – Number Three retail sales by volume. Dumbasses. 100 CEI, now on don’t buy. Has a policy in the handbook for both SO & GI, but doesn’t train on it.
Best Buy – Number five by volume. 100 CEI, trains on SO & GI, has policy on both, but generally has western division managers that ignore that. Now on Don’t buy list.
Wow. THe top ten retail list just keeps getting shorter. Sears is decent enough, Walgreen’s is still good – number 4, offers great benefits, does good training, and has a 100 CEI.
CVS says screw you trans people with it’s 90 CEI.
But damn — pretty soon all I’ll have left is the “Homo Depot” (according to the AFA), Walgreen’s, and Sears to shop at — and none of them are really in my range of affordability.
(Ikea I can buy hangers at, though — at a buck apiece, it becomes an investment that I simply have to not get something else for a long time to justify. Like food. Or hormones.).
My dollars are so few that the first consideration I have is the most bang for the buck.
The problem with petitions is trying to get the CEO to read them.
My first reaction to the following was that it seemed far too much like a childish prank. Or maybe that it was a little too Abbie Hoffman. I mean, we don’t DO stuff like this anymore, right?
Then I considered a rather serious analysis and saw how it could indeed be one of the few ways to get the attention of the Target corporate office. The idea itself is simple: lower the per-store profits without breaking the law. By virtue of a little communication and a bit of walking small numbers of people could have a disproportionate impact due to an Achilles’ heel of retail; stores are expected to be perfect each morning at opening. The exploit? Simply wander the store placing 20 or so items you might normally buy in a cart. Leave the cart on an aisle. Spread the word via Facebook that this is being done and explain the harm Target’s political contributions make to LGBT folk.
Again, when I first read of this idea I thought it absurd and childish and bordering on vandalism. At the very least it seemed ineffective. Then I began to understand that each evening carts of go-backs as they are called must be manually returned to the shelves after hours, each item in it’s proper place, ready to be sold the next day. That translates to overtime paid out if the number of additional items is substantially more than average. And overtime pay, as it turns out, has an unexpectedly large effect on per store daily profit, the very number upon which management bonuses are based. Now, one person doing this would barely make a dip in a single store’s daily planned profit. But because of slim margins, the effect is greater than linear and the tipping point is much sooner than you’d expect. If organized in a distributed fashion to occur at a number of stores within a limited time period (or self-organized to happen over a longer time period, as a slow leak) it would prove to be an effective way to convey a message that, “It’s just good business” hurts people.
But like I said, people don’t DO stuff like that any more, it’s…uncivilized, and immature, and makes us look bad. Besides, we are expected to respect corporations and that rule we learned early on about putting things back where we found them.
Haven’t shopped at Wal*Mart since Prop 8 passedA local Wal*Mart Super Center allowed customers to be bombarded by Yes on 8 solicitors at both doors, while the manager denied No on 8 equal access.
I wrote Best Buy tooI spent a lot more there than I did at Target – problem now is where to shop ?
At the moment for stuff I used to get at Best Buy I’m using Amazon – and it’s cheaper
As you don’t mention Costco, one must assume there’s none near you…
But for those who are lucky enough to be reasonably close to one, Costco’s prices are almost universally as good as any other store, often better, have an excellent record of only donating to Democratic candidates, diversity in employment, excellent benefits, etc. No, I don’t work for them or know anyone who does so everything I’m saying is simply as a very satisfied customer of many years.
While they do not by nature carry as many choices of any kind of item as a Target or Walmart might, they carry something in almost every area one might one, including food [fresh, frozen, canned; meats, vegetables, cheeses, beverages, bakery goods] and basic clothing at costs equal too or often less than Target, et al. They also carry some books, CDs, DVDs [and players and TVs], PCs and PC supplies, toiletries, a really cheap photo service, optometrist and eyeglasses, auto tires and batteries with installation available, auto gasoline, and pharmacies where prescriptions often cost less than, e.g., Walgreens. and a great return policy.
[Yes, quantities of some items can be a challenge for those without someone to share them, but there are countless other smaller quantity or one-person items that balance it out.]
I just had to buy a new PC monitor to replace the one that died. The model I chose was a couple of dollars cheaper on Amazon BUT that was more than compensated for by the fact that Costco’s price included shipping.
And, yes, most people do quickly “make back” the annual membership fee. Today, anyone can become a “member,” even online; the basic membership is $50 a year, and is refundable “in full at any time if you are dissatisfied.” A second card is free to one’s spouse, domestic partner, or immediate family member over 18 living at the same address. AND, you can take two non-members with you anytime you go; you simply have to be the one who pays for whatever any of you purchase. Class, can you say, “Buyer collective”?
Good to hearI can tell you that I shopped with great regularity at the Costco near where I work before, throughout and after my gender transition, and the people who work at Costco have always been excellent with me. I think most people who work there are accutely aware that I’m the transsexual who shops at Costco (though, I know for a fact, not the only one who shops at that store), and if anything, they have all been extra friendly with me. I can’t say the same of other stores. There’s an old guy who works the door at Walmart who still sneaks in little misgenderings of me. The staff at Home Depot can seem hostile at times. But Costco has always been great. I’m glad to hear that this flows out of their corporate culture, and it’s good to know that they give to Democratic candidates. And the free samples ain’t bad either.
They are not much betterThe wife of some Wal-Mart big shot gave money in SUPPORT of Act 1 in Arkansas.
No Costco in my stateIt’s Wal-Mart country. [AR]
::sigh::
Office Depot maybe?I’m considering buying a new laptop from them.
I was going to go to Best Buy…..but nope nope nope.
HRC?I stopped donating to HRC last fall. In the past two months I have gotten several mailings asking for me to renew my donations. They went into the trash. Then, there were several unidentified calls on my caller ID. No messages were left. Then I was at home when the final call came in. It was a California outfit soliciting for HRC. Since my NO! there have been no more calls or letters.
I think that HRC is finding itself in a financial bind. Perhaps the high dollar a-list gay donations aren’t making up for us little people closing our purses.