This boycott of Wal-Mart is supposed to begin with this holiday season. I hadn't realized that the NGLCC/Wal-Mart partnership includes a pledge to include GLBT-owned businesses as suppliers:"On Aug. 21, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce announced that the world's largest retailer had joined a long list of corporate partners, all pledging to include LGBT-owned businesses on their supply radar. Evidently anxious about the response in the Bible belt, Wal-Mart kept the deal quiet and let the NLGCC announce the partnership. A sneaky move, but insufficient to evade the alert snouts of anti-gay Christian watchdogs.
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The Wal-Mart-NGLCC partnership isn't about God, Hell or preserving the family; it's about money. Facing waning sales, the company hoped to boost its customer base and combat its stigma in the gay community. They have done this before, partnering with Hispanic and other groups in hopes of fostering a community-friendly image. Usually, no one much cares.
But given the furious backlash from their bedrock Christian clientele, one does wonder why they don't just renege. After all, it's unlikely that the gay community - traditionally liberal and thus hardly enamored with Wal-Mart on any front - will suddenly embrace the chain, and if Don Wildmon and his wild minions succeed, the company could take a major financial hit. It will be interesting to see what happens after Thanksgiving, when the boycott officially kicks in.
The evangelical right continues to rejoice in backward parochialism and institutionalized bigotry. The need to satisfy their interests imposes sharp constraints on political parties and businesses alike. That the world's largest retailer has stood up to this so far is encouraging.
Let's hope it lasts."
http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=34370
