Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Target Corporation Getting A Bad Rap.

The gay brouhaha over Target Corporation looking out for its business interests and backing a pro-business GOP political candidate, Tom Emmer for Governor of Minnesota, because said gubernatorial candidate is anti-gay marriage is a case of gays biting the hand that feeds them.  Gay activists are taking advantage of Target's good will.  Target is one of the premier pro-gay companies in the United States, offering same-sex benefits to employees for at least two decades, in addition to being an equal opportunity employer.  Therefore it's not much of a leap to conclude these folks are biting the hand that feeds and employs them.
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Target is good for Minnesota - it is a good corporation - it's not the evil empire a lot of people like to make it out to be.  Not many years ago the company abruptly stopped making contributions to Planned Parenthood, acquiescing to the demands of conservative pro-life customers boycotting the company.  (Yes, it took a boycott.)  It is my understanding that Target does not dispense birth control through it's pharmacy either - unless things have changed since 2005.  I found an interesting 2005 complaint by Planned Parenthood concerning that issue:
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WASHINGTON, DC — Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today expressed outrage at the Target Corporation for misrepresenting Planned Parenthood and attempting to cover up a misguided corporate policy that denies women access to contraception. PPFA has urged Target to implement a policy that respects the rights of its customers by ensuring that Target pharmacies fill prescriptions in-store, without discrimination or delay. Following weeks of discussion, Target announced it was unwilling to implement a customer-friendly policy and would continue to embrace a policy that denies women timely access to basic health care. - PPFA
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To my knowledge, Target hasn't given in to Planned Parenthood.
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Target usually gets a bad rap, but the company is a major contributor to local charities, the arts, education, and so on.  In addition, it is a major employer here in Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the country.  They made a business decision - that's it.
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Time will tell if the Corporation is strong-armed into capitulating to the gay lobby...  They have in the past.
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9 comments:

  1. 3puddytats7:32 PM

    We have a Target here...don't shop there too much as it's clear across town from where I live...

    And their women's clothing is designed for women who have no boobs...what I call the "micro junior" sizes..and they no longer carry a "business casual" line of clothing..

    Sara

    ReplyDelete
  2. 3puddytats8:29 PM

    P.S....

    I'm against....

    BATS (as in furry, flying, little mousey-squeekying BATS)

    there was one in my office today....scared the absolute HELL outta me...it was asleep (I think) on my desk and I thought one of my kind sweet coworkers was playing a funny on me...

    I poked it and IT CAME TO LIFE!!

    I screamed my fool head off and I'm telling you it was the closed I've ever came in my life to wetting my pants..

    Some of my brave military coworkers shooed it out of the building..I did tell themPlease don't kill it and they didn't..

    I'm against BATS...yeesh..

    Sara

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tc9:23 PM

    It isn't about gay marriage.

    It's about Emmer's association with Bradlee Dean, the leader of a "Christian" rock band who advocates the "old testament" punishment of gay people.

    This protest has been on for a few months now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown9:56 PM

    This tantrum is absolutely incredible.

    It's the betrayal, right? They've been jilted. How could they? Oh, the pain!

    Can you imagine what millions of corporations executives are thinking now of the consequences of showing support for homosexual causes and then showing support for somebody else, too?

    Can you imagine all those folks shopping at dollar stores?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Michael J. Bayly11:35 PM

    Ryan Murphy's recent letter to Lavender magazine puts things in perspective.

    As he points out: "Target . . . made its donation [to Minnesota Forward] not because of its position on gay rights, but because of its take on immigrant women’s labor. Minnesota Forward is a “pro-business” lobbying group dedicated not only to preventing employees from joining unions, but to blocking legislation that would mandate shorter hours, health insurance, vacation time, and retirement benefits for all employees."

    Given the Catholic Church's strong social justice teaching, I'm surprised the clerical leadership of the local church isn't calling for a boycott of Target - or at least highlighting the corporation's deplorable attitude and practices toward its workers, many of whom, as Murphy notes, "are people of color . . . are women, and . . . were born not in the Twin Cities, but in Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mexico, El Salvador, Laos, or many other countries poorer than the United States."

    The full text of Murphy's letter can be viewed here.

    Peace,

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  6. Terry Nelson7:33 AM

    Thanks Michael - I read your post - I wasn't aware of all the details in this case, as Thom mentioned and as your post points out regarding immigrant labor. I'm not able to speak to those issues at this time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. libhom4:43 AM

    By giving money to Emmers, Target deliberately promoted discrimination, violence, and death against lesbian, gay, bi, and trans Americans. I refuse to shop with any corporation that is deliberately trying to kill me. I don't care who that offends.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown7:06 AM

    "deliberately trying to kill me"

    Isn't it interesting how when they don't have facts on their side they resort to lies from behind their facade of anonimity.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tc3:36 PM

    The facts are there to see, as they have already been stated. And I'm not anonymous- never have been.

    ReplyDelete


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