Posted on 05/18/2014 4:53:38 PM PDT by Morgana
After getting national condemnation from pro-life advocates, Sun Trust Bank has reversed its decision to yank real estate contracts with the Benham brothers.
The pro-life brothers who were set to be the stars of the next HGTV reality television show “Flip It Forward” have had a refreshing response to the cable network cancelling the program because of their pro-life beliefs. They said they were not bothered by the show being cancelled because of their beliefs.
After that blowup received national attention, the Benham Brothers are back in the news because of discrimination over their pro-life views. Initial reports showed SunTrust Banks discriminating against the brothers, then the Daily Caller reported SunTrust reversed itself:
After an uproar from conservative customers, SunTrust Banks announced Friday afternoon that the decision to end its relationship with real estate entrepreneurs David and Jason Benham had been reversed.hgtv
Earlier Friday, The Daily Caller reported that SunTrust Banks had pulled all of its listed properties with the Benham brothers’ bank-owned property business.
The move came just a week after HGTV announced it was canceling a planned home renovation show hosted by the Benhams because of their conservative views on abortion and gay marriage.
By Friday afternoon, SunTrust released a statement saying the decision had been reversed. The bank didn’t go into detail about why they originally cut ties with the Benham brothers, though SunTrust said the decision was made by a third party vendor. TheDC reported earlier Friday that the vendor had told a Benham Brothers franchisee that the bank itself made the decision.
Early Friday reports showed SunTrust Banks discriminating against the brothers.
As the Daily Caller reports:
In a statement provided first to TheDC on Friday, the Benham brothers confirmed that SunTrust Banks has pulled all of its listed properties with the Benham brothers’ bank-owned property business, which includes several franchisees across four states.
“We were caught off-guard with this one,” David Benham said of SunTrust’s actions. “Keeping us off television wasn’t enough, now this agenda to silence wants us out of the marketplace.”
The Benhams, in their statement, said the news came “without warning or explanation from SunTrust and took place over a 15 minute period” on Thursday. The Brothers said they have had a “mutually productive working relationship with SunTrust for many years” and hold a ”preferred broker” status with the bank.
SIGN THE PETITION TO HGTV: Stop Discriminating Against Pro-Life Christians
The brothers said they contacted SunTrust, but bank employees declined to explain the reasoning for what happened.
Reached for comment by TheDC on Friday, SunTrust corporate spokesman Mike McCoy would not say whether the Benhams’ political views impacted their decision.
“We continuously review our supplier relationships and changes to the list of companies we rely on for services is a natural part of our business, however we do not publicly comment on specific vender relationships,” McCoy told TheDC.
In an email to LifeNews, Faith Driven Consumer founder Chris Stone, who has been organizing social media support for the brothers during their controversy with HGTV, blasted the banking company for its decision.
“SunTrust Banks appears to have punished David and Jason Benham by taking action against their business purely based on their Christian beliefs. This sends a loud and clear message to people of faith in America, you’re not welcome at SunTrust, take your business somewhere else,” he said. “SunTrust’s actions have effectively put into place a belief-oriented litmus test for its business partners seeking to compete in the marketplace of goods, services, and ideas. This is discriminatory, intolerant, and in direct opposition everything that America is about.”
“Faith Driven Consumers, and all fair-minded Americans, are getting tired of this, they know it’s wrong, and they are not going to tolerate this kind of bullying. On behalf of our community of 46 million people who spend $1.75 trillion annually, we are actively seeking banks who will welcome them along with all of the other people that they serve,” he concluded.
ACTION: Contact Sun Trust: Call 800.786.8787 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/suntrust Twitter – http://twitter.com/SunTrust
I have some money in Sun Trust Bank.
I am evaluating whether to sever ties with them. I am extremely angry that they would be involved in shunning a good customer over social/political views.
The Gaystapo will not be denied...
It’s blatant religious discrimnation, a clear violation of the Benham’s civil rights.
I used to have a Suntrust account. If I still had it I would cancel immediately. I took all of my IRA accounts away from 20th Century Investments after they contributed to an anti CCW campaign that I think was in Kansas.
You’ve got to wonder about the idiots who made the original decision at SunTrust. Aren’t most of their branches in the south? The south isn’t exactly friendly territory for enforcing the religious dogmas of the State Church.
So, was the vendor misrepresenting Suntrust, and should be fired, or is Sun Trust lying?
Time to put Sun Trust out of business. They can no longer be trusted to abide by the laws of our country.
The only public moral decision most banks will make is pro-gay.
Well, since only .5 - 1.5% of the population calls itself "gay," that's not a WHOLE LOT of decisions that the banks have to make.
Besides, NOT ALL homosexuals walk around with a badge proclaiming their homosexuality; nor do they all "look" homosexual.
Also, many folks bank on-line. I do.
I also find that I don't need to go to the bank that often. I can just go once a month and get all the cash I need.
I have business accounts with them and its going to be a pain, but they are moving.
One bank is much like the other. There are zillions of banks to choose from. You don't talk politics there--that's not what banks are about. Save your politics for HERE!!
One of them has achieved a high enough position to make such a decision
They heard about the HGTV fiasco and decided to pile on, using suntrust - getting them to drop their PROFITABLE business.
Someone higher up noticed the backlash and stepped in to stop it before it reached disaster status. They should FIRE the gaystapo agent who tried to do this based on political belief and NOT shareholder value decision.
SunTrust Banks, Inc. SunTrust Banks Inc.
Headquarters SunTrust Plaza Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Number of locations 1,497 Branches
SunTrust Banks, Inc., is an American bank holding company. The largest subsidiary is SunTrust Bank. It had US$175 billion in assets as of December, 31, 2013.[3] SunTrust Bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where its headquarters remain.
SunTrust operates 1,497 bank branches and 2,243 ATMs across Southern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
The most direct corporate ancestor, the Trust Company of Georgia, was founded in 1891 as the Commercial Travelers' Savings Bank. Two years later, it restructured as a trust company and renamed itself Trust Company of Georgia. The current SunTrust Banks, Inc., was the result of a merger between the Trust Company of Georgia and SunBanks, Inc., of Orlando, Florida (founded in 1934 as First National Bank of Orlando) in 1985. The merged company operated as Trust Company Bank in Georgia and Sun Bank in Florida until 1995, when all banks took the SunTrust name.
In 1986, shortly after the Trust Company–SunBanks merger, SunTrust purchased Third National Corporation of Nashville, though it continued to use the Third National name in Tennessee until 1995. SunTrust purchased Crestar Financial Corporation of Richmond, Virginia in 1998 expanding the company’s footprint into Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
In 2001, SunTrust purchased the institutional businesses of the Robinson-Humphrey Company, LLC. creating SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey.
The company bought Memphis-based National Commerce Financial Corporation (NCF) for $7 billion in 2004. The bank operated as National Bank of Commerce in South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia and as Central Carolina Bank and Trust in North Carolina. This acquisition allowed SunTrust to enter North Carolina and West Virginia for the first time, and substantially increased its footprint in the other states.
Of course that’s not discrimination, or reverse. Stupid idiots.
Same here. Closing my suntrust account is first item on tomorrow’s to do list
Their position is now well known. They will have a hard time reversing their original decision.
They'd have to name names and terminate those involved in the initial decision to recover some degree of credibility.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.