Posted on 08/29/2006 10:02:50 AM PDT by NYer
(CNSNews.com) - After months of criticism from union-backed groups over its employee pay and health care practices, Wal-Mart now faces a potential "rollback" of support from conservatives because of the retail giant's partnership with a homosexual business coalition.
"I don't think this is something that will sell on Main Street America, where most Wal-Mart stores are located," said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council (FRC). "I don't think cheap prices on goods from China will be enough to stop a rollback in their customer base if they choose to go down this aisle."
Joining the FRC in criticizing Wal-Mart's new alliance with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) is Americans for Truth, which describes itself as "the only national organization devoted exclusively to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda."
"Wal-Mart has always been a favorite of God-fearing Middle American customers who hold traditional family values," said Peter LaBarbera, the group's founder and president. "I'm very surprised that Wal-Mart would now bite the hand that feeds it and thumb its nose at those very customers.
"It seems to me that Wal-Mart should reconsider its unsavory alliance with these extremist homosexual activists in today's heated and polarizing culture war," LaBarbera added.
However, Bob McAdam, vice president of corporate affairs with Wal-Mart, told Cybercast News Service that the world's largest retail company joined the NGLCC "just like we have joined a number of other groups representing all parts of the spectrum of our customers" - including women's organizations and minority groups.
The conflict began on Aug. 21, when the NGLCC issued a news release announcing "a partnership with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., as part of the company's ongoing commitment to advancing diversity among all of its associate, supplier and customer bases."
As part of that agreement, Wal-Mart will pay $25,000 to NGLCC - "the largest LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] business development and economic advocacy organization in the world" - and has agreed to sponsor two of NGLCC's annual conferences.
"We are honored to have Wal-Mart's support of the NGLCC," said the group's co-founder and president, Justin Nelson. "Our partnership will not only provide more opportunities for the Chamber, but the business community as a whole."
When asked by reporters why Wal-Mart had not issued a statement on the new partnership, Nelson said that it's "normal procedure" for the NGLCC to handle such announcements.
Since then, conservative organizations have become increasingly vocal in their criticism of the new partnership.
Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America, said that by joining forces with the NGLCC, Wal-Mart is "validating the idea that homosexual activists have the right to shake down corporations out of fear of being called bigots."
Perkins called the alliance "an odd new domestic partnership." He's asking FRC's supporters to download a flyer from the group's website that asks why the retail chain is supporting homosexual activism and place a copy of it at the customer service desk of the nearest Wal-Mart.
As Cybercast News Service previously reported, the retail giant has been no stranger to controversy over the past year when union-sponsored groups such as WakeUpWal-Mart.com and Wal-Mart Watch have charged the corporation with needing to meet "higher expectations" and being unsafe for shoppers.
McAdam said he expects the popularity of the company - which has about 3,900 outlets in the United States alone - will trump any criticism from either side of the political aisle, just as when Wal-Mart added homosexuals to its non-discrimination policy two years ago.
"I think our attraction to Americans in general speaks for itself, and that's why comments from either side of the political spectrum or whatever philosophical debate are less important than the daily approval we see from our customers," McAdam said.
"Wal-Mart continues to serve the vast majority of Americans regardless of their political persuasion or their personal beliefs," McAdam noted. "Last year, about 85 percent of Americans bought something at Wal-Mart. We have more than 138 million customers a week at Wal-Mart.
"With numbers of that size, we're dealing with just about everybody, and to that extent, we want to be as welcoming as we can to every part of the spectrum, and we will continue to be broad in our outreach," he added. "We welcome people of all persuasions and all philosophies."
Not all homosexual activists are pleased with the new arrangement, though.
"Our community is a smart community, and we can see a shameless marketing opportunity when it comes," Jeremy Bishop, program director of the "Pride at Work" subsidiary of the AFL-CIO, told Cox Newspapers.
"For us, it's a matter of social and economic justice," Bishop added, "and Wal-Mart has a long record of not treating its employees - gay or straight - with equity and dignity."
Ping!
I would not be at all surprised if this move really backfires on them.
They can be welcoming as they like for people coming to buy something. That does not require them to pay money to support actively sexist and perverted organizations.
Yet one more false syllogism on the path to hell.
Guess we all need to join the dims for they ain't hypocrits /extreme s.
It's hilarious when Christians adopt organizations as one of "their own" and then get all offended about being betrayed.
More on the Walmart/gay promotion deal.
....now bite the hand that feeds it and thumb its nose at those very customers.
It's the mix metaphors that bother me...I suspect this whole thing is a straw man riding a trojan horse.
WalMart Ping.
It is obviously trying to do what is best for the company, not the bi-partisan critics.
A trojan horse of a different color at that!
No wal-mart defenders on this one...it's up to me.
Don't you people like low prices?
It's not doing it very well, especially if the critics are bi-partisan. That would indicate the opposition is from across the political spectrum.
Freepmail DBeers, little jeremiah or scripter to subscribe or unsubscribe from the homosexual agenda ping list.
FreeRepublic homosexual agenda keyword search
The moral absolutists take on the wal-mart defenders. This is gonna be good.
I don't think I've previously heard of them. Here's their website: Americans For Truth
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