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Wal-Mart Partners with Gay Marriage Group

Netlore Archive: Email flier notifies Christians that retail giant Wal-Mart has formed a partnership with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce


Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Aug 2006
Status: True
Analysis: See below


Email example contributed by Angie D., 31 August 2006:

August 31, 2006

Wal-Mart asks for, and receives, permission to join homosexual marriage group

Wal-Mart comes out of the closet

Dear __________,

Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, has asked for and received permission to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The NGLCC is a leading promoter of homosexual marriage.

Although Wal-Mart has never excluded homosexuals from being employees, customers, or suppliers, the company wanted to be more closely identified with promoting the homosexual agenda. Wal-Mart is now a "corporate member" of the NGLCC, putting their approval on the NGLCC's efforts to abolish the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. A Wal-Mart vice president will serve as an advisor to the NGLCC, helping them promote homosexual marriage.

READ FULL TEXT


Comments: True, albeit "spun" for an anti-gay audience. As reported in Advertising Age in August 2006, Wal-Mart Stores has begun an "unprecedented push" to "broaden its appeal" and "appease critics in the gay and lesbian community" by hiring a gay marketing consultant, joining the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and considering offering domestic partnership benefits to employees. Company officials call the move "a very sincere effort to reach out to people who are a significant part of our customer base."

It has been greeted with cynicism at both ends of the political spectrum, however. The email flier above, sent out by American Family Association chairman Donald Wildmon, is representative of the Conservative Christian response, which dwells on the hot-button issue of gay marriage and calls upon Christians to voice their disapproval in letters and phone calls to Wal-Mart corporate officers.

On the left, critics complain that Wal-Mart is known to be a heavy contributor to the Republican Party, which has consistently opposed the advancement of homosexual rights. The company also has several pending gender discrimination lawsuits against it, notes Mother Jones magazine, and "discriminates against working people in a variety of ways."

The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, whose agenda does, in fact, include "marriage equality for same-sex couples," has characterized Wal-Mart's motives as "pragmatic."


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Sources and further reading:

Wal-Mart Partners with Gay and Lesbian Group
Advertising Age, 24 August 2006

Wal-Mart Sets Alliance with Gay Business Group
Cox News Service, 26 August 2006

Wal-Mart About to Feel AFA Wrath
Business Week, 29 August 2006

Attention Gay Wal-Mart Shoppers
Mother Jones, 1 September 2006


Last updated: 09/13/06


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