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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Aug 11, 2010
LGBT activists hope to hit a bull’s eye with a campaign against Target Corp. and pressure the discount retailer to demand a refund on its donation to an anti-gay gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota.
Target has a long record of courting LGBT consumers and supporting LGBT equality in the workplace, but has come under fire in recent weeks for its donation to an organization investing in the gubernatorial campaign of Minnesota legislator Tom Emmer.
The Minneapolis-based chain contributed $150,000 to MN Forward, which is funding TV ads for Emmer, the presumptive Republican nominee in the governor’s race.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for such corporate spending in politics earlier this year when it threw out portions of a 63-year-old law prohibiting companies and unions from donating to campaigns for or against candidates.
Target contributed $100,000 in cash and $50,000 in brand consulting to MN Forward, an independent political fund working, according to its website, “to elect a governor and state legislators who understand the importance of creating private-sector jobs and economic opportunity in our state.”
MN Forward then directed funding to support Emmer, a right-wing Republican who opposes gay civil rights, supported a constitutional amendment against gay marriage and gave money to a fringe group that condoned the execution of gays.
“MN Forward may claim to simply be pro-business, but they are supporting an extremist that is not in sync with the majority of Minnesotans in the race for governor of Minnesota,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “Nobody associated with a group that calls for death and violence toward any group of people belongs in a governor’s mansion, and yet that’s exactly what Tom Emmer is.”
After learning of Target’s spending on MN Forward, activists began calling for consumers to spend their dollars elsewhere. The boycott call also has included Best Buy, another major donor to MN Forward.
The Human Rights Campaign, in taking a stand, called on Target and Best Buy to contribute equal amounts to pro-equality candidates.
Meanwhile, MoveOn.org collected thousands of signatures on a petition calling for Target “to stop buying elections.”
“The stakes are much higher than one candidate and one company,” the petition stated. “If we don’t push back hard, this will just be the tip of the iceberg. Other corporations will learn that they can pour money into elections to buy the outcome they want. So we’re sending a message to Target’s CEO that we won’t shop there if Target continues spending money on elections.”
Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel first defended the donation to MN Forward, saying the intent was to further the company’s business objectives and stressing Target’s “unwavering” commitment to the LGBT community. “Inclusiveness remains a core value of our company,” Steinhafel wrote in a corporate e-mail.
Later Steinhafel apologized, writing in an e-mail statement, “While I firmly believe that a business climate conducive to growth is critical to our future, I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry. The diversity of our team is an important aspect of our unique culture and our success as a company, and we did not mean to disappoint you, our team or our valued guests.”
Outside a Target store in Bradenton, Fla., a number of shoppers said they were aware of the controversy.
“It’s kind of a bummer because I always thought of Target as the liberal’s alternative to Walmart,” said consumer Samantha King.
Target does have that reputation – and a long record of supporting the LGBT community and workplace equality. Both Target and Best Buy previously scored 100 percent the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index.
“Target and Best Buy’s long history of inclusion and fairness makes these donations all the more troubling,” Solmonese said. “These multi-billion dollar companies have spent years treating the LGBT community with respect and dignity. Now they have slapped us in the face for $250,000.”
“A lot of people feel betrayed by this place where everybody goes to shop and you get to see them at Pride and you feel good that you’re supporting a corporation that’s giving back to the community,” OutFront Minnesota executive director Monica Meyer said of Target.
The statewide gay rights group has asked Target to ask for its money back.
“Target should be aware of the damage to the lives of GLBT Minnesotans that its spending in support of Representative Emmer will have,” read an OutFront letter to Steinhafel. “Because of this, OutFront Minnesota calls on Target to do the right thing and make amends for the damage it has done by taking back its donation to Minnesota Forward, or by donating an equal amount to a political committee or cause of its choice that works to combat the attacks, dehumanization and marginalization of GLBT people, immigrants and low-income workers represented by Emmer and Minnesota Forward.”
