Home Depot Won't Go Neutral

When I hear of a retailer with gay-unfriendly policies, or gay-unfriendly standards, I boycott those stores, and I make a point of telling people about those stores, and I blog about it, too.

Yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Target??

But what about those stores and businesses that are gay-friendly, and those stores and businesses that doesn't buckle under to demands that they be less than gay-friendly.

Case in point: Home Depot. It seems that for the last year or so--and I think it's longer--the inappropriately named American Family Association [AFA] has been begging, demanding, urging Home Depot to stop publicly backing, and at times appearing at, gay events, like Pride parades and such. But, for the last year or so--and i think it's longer--Home Depot has ignored the AFA. And they deserve a big gay round of applause. 

And they deserve our dollars, because the fight rages on, and the AFA isn't giving up; Randy Sharp, spokesbigot: "AFA focuses primarily on one boycott at a time. A successful boycott can take two or three years."

Well, then, maybe it is all over, since this one has about run it's course and Home Depot ain't budging: "Our response on this has been and continues to be that we respect the diversity of all people and maintain an inclusive culture. This is what [Chairman] Frank [Blake] told the AFA publicly at our annual shareholders meeting earlier this year." Suh-nap!

Now, I was gonna end there, but in reading the article further--and that's the link down there--I was floored to read that the AFA brags on its website that it has been on "the frontlines of America's culture war" since 1977, and the AFA insists that it has nothing against gays.

Seriously. it has nothing against gays, but it wants corporations to stop supporting the LGBT community, to stop marketing to the LGBT community, and stop coming to our parties. The AFA wants corporations to go Switzerland, that is, become neutral on LGBT issues. But Home Depot, and others, as you will see, won't go neutral. The Home depot, which i lovingly call The Homo Depot, realizes that there is a market out there, and it's called the gay community, and they want our business, and they should get it.

And so will Macy's, whose stores and logo have made annual appearances in New York's Pride parade. And so will Absolut, who has been advertising in gay publications for the last thirty.....yes thirty...years. And so will American Airlines, which has a Web page offering deals geared toward the LGBT traveler. And so will Subaru, who has been marketing their product to the gay community for the last decade, and was one of the first corporations to create custom commercials for LGBT channel, Logo.

But what about those gay-unfriendly corporations?

Well, Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who issued a public apology last year for their $150,000 donation to a Minnesota anti-gay group--a donation that angered Lady Gaga, who nixed a deal to sell a special edition of her albums through the chain--now says Target will stay "neutral" on the gay marriage debate.

Stay neutral. I'll shop elsewhere. Like Home Depot and Macy's, before getting in my Subaru and heading to the airport for my trip on American Airlines, where I'll have an in-flight Absolut and cranberry.


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