The big companies and anti-gay support: Oversensitive or hidden agendas?

Some time ago I read with mild amusement that Microsoft removed their store from the “Christian Values Network”. Christian Values Network (CVN) supposedly has connections with anti-gay groups...

July 08, 2011

In a matter of hours, Microsoft decided on Thursday to remove its online store from the “Christian Values Network” after more than 500 people signed Stuart Wilber’s Change.org petition asking the software company to stop allowing the funding of anti-gay “hate groups” identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Source and more

But the storm didn't die after that. There are several blue chip companies that make use of the CVN services. At the beginning of the campaign the companies included Netflix, Macy's, Target, Best Buy, REI, Delta, Apple, Wells Fargo and even Sesame Street.

By July 15 the heat was on and several companies broke ties with CVN.

Pressure is increasing on Apple to remove their online store from the “Christian Values Network” (CVN), after several other corporations have removed their stores this week. More than 3,500 people have signed Western Washington University student Ben Crowther’s Change.org petition to Apple. CVN is used as a fundraising tool by several anti-gay, anti-women organizations like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.

Late Thursday, the Wells Fargo and Delta Airlines online stores were removed from CVN. Prior to removing their store, Wells Fargo was offering up to $300 to the religious charity of the shopper’s choice, money that could be donated to “Focus on the Family” or the Family Research Council. Delta offered $3.00 per ticket.
Source and more

By July 27 Apple finally folded and removed their iTunes store from CVN.

Apple has removed their iTunes store from the “Christan Values Network” (CVN.org) after more than 22,000 people signed a petition on Change.org started by Ben Crowther, a student and Apple customer concerned about CVN’s funding of anti-gay, anti-women organizations like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.

The Apple campaign, which picked up significant momentum after 13,000 AllOut.org members signed another petition on Thursday, follows Microsoft’s decision to leave CVN two weeks ago, prompted by another customer-driven campaign on Change.org. Several other companies have removed their online stores since then, including REI, Macy's, Delta Airlines, BBC America, and Wells Fargo.
Source and more

By August 10 Hotels.com, Expedia and Priceline also broke ties with CVN:

Expedia says it ended an affiliate relationship with the Christian Values Network after learning the group donates money to some organizations that some people paint as hate groups.

Expedia’s sister company Hotels.com also is in the process of getting its links removed from a Christian Values Network site.

And, Priceline is at least temporarily removing the Christian Values Network from the online travel agency’s affiliate network while it looks into the matter.
Source and more

Now, if you visit the "Christian Values Network" website (www.CVN.org) you find that the service is pretty straightforward...

How and when does my chosen charity, school, or faith-based organization receive the financial support?

The choice of online store, as well as the type of product or service purchased will determine when your chosen charity, school, or faith-based organization organization receives your financial support. Typically, payments are received 60 to 90 days after the initial purchase; however, it could be longer depending on the online store’s guidelines.
Source

And it's the company that you buy from that's making the actual donation, not you...

...your purchases from over 700 online stores and sites will financially support your chosen organization - without adding any additional cost to you! By downloading the ConnectionPlus™ toolbar, you'll be supporting your chosen organization whenever you shop with one of our partners.
Source

But, it would seem like CVN has gone into hiding... Nowhere on the site will you see the words "Christian Values Network". Actually you'd be hard-pressed to find the word "Christian" on the site. There is also no "About Us" page giving an indication as to whom and what the site/owners of the site are. You'll notice the letters "CGBG" which is the abbreviation for "Charity Give Back Group". You will find a list of Organizations CGBG supports... A quick look at the more than 170,000 quickly reveals that they more or less only support religious group...

And at this point we should perhaps ask the question, how did all of this come to light? Someone had to go through the 170,000 organisations and picked out those that are anti-gay... Focus on the Family is named in all the articles but the list also includes Family Research Council, Summit Ministries, Abiding Truth Ministries, and the Liberty Counsel.... That is a mere 0.0029% of the organisations that are openly anti-gay... It’s quite obvious that someone has it in for either CVN (CGBG) or “Focus on the Family”…

You don’t have to dig far to find the name Stuart Wilber. It was his petition that convinced Microsoft to pull out after a mere 500 signatures…

And you don't have to Google very far to find that the 71 y.o. Stuart Wilber is gay activist... Even so, this act of activism was a pretty far stretch in my opinion...

Continued...

It would also appear that CVN/CGBG is not entirely innocent...

The Christian Values Network was founded in 2008 with help from two dubious celebrities: Stephen Baldwin, Alec’s born-again brother, who continues to work with the group; and Michael Lohan, estranged father of Lindsay, who is no longer involved. Huckabee has acted as a spokesman for CGBG, and now “helps with developing new partnerships,” according to the company’s CEO, Jed Trosper. But CGBG didn’t really get off the ground until about a year ago. “It was some friends we had worked with who proposed the idea, and we’ve kind of just been testing it out,” says Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council.

CGBG acts as an affiliate for associated retailers, taking a commission on every purchase made through its site. The commission is split between the company and a faith-based charity of the user’s choice. Some are humanitarian groups like Habitat for Humanity, but many, including those prominently featured on the company’s website, are decidedly political. Among them is The Family Research Council, which was classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center last year because of its continual flood of “demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities.”
Source

In situations like this there comes a point where you have to start taking everything with a pinch of salt as both sides try to tarnish the other side's name... I did however note that at no point through all of this did CVN/CGBG deny that they are "anti-gay"...?

There is now a so-called "online culture war" going on between Gay-rights activists and faith-based nonprofits.

Change.org, in collaboration with Allout.org and San Francisco-based activist Roy Steele's blog "Tie-Dyed Jive in the (415)," has also petitioned companies such as The Gap Inc., Expedia and many others with what CGBG calls "a bullying campaign fueled by false information."

In many cases, McCullough said, midlevel company managers made hasty decisions to drop CGBG without vetting the activists' claims.

"This bullying campaign just started, and yes, we do want to shut you down," Steele responded by writing online Monday. "Your hate and vitriol is politically motivated."

"Hate is too big a word to be thrown around with so little discretion," Focus' Daly said. "It is a damaging and dangerous thing to hang such an emotional epithet on a person or group because they think differently about some issues than you do. Believing what the Bible says about human sexuality is a personal conviction, not an act of persecution."

CGBG president John Higgins said the network will push back against the activists' efforts by doubling the amount it gives to designated charities Monday through Labor Day weekend.
Source

And the Christians (or perhaps I should say some "Christians") are also getting in on the act:

Apple Bows Before the god of Gay
Apple, Wells Fargo, Macy’s, Delta and some other companies have decided that it is god business to bash evangelical Christians for their convictions regarding sexual morality.
...
Source

In the end there are only losers in this battle. Yes, it's good to stand up for your rights. By all means, make a stand against "Anti-gay" organisations. But keep the price in mind...
We don't know what the religious organisations got from CVN/CGBG in terms of monetary support. But now we know it's a lot less because so many blue chip companies pulled out. Yes, there were 5 (more or less) bad apples in the list of non-profit organisations that got an income from CVN/CGBG. What about the 169,995 other organisations? Perhaps 5 of them are pro-gay? Perhaps 50? Perhaps 50,000? And those that were neutral in terms of homosexuality? Ever considered that they would turn anti-gay because gay activism led to a loss in their income?

And the other side of the coin is also true... How many people actually new about CVN/CGBG before the storm? Didn't this open a door for anti-gay folks to support anti-gay groups in a way they were previously unaware of?

Continued...

And should companies really be that sensitive about these issues, especially one as minor as this one actually is? 500 signatures to convince Microsoft? It took 22,000 to convince Apple... Several companies such as Disney, the Gap, Banana Republic, T-Mobile, Sears, WalMart, Kmart, Barney’s New York, Home Depot, Kodak, Direct TV and Netflix are ignoring the storm (Source). Are they making massive losses?

And, finally, what about the consumer? Do you know which charities and causes places you shop at support? Do you care? Should you care? In my opinion we shouldn't, because I'm sure if you did enough digging you'll find a reason not to support your favourite shop/product. AND in my opinion companies should stop with the donations. If you've got enough money to throw at every second charity, then you're making too much money, i.e. your products are over-priced. A company's success should be because of a good product, not because of the charity work it does...

If there's one lesson there is to learn from this, I think it's that some folks should be less sensitive and other folks should be more tolerant. Everyone clearly lost focus on what's actually important.

Originally posted by Gemwolf
And should companies really be that sensitive about these issues, especially one as minor as this one actually is?

For the most part, all the companies care about is not getting adverse publicity.
They dont care about the issues, they just dont want a headline "Microsoft supports gay hater group" and the ensuing PR disaster.

reply to post by alfa1


I can understand that. But Walmart (for example) isn't bothered by such issues. They've been the target of activists for ages now, and pretty much earned their "Anti-gay" colours. Same goes for companies such as Toys R Us and RadioShack. Yet, they're still doing pretty well...

Linky

I like the idea that "the small" guy has a voice - 500 signatures to influence the mighty Microsoft... Microsoft has - what some would call a monopoly - so they should be the last company to be influenced like this... Again, a bit of over-sensitivity from the Microsoft camp?

500 signatures to influence the mighty Microsoft... Microsoft has - what some would call a monopoly - so they should be the last company to be influenced like this... Again, a bit of over-sensitivity from the Microsoft camp?

overly concerned with their pocket book would be more like it

I mean if you are going to fold at least make them work a bit to get you to fold.