MoveOn escalates Target boycott, delivers 260,000 petitions to corporate headquarters
source: http://www.downtownjournal.com/index.php?&story=15708&page=65&category=92
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- toyotabedzrock
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A protest this afternoon at Target’s corporate headquarters, 1000 Nicollet Mall, culminated in an attempt to deliver to CEO Gregg Steinhafel 260,000 petitions, each urging the retailer to stop donating to political candidates.
The demonstration, organized by the progressive political action committee MoveOn, came on the heels of a $150,000 donation Target had made to MN Forward, a pro-business group that is backing Republican Tom Emmer’s bid for governor. The donation has triggered calls for boycotts from GLBT groups, who cite Emmer’s socially conservative stance on gay-rights issues.
Seinhafel issued an official apology to customers and employees yesterday, saying “I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry.”
On July 29, MoveOn began gathering signatures online for a protest petition. In the following week, the group generated phone calls to Target headquarters and flooded the retailer’s Facebook page with complaints.
Around noon today, MoveOn’s Bob Brereton arrived at Target headquarters with hard copies of the 260,000 petition signatures. The print-outs filled three cardboard boxes, which Brereton had stacked on a dolly.
Randi Reitan, the now-famous Target boycotter whose checkout line tirade went viral on YouTube, addressed the crowd. Standing alongside her husband Philip and their son Jacob, a gay rights activist, Reitan decried the donation as an insensitive assault on its gay customers and employees.
“As a shopper at Target, their contribution was in part my money, and it was being used to attack the civil rights of my son,” she said. “Corporations are not people, and they should not attempt to buy an election which rightly belongs to the people.”
Philip Reitan described Emmer as “the most anti-gay person you can imagine running for governor.”
The demonstration, organized by the progressive political action committee MoveOn, came on the heels of a $150,000 donation Target had made to MN Forward, a pro-business group that is backing Republican Tom Emmer’s bid for governor. The donation has triggered calls for boycotts from GLBT groups, who cite Emmer’s socially conservative stance on gay-rights issues.
Seinhafel issued an official apology to customers and employees yesterday, saying “I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry.”
On July 29, MoveOn began gathering signatures online for a protest petition. In the following week, the group generated phone calls to Target headquarters and flooded the retailer’s Facebook page with complaints.
Around noon today, MoveOn’s Bob Brereton arrived at Target headquarters with hard copies of the 260,000 petition signatures. The print-outs filled three cardboard boxes, which Brereton had stacked on a dolly.
Randi Reitan, the now-famous Target boycotter whose checkout line tirade went viral on YouTube, addressed the crowd. Standing alongside her husband Philip and their son Jacob, a gay rights activist, Reitan decried the donation as an insensitive assault on its gay customers and employees.
“As a shopper at Target, their contribution was in part my money, and it was being used to attack the civil rights of my son,” she said. “Corporations are not people, and they should not attempt to buy an election which rightly belongs to the people.”
Philip Reitan described Emmer as “the most anti-gay person you can imagine running for governor.”
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blackheartman
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Great, boycott Target. You're probably doing some small good for the LGBT community. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE FUCKING ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT, MOVE ON?
- 1 year ago
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blackheartman
