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‘Support businesses that support us’
November 23rd, 2009Most people know not to buy gas from ExxonMobil, but did you know that the Human Rights Campaign also recommends avoiding Office Depot, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and Cracker Barrel based on their LGBT-related employment practices?
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, HRC has released its annual buyers guide, which rates hundreds of popular businesses and brands according to how they treat gays.
In a press release, HRC notes that the LGBT community is estimated to have $712 billion in buying power this year, according to research by Witeck-Combs Communications and MarketResearch.com. A recent study by Witeck-Combs/Harris Interactive also found that 78 percent of LGBT people are extremely or very likely to consider brands that are known to provide equal workplace benefits for their employees, including LGBT workers.
“Congress is currently considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a critical piece of workplace legislation that will include our community. Until all LGBT Americans get fair treatment in the workplace, we must support businesses that support us. By purchasing products from businesses that support LGBT equality, shoppers send a clear message to businesses that their support, or lack thereof, will directly impact their bottom line,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
“From determining which car to purchase, to the right holiday gift for the kids, to everyday grocery shopping, this guide harnesses the power of equality-minded shoppers. At this moment it’s critically important that businesses hear that their customers support businesses that support us.”
To download HRC’s Buying for Equality 2010, go here.
Tags: Buying for Equality, Cracker Barrel, ExxonMobil, HRC, Joe Solmonese, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
LOL…don’t know why but I get a hillbilly feeling when I think about the words depot, shack, wal-mart, cracker, and barrel. Probably why they score low with HRC.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Yeah John, but you fail to mention that some of the “100% ” ranked companies that HRC and its President endorses are also large corporate sponsors of HRC. HRC’s President always seems to omit the very important fact that some corporations obtain a copy of the CEI index ONE YEAR in advance to assure that they continue to receive 100 % ratings and thus dupe the public into thinking that they treat their GLBT employees fairly, and sorry to say John, corporate perks or no corporate perks, many do not……
Also, your post fails to mention that Witeck / Combs is a consulting firm whose clients are the very companies that they endorse, so naturally they will want the community to support them financially. It would prove their GLBT marketing business model that they sell to companies.
Tell the whole story John, not the sales and marketing strategy that both HRC and corporate America want you to publish……………Oops, sorry, some of those corporations are advertisers of the Dallas Voice…….
November 24th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Disappointed, yes, you are right to some extent. Actually ANY company can know a year ahead of time which benefits and what questions will be asked the following year. To maintain a 100% rating NEXT year, companies will have to add gender reassignment surgery to their health benefits. That’s common knowledge. Companies with 100% ratings know it. companies with zero ratings who are interested know it. In other words, they don’t spring it on anyone, but on the other hand, it’s not a measure of how companies want to treat their employees and clients, it’s how they’re being pushed to treat them.
And of course those ratings are official policies and benefits. Before coming back to work in the office at the Voice, I was working at a company that had a high rating with lots of partner benefits. And they treated their employees like crap. But they treated everyone like crap. The rating only singles out companies discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
And as far as advertisers in the Voice, I’ve written some very negative stories that involved one advertiser that I thought wasn’t doing what it did best without any editorial interference because of advertising concerns.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:40 am
John / Admin,
OK, your argument is valid technically in that the CEI rating primarily focusses on corporate policy and not corporate culture, however what is the purpose of a diversity report if its “benchmarks” are proposed to them in advance ?? Shouldn’t truly “diverse” companies who advertise as such already have these benchmarks achieved and thus not need a report to tell the world that they put their money where their mouths are ???
And even so, how is it that these same companies who are large corporate sponsors of HRC always seem to achieve 100% ratings on the CEI index, yet when former GLBT employees who were treated horribly by them (despite their supposedly 100% policies) come forth in the public and in the media, those facts and stories get swept under the rug very carefully by the GLBT media.
So I stongly disagree with your assertion that:
“The rating only singles out companies discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The rating is a sales and marketing tool, plain and simple !! And being that HRC has adopted the “corporate” model in how it runs its organization (as with most non-profits these days) the aim is to predominantly help their corporate sponsor’s bottom line, and what better way for them to do that then to spread favorable word of mouth advertising via this CEI index, regardless of how the company treats its employees.
So, with this system, organizations like HRC win because they continue to get their sponsorship dollars, the corporations win because they have a huge leveraging tool to use in the marketing and advertising department (and oh let’s not forget, to ensure that corruption and discrimination gets covered-up) and last but not least, the corporate folks in the individual communities (in our case GLBT corporate executives) win because both HRC and their companies present them with accolades and promotions making out that those people were the instrument of change in the company…………The fact is, they are the few token executives who sold the rest of us out to corporate America and who companies love because they are the ones who dupe the public into thinking that their company is this “Diverse” place to work for GLBT employees………..It is “diverse” for them since they are on top, and since the companies know these “leaders” will keep this corrupt system well-run and protected. It is a win /win for everyone except of course for the employees who are discriminated against………………….
And yes John / Admin, many in the community have the GLBT journalists to thank for contributing to this problem, for refusing to report the REAL and FACTUAL story of what goes on behind the corporate / non-profit “diversity” scenes. Despite front page accolade headlines, floats at pride parades, protectionist cronies in the community and corporate logos adorning our non-profit advertisements, there is more to corporate diversity departments than you know or can comprehend.
So I say that until you spend a few months working with a corporate “diversity” department and see how corporate policy revision is REALLY undertaken (not what some corporate citizenship person wants you to believe) and the TRUE relationships between them and our powerful GLBT non-profits, then your argument would be considered valid. Until then it will just be business as usual with the above system well-rooted and with the employees who know the inside silenced by the GLBT media and the non-profits to protect the status quo and corporate perks………………
I am ashamed of you John / Admin that you would be so quick to stick your head into the sand with your former company who treated you poorly and then have the audacity to write favorable news articles about the very same GLBT organization who supports the company who treated you like crap……………….. Again, where is the influence coming from at the Dallas Voice ??
Quite frankly, the day when I ever see you all at the Dallas Voice report unfavorably (based upon factual evidence) on Dallas / Ft. Worth based companies besides Cinemark and others and have the journalistic bravado enough to go up against large companies who cover-up their corruption in our community (free corporate perks or no free corporate perks or pressure from the protectionist “activists” who cover-up for them), then will I ever believe that the Dallas Voice and the GLBT media as a whole is one which reports unbiased and truthful news.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Funny Admin how the reply to your comment was never published
November 24th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Just to clarify, comments from “admin” are not from John Wright. They are from David Taffet, who is a parttime staff writer for Dallas Voice. Sometimes he forgets to put his signature on the comments and the admin signature is inserted automatically.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Yes Tammye, as this explains a lot now as to the substance of that comment and which circle is influencing his reporting, not to mention where the censoring is coming from at the Dallas Voice, a clever trick that was apparently learned from Bilerico and a few select Yahoo social group moderators …………..
How many other lies and cover-ups has that New York / Dallas activist circle influenced you to believe David. Remember, the truth eventually comes out in journalism.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Disappointed: 346.
And I doubt I learned anything from Bilerico since I have no idea what that is. And I don’t belong to any yahoo groups so that can’t be it. Maybe I’m just the embodiment of evil all by myself.