Target's Promised 'Review Process' For Political Donations Has A Lot Of Anti-Gay Ground To Cover

[Ian David]

Target's Promised 'Review Process' For Political Donations Has A Lot Of Anti-Gay Ground To Cover {UPDATE}

As you may have heard, mega-retailer Target has come under fire recently for contributing to a political action committee called MN Forward, which supports the gubernatorial ambitions of Tom Emmer, a candidate whose hostility toward the LGBT community begins with opposition to same-sex marriage and runs through to wholesale denial of equal rights and alliances with organizations whose takes on the gay community neatly align with those Ugandan madmen.

It took a long while for the Human Rights Campaign -- which had previously bequeathed to Target a pristine 100-percent rating on its Corporate Equality Index -- to get off the mat and take up this matter with the retailer. They've since applied pressure to both Target and Best Buy. For their trouble, they've earned an apology from Target CEO Greg Steinhafel, along with a nebulous promise that Target will institute a "review process for future political donations."

Abe Sauer, who has put a bullseye of his own on this story, returns to The Awl today with as rich an exploration of both new and old angles to this story as you're likely to find anywhere. From Sauer's report, it seems like any "review process" Target institutes for the benefit of maintaining a good relationship with the LGBT community has got a long period of reflecting on past actions to look forward to:

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We have already noted that CEO Gregg Steinhafel and his wife both maxed out their personal contributions this year to Michele Bachmann and Tom Emmer. But Steinhafel is just the captain of the crew.

<snip>

Al Franken, who is a very staunch supporter of complete gay equality, received zero dollars from Target executives or the Target PAC. Coleman, meanwhile, supported a constitutional amendment against gay equality.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/05/target-review-process-antigay-donations_n_672643.html

UPDATE: While Target is reviewing their process for political donations, maybe they'd like to explain this?
From Open Secrets: http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/all_recips.php?id=D000000619&type=B&filter&stfed=S&nid=9099


See prior threads:

Target CEO: "Sorry" for $150K Donation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x163419

Target execs have long history of supporting anti-gay candidates and right-wing
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8887389