XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.homosexuality, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: transheuser-busch@gmail.com   
      
   On 25 Jan 2022, Steve Cummings  posted some   
   news:ssptas$lsiv$12@news.freedyn.de:   
      
   > Faggots are a financial burden on every society.  Kick them to the   
   > curb and make them shoulder the burden for their silliness.   
      
   RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Following Target’s announcement last week that it   
   removed products and relocated Pride displays to the back of certain   
   stores in the South, activists in the LGBTQ+ community are calling for   
   new campaigns to convince corporate leaders not to cave to anti-LGBTQ+   
   groups.   
      
   “We need a strategy on how to deal with corporations that are   
   experiencing enormous pressure to throw LGBTQ people under the bus,”   
   said California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, a member of   
   the LGBTQ legislative caucus.   
      
   “We need to send a clear message to corporate America that if you’re our   
   ally — if you are truly our ally — you need to be our ally, not just   
   when it’s easy but also when it’s hard,” he said.   
      
   While the retailer said its actions were aimed at ensuring the safety   
   and well-being of its employees after protesters knocked over Pride   
   signs and confronted workers in stores, the controversy comes at a time   
   when conflict over LGBTQ+ rights is simmering.   
      
   Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures   
   around the country this year. At least 18 states have enacted laws   
   restricting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors.   
      
   The hostile environment has prompted some groups to hire security   
   consultants to advise them on activities planned for Pride Month, which   
   begins on Thursday.   
      
   “We are forced to think differently about how we handle security at our   
   events and whether or not we can post our staff’s names and emails on   
   our website,” said Janson Wu, executive director of GLBTQ Legal   
   Advocates & Defenders, a nonprofit legal rights organization based in   
   Boston.   
      
   Debra Porta, executive director of Pride Northwest, in Portland, Oregon,   
   said there have been discussions about a possible boycott, a   
   letter-writing campaign and other actions directed at Target, but plans   
   for an organized protest haven't yet materialized.   
      
   “Because the news is fairly new, more actions may be announced,   
   especially as Pride Month gets here,” said Porta.   
      
   Target isn't the only company grappling with public criticism.   
      
   Bud Light is still dealing with fallout from its partnership with   
   transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who in April posted a picture on   
   Instagram of a beer can with her face on it. In response to the   
   hate-filled and transphobic backlash that followed, the company said it   
   “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people," but   
   didn't directly address the rhetoric or signal clear support for   
   Mulvaney. Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, is tripling its   
   U.S. marketing spending this summer as it tries to restore lost sales.   
      
   In early May, several gay bars in Chicago stopped selling Anheuser-Busch   
   products to protest the company’s response.   
      
   Chicago's 2Bears Tavern said the company's response “shows how little   
   Anheuser-Busch cares about the LGBTQIA+ community, and in particular   
   transgender people, who have been under unrelenting attack in this   
   country.”   
      
   “Since Anheuser-Busch does not support us, we will not support it,” said   
   the company.   
      
   Sidetrack, the largest gay bar in the Midwest, did the same, saying   
   Anheuser-Busch “wrongfully validates the position that it is acceptable   
   to acquiesce to the demands of those who do not support the trans   
   community and wish to erase LGBTQ+ visibility.”   
      
   In Florida, Disney has been engaged in a legal battle with Gov. Ron   
   DeSantis since the company expressed its opposition to the state’s   
   classroom limits on discussing gender identity and sexual orientation.   
      
   And the Los Angeles Dodgers announced last week that a satirical LGBTQ+   
   group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will again be welcome   
   at the team’s annual Pride Night — nearly a week after the team   
   rescinded its original invitation, citing backlash from conservative   
   Roman Catholics and politicians who accused the group of mocking the   
   Christian faith.   
      
   “Now’s not the time to back down,” said Brian K. Bond, executive   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)