Tag Archives: boycotts

“Did you know that Starbucks was recently reported to be perceived as the most LGBT-friendly brand in the U.S.? JCPenney, Target, Apple and Amazon round out the top five. If you’ve been following the national marriage battle over the past 18 months this should come as no surprise. Starbucks has said that gay ‘marriage’ is one of its corporate values. …

“I’m glad to report to you that we are suspending the boycott of Home Depot. After monitoring the company for several months, AFA is satisfied the company has withdrawn its major financial contributions to gay activist groups and events. I truly believe this is a direct result of your willingness to become involved. In fact, more than 750,000 people signed …

Free Republic just linked this South Florida Sun-Sentinel poll.

[Disclaimer: Hugs not actually free.] Source.

Just in from Gay Cities / Queerty: In lieu of the national Stoli boycott by some in the LGBT community, GayCities has convinced SPI (Stoli’s parent company) to donate $5 for each person whom RSVP’s and attends The Most Original Stoli Guy Live in San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas and D.C. The participating charities include local chapters of Equality CA, …

“I know that one question that’s been raised is how do we approach the Olympics. I want to just make very clear right now I do not think it’s appropriate to boycott the Olympics. We’ve got a bunch of Americans out there who are training hard, who are doing everything they can to succeed. Nobody’s more offended than me by …

Two week ago I told NPR that I didn’t believe that the boycott of Russian vodka would actually end up causing much financial pain to any of the targeted companies, but that the media’s interest in the boycott would serve to push the plight of Russian LGBT people into headlines around the world.  And that result, I concluded, made the …

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis has penned a lengthy column in which he objects to any boycott of the Sochi Olympics.  An excerpt: Boycotting sends the wrong message and will only harm the hard-working athletes set to compete in the 2014 Olympics, not the Russian government itself. I know from personal experience. My first Olympics I won Silver at …

As I mentioned yesterday, a 200-member NYC restaurant and nightclub group has joined the boycott of Russian vodka.  Here’s more on their protest in Manhattan. Holding up a bottle of the popular Russian brand Stolichnaya, the United Restaurant and Tavern Owners Association President Paul Hurley shook his head and called for a city-wide boycott of Russian spirits and liquor. “All …

Yesterday Michelangelo Signorile interviewed Stoli CEO Val Mendeleev on his new Sirius XM show. Audio of the full interview is at the bottom of this post. In response to the boycott, Mendeleev said the company is in the beginning phase of seeking a group to which it could donate money to help fight the anti-gay government repression in Russia, and …

From the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti: As boycotts of Russian vodka spread across the globe in protest over new Russian laws on homosexuality, US gay rights activists warn the campaign could be the first stage in a broader drive targeting Russia’s economy and image with the Sochi Winter Olympics six months away. “I don’t think the Russian vodka …

If you can’t listen live, I’ll try to get an audio clip later.

“Stoli has donated to a number of gay and lesbian organizations, including some like GLAAD and HRC, on the left of the political spectrum. Let us stand up to those who would bully a corporation merely because of the Russian origin of its product. On my way home from the Meatless Mondays Steak Dinner last night, I stopped by my …

“Thank you for your email. We can assure you that at Trader Joe’s, we do not take stands on local, national, or global political or human rights issues. We leave that stuff up to the governments involved, and we rely heavily on the trade regulations established by the United States government. We bring in many products from around the world …

As my pal Scott notes above, Skyy Vodka is sponsoring the Twitter hashtag #DumpRussianVodka. Skyy was founded in the US twenty years ago, but is now owned by Italy’s Gruppo Campari and is sold here through Campari America.

From the Facebook page of the NYC Eagle: Beginning immediately, the Eagle NYC will discontinue the sale of STOLI and any alcoholic product produced in Russia in protest of Russia’s anti-gay bill banning the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations”. This archaic bill effectively strips every LGBTQ member in Russia of basic human rights and puts gays in danger of being …

“What’s sad about this effort is that if Russia succeeds in getting its hands back on Stoli, then a boycott actually makes sense. But the consequence will be that a powerful businessman who does support the gay community will lose his company. Boycotting Stoli now is a very bad idea. [Stoli owner Yuri] Scheffler is an ally who the gay …

Comments are open there.

Pink News reports: G-A-Y group has become the latest to vow to boycott Russian vodkas in solidarity with LGBT people living in Russia, where gay “propaganda”, and the adoption of children by foreign gay couples were recently made illegal. G-A-Y which owns the brand, its bars, and Heaven nightclub, will not be serving Russian vodka from now on, confirmed its …