03/21/2012

Washington– The Human Rights Campaign - the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization – is calling on consumers to support Starbucks in the face of a “Dump Starbucks” campaign launched by the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage (NOM). Starbucks is a vocal supporter for marriage equality, and emerged as one of the major companies supporting passage of Washington State’s historic marriage law.

“NOM is falling back on their typical tactics. Starbucks has been a vocal supporter of marriage equality for loving same-sex couples – views that are in-line with the majority of Americans – and that enrages NOM,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “As a result, NOM is throwing a temper-tantrum and encouraging its few supporters to intentionally harm the economic well-being of Starbucks employees all over the world.”

Starbucks is not alone in joining the growing tides of Americans and corporations who support marriage equality. Other corporations that joined Starbucks in supporting the push for marriage equality in Washington State included Alcoa, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and Vulcan.

“People like Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher no doubt use products from the dozens of consumer-facing brands that have come out in support of marriage equality and against Proposition 8 on a daily basis,” added Solmonese. “They include Microsoft, Apple, Google, Alcoa, Nike, and top executives from companies like Yahoo and Facebook. Nonetheless, it appears NOM launched their ‘Dump Starbucks’ campaign on Facebook. Do they not have any Microsoft software in their office? Do they ban employees from owning iPhones?”

NOM makes the misleading claim that the majority of Americans and “virtually every consumer” define marriage as between one man and one woman, when in fact polling consistently shows that majorities of Americans support marriage equality. A 2011 Gallup poll showed that 53 percent of Americans support marriage equality. Other recent polls from ABC News/Washington Post, the Associated Press, and CNN/Opinion Research all show support for marriage equality above 50 percent. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found 63 percent of Americans support legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples.

HRC has launched a petition calling on consumers to support Starbucks and take a stand against NOM’s anti-equality campaign.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.