Dear Mr. Hudson:

This letter is in regard to your Nov. 17, 2006, article , “Wal-Mart faces anti-gay boycott“, published in Washington Blade, Southern Voice, SoVo.com, and Houston Voice.

ITEM ONE

You wrote:

“Working with conservative groups Americans for Truth and the American Family Association, Benham is planning a nationwide boycott and demonstration against Wal-Mart during the Thanksgiving weekend shopping free-for-all.”

There are two problems with that sentence.

First, according to the Americans for Truth post: “AFA is calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart on the Friday following Thanksgiving, which is typically the biggest shopping day of the year.”

Americans for Truth has not formally called for a boycott of Wal-Mart. Americans for Truth simply reported that American Family Association had called for a one-day boycott.

Second, Flip Benham has not engaged in any conversation with anyone from Americans for Truth on any subject . In fact, I cannot recall having ever met or spoken with Flip Benham, so I was surprised to read that Benham is “working with…Americans for Truth.”

ITEM TWO

You wrote:

“By working with the NGLCC [National Lesbian & Gay Chamber of Commerce] and other gay groups, Wal-Mart is giving a ‘show of support to help homosexuals legalize same sex marriage,’ according to the Americans for Truth website.”

The Americans for Truth post clearly cites American Family Association as the author of that sentence — and you should have, too.

ITEM THREE

You wrote:

“The site claims that Wal-Mart is forwarding 5 percent of the value of online sales from walmart.com to the Washington D.C. Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender People.

“David Tovar, director of communications for Wal-Mart, disputed that claim. He noted that the gay center receives only a percentage of sales from people who click on walmart.com from a link on the gay center’s website — not all online sales.”

There are two problems with that statement.

First, the Americans for Truth website post clearly notes that the percentage is only on sales via the DC Center’s website:

Title of AFT post: “Wal-Mart Contributes 5% Of Online Sales Via D.C. Homosexual Community Center Website”

Text from AFA: “The cash donation will come from all online purchases made at Wal-Mart through the homosexual group’s web site.”

Americans for Truth did not state/did not imply that DC Center was getting a percentage of ALL online sales.

Second, although Mr. Tovar of Wal-Mart seems to dispute the 5% figure (of online sales deriving from the Center’s website), the DC Center’s own website, which is linked in the Americans for Truth post, confirms that number:

“The percentage of each sale donated to the Center is indicated next to each store… Wal-Mart [5%]”

We would appreciate a public correction on these points. And next time, please call to verify the facts first.

Sincerely,
Peter LaBarbera
President, Americans for Truth

(For the background on this update, click HERE.)

Excerpted from Wal-Mart Drops Gay Sex How-To Manual for Teens after LifeSiteNews.com Expose, by John-Henry Westen, published Nov 15, 2006 by LifeSiteNews:

…A Wal-Mart advertisement for the book was listed on the Wal-Mart website, but the web page which listed the information now says: “Product Not Found!”

LifeSiteNews.com contacted Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg for comment on the book’s removal, but no comment has yet been received.

Continue reading at LifeSite News…

According to an article published in the San Francisco Times on June 23, 2006, Wal-mart gave a $60,000 donation to Out & Equal, a pro-homosexual employee advocacy group.

Wal-Mart is a $60,000 plenary sponsor of September’s [2006] Out & Equal summit in Chicago. The company signed on to support the workplace advocacy group just two years after Ken Pearson, a Wal-Mart executive [and chairman of PRIDE, a group for Wal-Mart’s homosexual employees], attended his first summit and reported his findings to Bentonville.

Those close to the company and this sponsorship say it is not just a façade and reflects a growing commitment by Wal-Mart to ‘do the right thing.’

“I think the company, with it’s mission and focus on diversity, really wanted to make an impact, knowing that the support would be well-received within the LGBT community,” Pearson said. Wal-Mart “has been making great strides in moving the needle in LGBT workplace equality.”

Out & Equal executive director Selisse Berry sold Wal-Mart executives on Out & Equal in two days of meetings on LGBT issues in Bentonville last December.

“What struck me about that was that the culture at Wal-Mart is changing,” Berry said. “They were eager to learn and kind of catch up.”

Click HERE to view Wal-Mart endorsement ad for Out and Equal homosexual rights conference.

From the Out & Equal website:

Out & Equal™ Workplace Advocates is the pre-eminent national organization devoted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the workplace.

Our mission is to educate and empower organizations, human resource professionals, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and individual employees through programs and services that result in equal policies, opportunities, practices and benefits in the workplace regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, expressions or characteristics.

Click HERE to hear what Amy Andre of Out & Equal presented at the 2006 National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference last weekend.

TAKE ACTION – Tell Wal-Mart to take this product off their shelves and off their website.

From Wal-Mart Hits Teens with Gay Porn How-To Manual, by Gudrun Schultz, published Nov 15, 2006, by LifeSite News:

A graphic sex-ed manual promoting lesbianism to teenage girls is now offered for sale by Wal-Mart in the United States. Called “irresponsible and obscene” and by the Institute for Canadian Values, the material contains explicit directions for engaging in oral/anal sexual acts. The book encourages same-sex experimentation, telling girls that only 10 percent of the population is actually heterosexual, while 80 percent is “mixed” or bi-sexual.

Produced by St. Stephens’ Community House in Toronto, the book titled “The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality” caused a storm of controversy earlier this fall when parents and pro-family groups first became aware of the books’ content after it was published in September.

The manual was further condemned for using obscene and derogatory language. Examples include a section entitled “My First Time F***ing a Girl” and the statement “If you need someone to represent God The Holiness, then for me, it’s a fat black dyke.”

The manual contains misleading and dangerous information on “safe” sex devises, assuring teenagers that condom use is 100 percent effective in preventing the transmission of disease. That statement contradicts the World Health Organization’s recent admission that condom use fails to protect against HIV/AIDS transmission up to 20 percent of the time, crucial information missing from the manual.

Another section on “safe” lesbian sex acts, entitled “How to use a dental dam,” encourages girls to engage in such dangerous behaviour as sewing latex squares used in dentistry into the crotch of their underwear “for added fun.”

Wal-Mart says the book, sold for $8.50, is “a great mix of real-life examples and life-saving info.”

Continue reading at LifeSite News…

A hat tip to our friends at American Family Association:

In a show of support to help homosexuals legalize same-sex “marriage,” Wal-Mart has agreed to automatically donate 5% of online sales directly to the Washington DC Community Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People. The cash donation will come from all online purchases made at Wal-Mart through the homosexual group’s web site. This move follows Wal-Mart’s joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and agreeing to give generous financial help to that group.

AFA says that Wal-Mart also gave a generous cash donation to the Northwest Arkansas GLBT Community Center.

AFA is calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart on the Friday following Thanksgiving, which is typically the biggest shopping day of the year.

Note from Americans for Truth – Wal-Mart is not the only company participating in this program. Other familiar retailers include:

• 1-800-Flowers (6%)
• Amazon (5%)
• Avon (8%)
• Barnes and Noble (5%)
• Disney Store (5%)
• FTD (6%)
• Gap (5%)
• Hallmark (12%)
• Office Max (4%)
• REI (5%)
• Staples (3%)
• Toys R Us (via Amazon, 5%)
• Verizon Online DSL ($40)

For a complete list of companies donating money from purchases to promote homosexuality, click HERE.

Apparently Wal-Mart failed to take note of the decline in Ford sales and stock value after they determined to openly support homosexual activism.

Excerpted from Commentary & News Briefs, published Nov 3, 2006, by American Family Association:

Wal-Mart is projecting no improvement in sales this month, meaning it will mark the retail company’s worst sales performance in ten years. According to the Bloomberg News Service, Wal-Mart officials blame the poor showing in receipts on such things as disappointing clothing sales and disarray from store renovations. Wal-Mart has also been the target of recent protests from pro-family leaders over the company’s decision to partner with a homosexual chamber of commerce group. Wal-Mart recently joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and announced that it would give two large grants to the organization. According to American Family Association sources, the retail giant was rewarded with a position on the board of NGLCC. Wal-Mart has also announced its intention to give preference to homosexual-owned businesses in purchasing products. [Fred Jackson]

Continue reading at AFA…

You, too, can make a difference – and here’s how…

October 26, 2006

Mr. Lee Scott
CEO, Wal-Mart
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville, AK 72716

Dear Mr. Scott:

My husband and I have written to you before to tell you how very disappointed we are that you have led Wal-Mart into a pro-homosexual stance. Because we know what the medical consequences of homosexual activities are, we are worse than disappointed that you have chosen to tarnish the wonderful family friendly reputation of Wal-Mart in order to chase after the business of a small percentage of the American public.

The medical consequences are clear:

• The Centers for Disease Control reports (Statistics and Surveillance, Table 11, end of 2004) that 87% of all full-blown AIDS cases are the result of homosexual practices and/or drug use while only 11% have occurred through heterosexual contact.

• HIV statistics cannot be trusted because as of 2004, only 33 states reported HIV data. Among the 17 states which did not report HIV data are California which has more same-sex couples than any other state in the country (Houston Chronicle, 7.10.06, “Gay-Rights Fight Turns to San Francisco Appeal).

• Dr. Ruth Jacobs, MD stated in an article in The Washington Times (5.8.05):

“Homosexuals account for less than 3 percent of the population. Yet in 2003 men having sex with men accounted for more than 63 percent of newly reported HIV cases in males. Gay and bisexual men account for 10 percent of all new hepatitis A infections and 15-20 percent of all new hepatitis B infections in the United States…”

• Dr. Ronald Stall, Ph.D., research chief for of HIV/AIDS prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, has said:

‘Substance abuse is pervasive among gay men and is so intricately intertwined with epidemics of depression, partner abuse and childhood sexual abuse that adequately addressing one issue requires attention to the others as well. … We have at least four epidemics going on among gay men that are associated with each other and making each other worse.’ (Internal Medicine News March 1, 2004 Volume 38:5 ‘Drug Use Pervasive Among Gay Men.’)”

• When 1,177 HIV-positive men were interviewed about the number of sex partners in a year, these homosexuals admitted they had had from 1 to 500 partners (“The Dangerous Nature of Homosexuality,” J. Michael Sharman, 8.7.06).

You have left us no choice but to boycott Wal-Mart and to tell our friends and acquaintances to do the same. I would encourage you not to ignore those of us families who believe strongly in traditional family values. We have big Internet networks, and the word is spreading all across our country that Wal-Mart has redone its image and is courting business from the homosexual lobby.

You may think that Wal-Mart’s sales have dropped off because of the pressure from labor unions, but what you really need to know is that there are thousands of us out here who have stopped shopping at Wal-Mart because of your pursuit of the homosexual agenda. Some of us may not have said anything but have quietly stopped shopping at Wal-Mart. Others of us are more verbal about our outrage.

In our minds Wal-Mart has lost its clean family image. We used to try to change people’s minds when they would say something derogatory about Wal-Mart. Now we agree with them and shop elsewhere.

Enclosed you will find copies of the receipts showing that our family has spent $835.41 (from 9.7.06 – 10.22.06) at other stores and gas stations. We used to make most of our purchases at Wal-Mart but not any more.

Sincerely,

Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Garner
Hewitt, TX

From our friends at American Family Association:

Wal-Mart has given its full endorsement to the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage. Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, will observe LGBT Diversity Week October 9–13. One of the sponsors for the Diversity Week is Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is joining the Pleasure Boutique (an adult bookstore which bills itself as “Idaho’s largest selection of adult movies and DVDs and largest adult toy selection in Idaho”) and other groups in sponsoring the week. Diversity Week is a week of celebrating homosexuality and promoting the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage.

Among the events being sponsored by Wal-Mart is Idaho Votes No Campaign Update and Information Workshop. Voters in Idaho will be voting on a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage in November. This Wal-Mart sponsored event will inform voters how to oppose the amendment and how to get others to do so. Wal-Mart is putting their money behind the effort to legalize homosexual marriage.

Other events being sponsored by Wal-Mart: Gay History of Idaho, Diversity in the Workplace, Women’s/Lesbian Issues, Hate Based Crimes, Heterosexism, Homosexuality and Disabilities, LGBT Youth in Trouble, MCC-Faith and LGBT, and a youth dance for those age 24 and under.

TAKE ACTION

1. E-mail Wal-Mart or call 1-800-WAL-MART.
2. Call or e-mail your local Wal-Mart manager with your concerns.
   
3. Print out and distribute AFA’s Pass Along Sheet.