Company now says it would print poster, and that Wisconsin store “misinterpreted” guidelines

Silencing Dissent: This is the Wisconsin Christian News flier that an Office Max in Marshfield, WI refused to print, presumably because it violates the corporation’s anti-“hate” policy. 

UPDATE Nov. 8:  An Office Depot (Office Max) corporate executive called Wisconsin Christian News publisher Rob Pue to profusely apologize for the Marshfield, WI Office Max store’s refusal to print the poster (at right) for WCN’s “Exposing the Homosexual Agenda” speech by Peter LaBarbera Nov. 16. However, Pue has received no formal written apology from Office Depot, and no assertions that anti-Christian discrimination of this sort will not occur again. 

People who contacted Office Depot’s corporate headquarters to complain about the Marshfield, WI incident received a variation of a letter stating the following from Office Depot:

“Office Depot is aware of this situation and it has been addressed. A representative of the company previously contacted the customer to explain that the decision to decline to print the order was made by an associate who misinterpreted our policy regarding the types of items that we will print.

“When reviewed at the corporate level, it was determined that the order did not violate the policy and our representative contacted the customer to apologize. We also offered to complete the order in question, or provide a future order at no cost.

“Store leadership has also re-trained the associates at that location to ensure that our customers have a positive experience in the future.”

AFTAH contacted the Marshfield Office Max Nov. 6 and was told by Print Supervisor Jeffry Costigan that he would now print the identical poster (above) that he and the store had previously rejected.

Said Pue, who is still considering legal action: “While I DID receive a phone call from a man at corporate headquarters, and while he DID apologize for the incident, he ALSO told me he would be emailing me immediately a formal apology, and statement indicating that Office Max/Depot will NOT discriminate against Christians (specifically) in the future.  To date, I have received nothing in writing.”

— PL

Best Contact Info for Office Depot (Office Max): we heard from someone who called Office Max’s (Office Depot’s) HQ and this is the best way to reach them: call 561-438-4800, then hit Option #2. From there, hit “0” and ask for the “Executive Consumer Relations Department” and you will be able to leave them a detailed voicemail message.–PL

TAKE ACTION: contact Office Depot (Office Max): National HQ [see “Update” above]: 1) online contact page; 2) 800-GO-DEPOT (800-463-3768); 3) Local Marshfield, WI Office Max store: 715-389-8820.

Note from AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera:

Folks, add this story to your “Intolerant Gay Activists” file. An Office Max in Marshfield, Wisconsin has refused to print a flier submitted by Wisconsin Christian News (WCN) advertising my upcoming speech on the “homosexual agenda” November 16.

WCN publisher Rob Pue Pue created a poster for the event with a (LGBTQ activist) “rainbow flag” covered by the words, “The Homosexual Agenda EXPOSED!” and submitted it Oct. 25 to his local Office Max, which had printed many fliers for him in the past, for various conservative cultural events. He also submitted a Veterans Day poster for printing.

Initially “Eric” from Office Max sent Pue an email saying that they could “definitely” print both posters and that they would be ready by 10:00 AM the next day. But that morning (Oct. 26), Pue instead received another email from Store Manager Jeff Schweiger informing him that while the store could print the veterans poster, “we are unable to print the first print” advertising LaBarbera’s speech.

When Pue inquired as to why the poster could not be printed, he received another email, this time from Print Supervisor Jeffry Costigan, which read:

Good morning Rob,

Unfortunately we will not be able to print the contents of the poster for Peter Labarbera.

The contents of the poster falls under the prohibited guidelines of our company’s Duplication procedures.

We will be able to print the second request for the Veterans poster.

Pue then requested the Office Max (owned by Office Depot) “prohibited guidelines” policy but instead of sending him the “prohibited guidelines” he had previously cited, Costigan simply replied:

Dear Mr. Pue,
I stand by the decision not to duplicate your material.
If you have anymore questions, I request that you contact OfficeMax at 1-800-GoDepot.

Again thank you for your understanding.

Jeffry A. Costigan
Print Supervisor| Office Depot, Inc.
1629 N. Central Ave, | Marshfield, WI. 54449
Tel: (715) 389-8820 | ods06637cpc@officedepot.com

Pue is now weighing possible legal action against Office Max (Office Depot), which has previously been in the news for refusing to print a pro-life flyer. In 2015, a Chicago-area Office Max refused “to make 500 copies of a flyer featuring a pro-life prayer—that calls for the conversion of Planned Parenthood—that was written by a Catholic priest,” CNS News reported.

The company relented but stood by its right to refuse print jobs based on its “hate” policy prohibiting “the copying of ‘hate material’ that advocates for the persecution of groups of people, regardless of the reason.”

Pue told AFTAH, “By refusing to do the job, Office Max proved my point, that there is a homosexual agenda. There is no ‘hate’ in that poster, and our speaker is not about ‘hate’ but Christian love and truth.”

Pue and LaBarbera appeared as guest Wednesday on the VCY America program “Crosstalk,” which reaches several states, to discuss the Office Max rejection of the Wisconsin Christian News poster.

Coach Dave Daubenmire.

“So, the policy that [Target] headquarters sent down was whatever you identify yourself as is the restroom that you are welcome in” — Gianna, Target staffer

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TAKE ACTION: Contact Target at 800-440-0680 or using their Online Contact Form; and sign the AFA “Boycott Target” petition if you plan to join the boycott. If you do, make a point of going into your local Target store or calling the manager to explain why you are no longer going to shop there. 

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Folks, here is a short video produced by Coach Dave Daubenmire of Pass the Salt Ministries confirming Target Corporation’s official policy allowing males to enter women’s restrooms in all Target stores nationwide. Target is one of the leading corporations pandering to the LGBTQ Lobby–see this AFTAH article on their endorsement of the radical LGBTQ “Equality Act.” American Family Association now has more than 1.1 millions signatures on its petition to Boycott Target over it’s pro-transgender bathroom policy. Kudos to Coach, and more coming on the Target story. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

P.S. A corresponding “Buy-cott” at Walmart stores–giving consumers a pro-family alternative to Target–is problematic because Walmart (90% ranking on homosexual group Human Rights Campaign’s corporate scorecard) has shifted to becoming an aggressive supporter of the LGBTQ agenda. See our AFTAH article HERE on Walmart’s sponsorship of the child-non-friendly 2015 New York City homosexual “pride” parade.

Here is Coach Dave’s description of the video:

Published on Apr 25, 2016
Coach Dave’s Video Challenging Target’s Bathroom Policy! Remember to visit http://www.coachdavelive.com for additional Videos, Articles, and Baptizing in the word! If you enjoy these videos, make sure to SUBSCRIBE & Share with your friends!

Are two lesbian moms better than one mom–especially one raising children with her husband and their father in the home? Apparently Starbucks and Oprah think so.

TAKE ACTION: E-mail Starbucks online HERE [or starbucksstore@starbucks.com] or call 877-421-9062.

For Mother’s Day Starbucks released the commercial below, voiced by Oprah Winfrey and hawking a new “Oprah Chai” tea. The ad celebrates all sorts of moms–including the “two moms are better than one mom”–shown with the affectionate lesbian “moms” at right and the “M’s” in “MOM” in what I suppose is an alphabetic homoerotic embrace (see :24 point in ad). [Watch ad on Starbucks YouTube page HERE.]

Messages like this no long shock a post-Christian America shaped in part by decadent corporations pandering to the highly organized LGBT lobby. Starbucks already has sold its corporate soul (is that an oxymoron?) to the homosexual agenda. Its executives made that clear in 2012 when they defiantly rebuffed a boycott threat by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and affirmed that support for homosexual “marriage” is a “core” Starbucks value.

The NOM “Dump Starbucks” boycott that followed seems anemic two years later (only 68,200 pledges)–but Starbucks [877-421-9062] remains a plump target for a more effectual and better organized boycott. Let’s face it: finding substitutes for overpriced yuppie coffee is pretty easy. We’ll see what happens, but one thing is certain: Starbucks execs are not backing down in their support of sexual sin and they surely aren’t acting like they fear the consumer power of mobilized religious conservatives.

As for the content of the ad, Oprah and Starbucks are dead wrong: Two lesbians “moms” are NOT better than one mom–especially one raising children with her husband and their father in a real marriage. And if higher numbers are better, wouldn’t three or four lesbian moms be best? We used to take it for granted that kids do better with a married mother and father, but now that’s a point of contention and marriage itself is being radically redefined. The reality is, this liberal social engineering is bad for kids: Kansas State professor Walter Schumm confirmed “[Paul] Cameron’s (2006) hypothesis that gay and lesbian parents would be more likely to have gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure (of sexual orientation) sons and daughters.”

As for single moms, our hearts go out to the many women who find themselves struggling to provide for their children with no dad in the house. But at least in most cases, single moms did not set out to deny their kids a father–just as single straight dads–unlike homosexual two-“dad” households–did not intentionally create motherless homes. And unlike those snuggling Starbucks lesbians in the ad below, single moms are not modeling deviant and immoral behavior condemned by God to their innocent children. –Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH