Daily bullshit is out -- NOM declares war on Starbucks for being a LGBTQ-friendly place... NOM, the National Organization for Marriage is of course an antigay association that has just decided to fight against the company. It is boycotting Starbucks because they believe the coffee chain took sides in a culture war by supporting same-sex marriage in Washington.
How they plan to do this? The organization launched a website called DumpStarbucks.com and said it intends to place advertisements throughout the U.S., the Middle East, and Southeast Asia that encourage people to stop patronizing Starbucks... all because the company is gay-friendly. And wow DumpStarbucks.com has 5800 pledges as of this morning... They are also asking people to call their local Starbucks and complain to the manager about the coffee purveyor’s gay marriage stance. Unbelievable... you can read more about this on advocate.com (link here)
There is one thing for sure: I love Starbucks and I think I love them more... and more... :) the space, the furniture, the smell and the beverage altogether attract me, love the place, love its management and love how they support the LGBTQ people. Go on like this!
I took this photo at a local Starbucks in Budapest during the winter. What I tried that time was a limited offer (toffee nut latte)
2 comments:
While I am no particular fan of Starbucks (I don’t like coffee, and I also do not like the way that our city centres are becoming more and more homogenized with generic-brand outlets), I know that they will stand up to this stupidity, if only because if they did not, it would mean that they would lose more money from boycotts by their sensible patrons.
It makes me afraid for the future that still we have people filled with such vitriolic inexplicable hatred.
I don’t know about the US, but the problem is, I am ashamed to say, getting worse in Hungary (and elsewhere in Eastern Europe). The (very) right-wing government in Hungary won a 2/3 majority in the last parliamentary elections and has used this power to change the constitution and pander to the wishes of the ultra right-wing in Hungary.
The views of the Hungarian ultra-right would be laughable to most people – until one realises that they are completely serious in their beliefs.
For example, see the right-wing blog http://www.hungarianambiance.com/2012/03/documentary-by-laszlo-pesty-about-gypsy.html which talks of “liberal hate-mongers, fake gypsy rights activists and those who have an interest in the destruction of the Hungarian nation, who are using gypsies as a biological weapon to complete the finial (sic) project of wiping the country off the map”. And this is not one isolated example. In the latest polls the ultra far-right Jobbik party is the second most popular behind the already far-right Fidesz party, and has it’s own military wing (the “Hungarian Guard”), which despite being officially banned, still has a large number of adherents.
To put it bluntly, there are a large number of people in Hungary who hate gypsies (Roma), hate gays and hate Jews, and want to rid their country of this perceived “scourge”. Does this remind you of anyone? And when they say rid, they really mean rid.
Perhaps you cannot believe that this could happen in the 21st century? Surely only an idiot would believe that it could? No. Sadly it is going on right now.
I am only saying this because I love Hungary. It is a beautiful country with a wonderful history, and I know many wonderful people there. But is has a problem.
If you live in a country which is suffering a rise in right-wing sentiment, please do everything you can to speak out against it. Silence will not help.
As a side note - In the UK there will soon (hopefully) be a posthumous pardon for the mathematician Alan Turing, who was chemically castrated by the British Government in the 1950s for being gay and committed suicide soon afterwards, despite his invaluable contribution in the fight against fascism. It has taken the UK government 60 years to say sorry. It may be the hardest word, but once you have said it you feel a whole lot better.
Totally agree with you... :/
...my problem is exactly the same. A friend of mine said that now Hungary is the only country neighboring itself. She is right I think; antisemitism, racism, homophobia are all popular weapons of the right-wing parties -- and it is deeply disappointing how large audience they can reach.
Could it happen in the 21st century? Definitely, we can see it, feel it...
Lock up, isolate and shut up, this is not way how it should work and it is completely unacceptable today. We are part of federation systems meaning we have obligations as well.
Post a Comment