Anti-Marriage Dishonor Roll

I have often said that I believe that LGBT Americans need to do a much better job of targeting their huge collective purchasing power to shun companies and products directly or indirectly affiliated with anti-gay positions. For example, unless I'm in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no other option, I NEVER buy gas at Exxon-Mobil stations due to Exxon's refusal to grant employment non-discrimination protections to its employees (and worse yet elimination of those that Mobil Oil had had in place prior to its take over by Exxon).

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Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Californians Against Hate will be publishing a "Dishonor Roll" that list of individual and corporate donors who give $5,000 or more to groups campaigning on behalf of Proposition 8. The list will include the donor's name, employer and the corporate logo of that employer -- even if the company itself didn't donate to the Proposition 8 fight. Needless to say there will be many anti-gay bigots who shriek and whine about being identified since they prefer to quietly work to deprive LGBT citizens of equality under the law. My feeling is that if one is afraid to have the entire world know what you are doing to harm others, then perhaps you should not be doing it in the first place. Oh, and note how the anti-family Knights of Columbus which has done NOTHING to hold bishops and cardinals accountable for sexual abuse cover ups has donated $1 million to write bigotry into the California Constitution. Here are some story highlights:

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When William Bolthouse, a California philanthropist, donated $100,000 in March to support a proposition to ban gay marriage in California, calls and emails poured in -- not to Mr. Bolthouse, but to the corporate offices of a company that bears his name -- even though he sold it three years earlier.

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"Mr. Bolthouse has said, 'I'm not connected to Bolthouse Farms at all.' But we don't accept that," says Fred Karger, who runs Californians Against Hate, a new gay-rights group that is leading the charge to identify and publicize corporate connections to significant donors. He notes that Mr. Bolthouse's son-in-law is chairman of the company and that Bolthouse Farms markets itself as a fourth-generation company.

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Next week, Californians Against Hate is planning to push its tactic further by publishing a "Dishonor Roll," a list of individual and corporate donors who give $5,000 or more to groups campaigning on behalf of Proposition 8. The list will include the donor's name, employer and the corporate logo of that employer -- even if the company itself didn't donate to the Proposition 8 fight.

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Mr. Karger said the tactic isn't intended to keep individuals or companies from donating, but is meant to educate the public so consumers can make informed choices. He said including corporate logos of businesses whose employees donate is fair game, since that information is publicly available on government Web sites that track donors. "Our larger message is to other business people," Mr. Karger says. "It's a free country, you can give as much money to this campaign, but we are going to publicize that and people can make a decision on whether or not they want to support those businesses."

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Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for ProtectMarriage.com, the largest fund-raiser for the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, says she expects it will become more difficult to entice corporations to contribute to her cause. "The moment [Mr. Manchester] wrote the check, he found himself to be the target of numerous boycotts and protests," she said. "Our side has a significant challenge in that." Ms. Kerns noted that the greater chunk of her group's funding will likely come from individuals and religious groups, such as the national Catholic organization Knights of Columbus, which recently contributed $1 million to the campaign.