List of Businesses That Supported Proposition 8

No doubt the Christianists and anti-gay Mormons will cry foul - only they have the right to discriminate after all in their view - but HRC has assembled a list of companies and businesses that supported proposition 8. As I have said many times before, the members of the LGBT community need to be much more militant about not spending any of our money with anti-gay businesses or business controlled by anti-gay individuals. The list is alphabetical and includes dentists, nurseries, landscaping companies and other service providers. The list (which can be found here) was compiled from data provided by the California Secretary of State’s Office and contains donations to major “Yes on Proposition 8” groups that derive from corporate bank accounts. This list does not include CEO’s or senior executives of organizations that may have contributed, but did not do so from an identifiable corporate account.

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Additional information on Yes on 8 donors can be found at the Californians Against Hate site here and from the California Secretary of State's office here and here and here. If you find someone on the list whose services you or your business has been been using and you decide to change providers, make sure to tell the prior provider w

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hy you are taking your business elsewhere. Only by making it clear that their bigotry is costing them financially will many of these folks refrain from future anti-gay contributions.

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Our activities are being noticed as one Time magazine story reports. Here are some highlights:

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In addition to protests, gay activists have begun publishing lists online exposing individuals and organizations who have donated money in support of Proposition 8. On AntiGayBlacklist.com, individuals who gave money toward Proposition 8 are publicized, with readers urged not to patronize their businesses or services. The list of donors was culled from data on ElectionTrack.com, which follows all contributions of over $1,000 and all contributions of over $100 given before October 17.

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Dentists, accountants, veterinarians and the like who gave a few thousand dollars to the cause are listed alongside major donors like the Container Supply Co., Inc. of Garden Grove, Calif., which gave $250,000. "Anyone who steps into a political fight aimed at taking away fundamental rights from fellow citizens opens themselves up to criticism," said Wolfson. "The First Amendment gives them the right of freedom of speech and to support political views, but people also have the right to criticize them."

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The negative publicity is having effects on both companies and individuals. Scott Eckern, artistic director of the California Musical Theatre in Sacramento, whose $1,000 donation was listed on ElectionTrack, chose to resign from his post this week to protect the theater from public criticism. Karger says a "soft boycott" they started against Bolthouse Farms, which gave $100,000 to Proposition 8, was dropped after he reached a settlement with the company. Bolthouse Farms was to give an equal amount of money to gay political causes. The amount ultimately equaled $110,000.