Christianist Group’s New Anti-Gay War

I've written several times about the movement of major corporations away from involvement with the Christian Values Network, recently renamed Charity Giveback Group ("CGBG"), once they learned that some of the "charities" receiving funding through the network were in fact anti-gay hate groups and their nearly as toxic "family values" allies. Examples of corporations severing ties are Microsoft, Apple, and Wells Fargo. Now, with the growing exodus of participants CGBG is acting as if someone defecated in their Cheerios and are threatening boycott petitioners and bloggers with lawsuits claiming the stories about the recipients of funds are "lies" and "untrue." While some anti-CVN allegations have contained errors, in general, the allegations are right on target. Apparently, CGBG cannot tolerate the world knowing the truth about some of the vicious "charities" that were benefiting under its network. Anti-gay bigotry is increasingly bad for the corporate bottom line and CGBG and its Christianist friends need to face that new reality. Michele Godberg has an informative article at The Daily Beast that looks at CGBG's tantrum and game of intimidation. Here are some highlights:

On Aug. 9, a man describing himself as an “adviser” to the Charity Giveback Group, or CGBG, a Christian fundraising operation that Mike Huckabee is involved with, left an oddly threatening message on the voicemail of a San Francisco blogger named Roy Steele.

The for-profit company, which had been known as the Christian Values Network until a March name change, operates a sort of online mall, donating a portion of each purchase to religious nonprofits. Among them are conservative organizations like Focus on the Family, The Family Research Council, Promise Keepers, and a number of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. In recent months, thanks to a remarkably successful online boycott campaign, major companies have rushed to disassociate themselves from CGBG.

“If you are seeking to be added to the coming litigation against Ben Crowther, Joe Mirabella, Change.org, and others who have continued to produce inaccuracies on the dialogue on this matter, we are more than happy to add your name to that list,” said the caller, mentioning two people who’d been involved in petitions against CGBG. He gave Steele 24 hours to demonstrate a “change of heart” by issuing a new, corrective press release. Steele responded by setting the audio to an animation of an angry drag queen and posting it on his blog.

[I]t’s easy to see why CGBG is alarmed. It’s not only that major firms like Microsoft, Apple, and Wells Fargo are pulling out at an astonishing rate, threatening the company’s future. CGBG is also coming face to face with something that has long terrified the Christian right: the possibility that the stigma once attached to homosexuality would be transferred to those who oppose it.

CGBG acts as an affiliate for associated retailers, taking a commission on every purchase made through its site. The commission is split between the company and a faith-based charity of the user’s choice. . . . . . many including those prominently featured on the company’s website, are decidedly political. Among them is The Family Research Council, which was classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center last year because of its continual flood of “demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center has a long history in the civil-rights movement, and the inclusion of the Family Research Council on a list that included the Ku Klux Klan and the Nation of Islam elicited fury on the right. . . . . But while the right dismisses the Southern Poverty Law Center as a part of the radical left, its designations still matter, especially to companies that see tolerance and diversity as important parts of their image. Thus the “hate group” label has proved a potent weapon against CGBG.

On Tuesday, CGBG put out a sternly worded press release. “Retailers are being manipulated by a bullying campaign fueled by false information,” said Trosper. “We urge them to review the facts and remain neutral on these issues by maintaining or reestablishing their relationships with all potential customers, regardless of the customers’ beliefs." . . . . But there’s plenty of evidence that, from a public-relations standpoint, antigay bigotry has become toxic.

One can only hope that the exodus of corporations from CGBG's site becomes a virtual tidal wave.