Gold9472
12-06-2005, 11:07 AM
Christian group pulls Wells Fargo accounts
Focus on the Family objects to donation to gay rights group
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/06/MNG5TG3K661.DTL
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family has closed all its Wells Fargo accounts because the San Francisco bank contributed to a gay rights group that promised to use the funds to "fight ... the anti-gay industry."
A Focus on the Family official would not disclose how much money the organization kept with Wells Fargo, its primary bank, but said the nonprofit group's income was $146 million last year.
"We don't expect corporate America to do our bidding on the issues, but when they use the proceeds from our business and give them to others who clobber us over the head, we say enough is enough," said Tom Minnery, who oversees public policy for the organization.
Focus on the Family's move follows a recent spate of conservative boycotts and other actions against large companies that support gay and lesbian causes, including Walgreens drugstores and Kraft Foods Inc., both of which contributed to the Gay Games.
Conservative groups also have targeted Ford Motor Co. for advertising in gay media and Procter & Gamble for advertising during the television shows "Will & Grace" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." The best-known protest may have been the nine-year boycott led by the Southern Baptist Convention against Walt Disney Co. for hosting Gay Days, a week of gay-themed activities at Walt Disney World in Orlando. That boycott ended in June.
A Wells Fargo spokesman said the $50,000 donation to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation came from profits on accounts in the San Francisco area, not Colorado, where Focus on the Family has its headquarters.
"We absolutely made a $50,000 grant to GLAAD, and we're absolutely proud of our support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," said Chris Hammond, spokesman for the banking giant, which gives about $2 million a year to gay and lesbian organizations.
A leader of the American Family Association, the group advocating the Walgreens and Kraft boycotts, said those companies' donations supported "subsequent activities" that occur during the Gay Games, which draw thousands of participants and spectators.
"With this many people, we expect an increase in the bar scene, and we expect a lot of anonymous sexual encounters," said Randy Sharp, the association's director of special projects.
But the main point of the boycotts is to protest companies' support of gay culture, Sharp said.
"When you go out of the scope of normal business operations to donate large sums of money to organizations or events like Pride, that's out of the scope of a company like Kraft," Sharp said.
"It's almost an endorsement of the lifestyle," he added.
The American Family Association also called for the boycott of Ford, for advertising in gay publications. On Monday, Ford said it would no longer advertise its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications, according to the New York Times.
Ford spokesman Mike Moran told the Times the ads were eliminated as a cost-cutting measure, and he played down the role of the boycott in the company's decision.
But gay rights leaders said Ford's decision to stop the ads resulted from a "confidential agreement" the company made with the American Family Association, and they demanded a meeting this week with Ford, according to a statement issued Monday by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force that was signed by 18 other gay rights organizations.
Justin Nelson, who leads the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, said boycotts and other protests actually could help the bottom line of targeted companies because they attract the business of gay and lesbian consumers.
"The gay and lesbian population is extremely brand-loyal," Nelson said. "If companies stay with the community, not only will the community be with you before the uproar, but during and after."
The Wells Fargo controversy stems from a fundraising plea GLAAD made on the Internet five months ago that showed the Wells Fargo and GLAAD logos side by side above a large headline: "Double your impact in the fight against the anti-gay industry."
GLAAD asserted in the ad that it had "incredible news" that Wells Fargo would match any contribution to the organization dollar-for-dollar until July 2.
Wells Fargo did make a $50,000 contribution, Hammond said. But he said the claims in the ad were untrue. The grant was not a matching gift, and Wells Fargo never agreed to allow GLAAD use the donation in a fundraising campaign.
GLAAD officials did not respond to questions about those details Monday.
Focus on the Family officials raised the issue with Wells Fargo in July.
"We asked for as much as a letter to GLAAD demanding they take it down or a letter to us, and we got none of the above," Minnery said.
Hammond said he had had two telephone conversations with Focus on the Family officials explaining the bank's stance, but he does not remember their asking for a letter. Late last week, the conservative Christian group decided the bank had not satisfied its concerns and transferred its accounts to First National Bank of Omaha.
Wells Fargo has a long history of support for gay and lesbian causes and has never donated to Focus on the Family, but Minnery said that was not the primary concern.
"The point is they are allowing their logo to be used in a campaign against one of their customers, namely us," he said. "That is the problem."
Focus on the Family has not called for a boycott of Wells Fargo. But the bank, San Francisco-based Levi Strauss and the Bank of America faced a significant boycott 13 years ago when they stopped donating to the Boy Scouts of America because of its ban against gay members.
Wells Fargo now contributes to the Boy Scouts on a case-by-case basis, allowing local bank branches to decide, Hammond said.
Levi Strauss requires any charitable organization to which it donates money to sign an agreement that the organization won't discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation, among other attributes, said E.J. Bernacki, spokesman for the company. The company has donated money to a host of gay and lesbian organizations.
"We're a values-based company," Bernacki said. "Every decision we make reflects our values."
E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.
Focus on the Family objects to donation to gay rights group
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/06/MNG5TG3K661.DTL
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family has closed all its Wells Fargo accounts because the San Francisco bank contributed to a gay rights group that promised to use the funds to "fight ... the anti-gay industry."
A Focus on the Family official would not disclose how much money the organization kept with Wells Fargo, its primary bank, but said the nonprofit group's income was $146 million last year.
"We don't expect corporate America to do our bidding on the issues, but when they use the proceeds from our business and give them to others who clobber us over the head, we say enough is enough," said Tom Minnery, who oversees public policy for the organization.
Focus on the Family's move follows a recent spate of conservative boycotts and other actions against large companies that support gay and lesbian causes, including Walgreens drugstores and Kraft Foods Inc., both of which contributed to the Gay Games.
Conservative groups also have targeted Ford Motor Co. for advertising in gay media and Procter & Gamble for advertising during the television shows "Will & Grace" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." The best-known protest may have been the nine-year boycott led by the Southern Baptist Convention against Walt Disney Co. for hosting Gay Days, a week of gay-themed activities at Walt Disney World in Orlando. That boycott ended in June.
A Wells Fargo spokesman said the $50,000 donation to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation came from profits on accounts in the San Francisco area, not Colorado, where Focus on the Family has its headquarters.
"We absolutely made a $50,000 grant to GLAAD, and we're absolutely proud of our support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," said Chris Hammond, spokesman for the banking giant, which gives about $2 million a year to gay and lesbian organizations.
A leader of the American Family Association, the group advocating the Walgreens and Kraft boycotts, said those companies' donations supported "subsequent activities" that occur during the Gay Games, which draw thousands of participants and spectators.
"With this many people, we expect an increase in the bar scene, and we expect a lot of anonymous sexual encounters," said Randy Sharp, the association's director of special projects.
But the main point of the boycotts is to protest companies' support of gay culture, Sharp said.
"When you go out of the scope of normal business operations to donate large sums of money to organizations or events like Pride, that's out of the scope of a company like Kraft," Sharp said.
"It's almost an endorsement of the lifestyle," he added.
The American Family Association also called for the boycott of Ford, for advertising in gay publications. On Monday, Ford said it would no longer advertise its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications, according to the New York Times.
Ford spokesman Mike Moran told the Times the ads were eliminated as a cost-cutting measure, and he played down the role of the boycott in the company's decision.
But gay rights leaders said Ford's decision to stop the ads resulted from a "confidential agreement" the company made with the American Family Association, and they demanded a meeting this week with Ford, according to a statement issued Monday by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force that was signed by 18 other gay rights organizations.
Justin Nelson, who leads the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, said boycotts and other protests actually could help the bottom line of targeted companies because they attract the business of gay and lesbian consumers.
"The gay and lesbian population is extremely brand-loyal," Nelson said. "If companies stay with the community, not only will the community be with you before the uproar, but during and after."
The Wells Fargo controversy stems from a fundraising plea GLAAD made on the Internet five months ago that showed the Wells Fargo and GLAAD logos side by side above a large headline: "Double your impact in the fight against the anti-gay industry."
GLAAD asserted in the ad that it had "incredible news" that Wells Fargo would match any contribution to the organization dollar-for-dollar until July 2.
Wells Fargo did make a $50,000 contribution, Hammond said. But he said the claims in the ad were untrue. The grant was not a matching gift, and Wells Fargo never agreed to allow GLAAD use the donation in a fundraising campaign.
GLAAD officials did not respond to questions about those details Monday.
Focus on the Family officials raised the issue with Wells Fargo in July.
"We asked for as much as a letter to GLAAD demanding they take it down or a letter to us, and we got none of the above," Minnery said.
Hammond said he had had two telephone conversations with Focus on the Family officials explaining the bank's stance, but he does not remember their asking for a letter. Late last week, the conservative Christian group decided the bank had not satisfied its concerns and transferred its accounts to First National Bank of Omaha.
Wells Fargo has a long history of support for gay and lesbian causes and has never donated to Focus on the Family, but Minnery said that was not the primary concern.
"The point is they are allowing their logo to be used in a campaign against one of their customers, namely us," he said. "That is the problem."
Focus on the Family has not called for a boycott of Wells Fargo. But the bank, San Francisco-based Levi Strauss and the Bank of America faced a significant boycott 13 years ago when they stopped donating to the Boy Scouts of America because of its ban against gay members.
Wells Fargo now contributes to the Boy Scouts on a case-by-case basis, allowing local bank branches to decide, Hammond said.
Levi Strauss requires any charitable organization to which it donates money to sign an agreement that the organization won't discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation, among other attributes, said E.J. Bernacki, spokesman for the company. The company has donated money to a host of gay and lesbian organizations.
"We're a values-based company," Bernacki said. "Every decision we make reflects our values."
E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.