RUPERTKBD Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 So if Kim Davis and the bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple wasn't enough to draw attention to the treatment of the LGBTQ community by certain segments of society, it seems like some very high profile corporations are stepping up the game. It's already happened in North Carolina where a discriminatory law was enacted a month ago. The Hulu series "Crushed" pulled up stakes and relocated to Vancouver. Bruce Springsteen also recently cancelled a scheduled concert in N.C. because of the law. In this case, it looks like the state of Georgia is backing down: Quote It wasn't the fear of The Walking Dead marauding on the streets that did it. It was the fear they'd leave. The popular AMC show, which is filmed in the Peach State, joined Disney and Marvel in vowing to leave if Georgia went through with a law allowing faith-based organizations to discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgender people. The threat worked. Though the Republican-dominated legislature passed the bill, the governor refused to sign it after hearing of Hollywood lining up against it. Dozens of states have their own versions of the law on the books – or are considering it. North Carolina's own attorney general calls House Bill 2 a "national embarrassment." Among other things, it would require transgender people to use the bathroom associated with the gender on their birth certificate. Meaning someone living as a woman, who may have even undergone gender re-assignment surgery, would legally be required to use the men's bathroom. The laws are often called Religious Freedom Restoration Acts. They're to protect those opposed, for instance, to same sex marriage from having to perform one. They are typically limited only to "faith-based" organizations. But no definition of faith-based exists, so a motel with a cross in the office or a restaurant run by a devout Christian family could legally refuse to serve a gay couple. But now there are consequences – and they're coming from some of the biggest names in corporate America. Apple, Amazon, Google, Target, Monsanto, Unilever, Intel and about 60 more. The Business Coalition for the Equality Act consists of companies that operate in all 50 states, have a combined $1.9 trillion in revenue and employ more than 4.2 million workers. And they're not afraid of making threats. Nor do they worry about a backlash, since they're doing it together. For the first time this year, the World Economic Forum held a session on the power of corporations to advocate against regressive LGBTQ laws. "Our corporate economies are bigger than the economies of some countries," Beth Brooke Marciniac of Ernst and Young told the Davos forum, "and I think we understand both the obligation and the importance of speaking out". The message to Georgia was simple, says Marciniac: "you pass that bill and we will leave your state." Only a month ago, North Carolina's governor was on hand when PayPal announced 400 jobs for Charlotte, part of a new global operations centre. But the law changed the company's plans -- and it's now building elsewhere. Hulu's new series Crushed also left North Carolina and will film in Vancouver instead. So why do it? What's in it for these global firms? "I think they're doing this because it's right, and corporations want to be on the right side of good," Laurence Bernstein says. The managing partner of Toronto's Protean Strategies has advised companies on how to market to and for the LGBTQ community. Then there's buying power. Gays and lesbians in Canada have collective incomes of $98 billion and a larger percentage of that is disposable income compared to other people. In the U.S., their collective disposable income is nearly ten times larger. But the United States also has powerful economic forces working against greater LGBTQ rights. When JC Penney made Ellen DeGeneres its spokesperson, the Million Mom organization rallied against the department store, arguing it was celebrating a lesbian and questioning the choices and morals of both the company and the talk show host. Bernstein points out companies also have their own employees to think about. "They have a diverse employee base and they have a diverse pool of talent they can recruit from and they don't want to be seen as being on the wrong side of right. It's going to affect their ability to recruit the right talent." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 7 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said: the Million Mom organization rallied against the department store They also rallied against Campbell's Soup for having a commercial with two guys feeding a baby... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 18 minutes ago, thejazz97 said: They also rallied against Campbell's Soup for having a commercial with two guys feeding a baby... You'll never be able to please everyone and there will always be bigots in the world, but props to these corporations for doing the right thing. Apparently, Bryan Adams has also cancelled a concert because of a similar Mississippi law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 The beautiful thing about this is the creativity of people. Reports are coming in about businesses refusing to serve or continue to work with known opponents of LGBT rights citing "Religious freedoms" and faith based issues in that Christianity/Judaism/Catholocism all state everyone is equal and to love their fellow man and as such supporters of these bills are going against their religious beliefs. Specific individuals are losing a lot of money and or freedoms because of it and the fact that so many jumped on that smart bit of writing amuses me. Haters gonna hate, but they say vote with your wallet and.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtor Rod Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 1 hour ago, RUPERTKBD said: So if Kim Davis and the bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple wasn't enough to draw attention to the treatment of the LGBTQ community be certain segments of society, it seems like some very high profile corporations are stepping up the game. It's already happened in North Carolina where a discriminatory law was enacted a month ago. The Hulu series "Crushed" pulled up stakes and relocated to Vancouver. Bruce Springsteen also recently cancelled a scheduled concert in N.C. because of the law. In this case, it looks like the state of Georgia is backing down: Not very Liberal of them, you know, accepting everyone for their point of view no matter what it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 4 minutes ago, Realtor Rod said: Not very Liberal of them, you know, accepting everyone for their point of view no matter what it is... Just because you accept that people hold certain views doesn't mean you have to let them be damaging to others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Imagine if there was a religion which forbids the payment of taxes to governments... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon45ca Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 LGBTQ? Where did the Q come from? How many more letters are going to be added? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon45ca Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 3 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said: Imagine if there was a religion which forbids the payment of taxes to governments... Then that religion would be hypocritical...tithing and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Just now, falcon45ca said: LGBTQ? Where did the Q come from? How many more letters are going to be added? Queer. And technically, you could put it up to lgbtqqip2saa but a lot of people have started using LGBT+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Just now, falcon45ca said: Then that religion would be hypocritical...tithing and all that. Are religions required to have tithes to qualify as one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon45ca Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 1 minute ago, CanadianLoonie said: Are religions required to have tithes to qualify as one? I'm not sure that it's a necessary condition, but to answer your question with a question...are there any religions that don't have a form of tithing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 2 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said: Are religions required to have tithes to qualify as one? For the IRS, I think yes- see John Oliver's segment on The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 8 minutes ago, falcon45ca said: I'm not sure that it's a necessary condition, but to answer your question with a question...are there any religions that don't have a form of tithing? Scientology? 7 minutes ago, thejazz97 said: For the IRS, I think yes- see John Oliver's segment on The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption I don't trust John Oliver's lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwags Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 22 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said: I don't trust John Oliver's lot... Why not? I trust him FAR more than I trust regular news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 52 minutes ago, Realtor Rod said: Not very Liberal of them, you know, accepting everyone for their point of view no matter what it is... I don't see it that way. I see it more as not wanting to be associated in any way with bigotry. Acceptance would be tantamount to saying that it's okay. Instead, they are demonstrating that they believe discrimination is wrong, no matter what the basis for it is and they are doing it in the best way possible: By hitting the bigots in the wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aladeen Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 24 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said: Scientology? Uh I think they are the worst for tithing and more like 100percenting, like they take everything from their members. I realize they don't pay taxes to the Government but to be a Scientologist costs a lot of money from the e-meters to the auditing sessions to the blackmail from the auditing sessions. I believe it costs about 5 grand just to get to the level of "clear" (from thetans) another 3 grand for "Operating Thetan" level. But don't worry if you don't have the cash for said auditing or processing, you can always quit your job and work directly for the church of Scientology, the pay may average about 40 bucks a week and the hours long and the work hard but your auditing won't cost you a thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 45 minutes ago, falcon45ca said: LGBTQ? Where did the Q come from? How many more letters are going to be added? Oh, they could add a lot more if they wanted to be more inclusive of the many different types of orientations that there are in this world. Those communities won't be offended if you stick with LGBT or whatever combination you like though if you're supportive of their rights. But good to see stupid laws and people touting religious rights to allow for hate getting major pushback. It's about time. Politicians have been feeding this shrinking minority and the sooner they realize that non-religious and moderate religious voters hold far more power than the bigoted and racist sections of society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 34 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said: Scientology? I don't trust John Oliver's lot... And which lot is that? The British? Comedians? Or just liberal-minded, logical thinking people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Just now, Qwags said: Why not? I trust him FAR more than I trust regular news. That is a very low bar to hit... 3 minutes ago, elvis15 said: And which lot is that? The British? Comedians? Or just liberal-minded, logical thinking people? If he was logical, he would be consistent and not be compromised by his liberal bias. For example, he is rightly critical of civil asset forfeitures, yet what are his views on taxation? He is for privacy and to a degree, digital encryption, but would he tow the same line on financial privacy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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