The Newest in a Long Line of Pointless Boycotts by the Hate Group
The American Family Association, an extremist anti-LGBT hate group, has a new villain in their quest to oppose the normalization of LGBT people in public media, this time targeting Hilton Hotels after the company ran an ad in Travel and Leisure Magazine featuring two men in bed together.
The AFA cited the wide availability of Travel and Leisure Magazine as the basis for their outrage. “Travel and Leisure isn’t a gay-specific magazine sent directly to homosexual’s [sic] homes,” they wrote in a statement accompanying the petition posted on their website. “It’s a widely distributed mainstream publication that can be found in many public places such as doctors’ or auto repair waiting rooms.”
They were not without a suggestion for how the ad might have better avoided their bigoted wrath. “If Hilton had advertised two men playing tennis, cards, or having lunch, that would have been reasonable,” they said. “However, Hilton chose to make a cultural and social statement by purposely marketing the promotion of homosexuality to a large segment of the population who finds the idea of two men sleeping together unnatural and offensive.”
The petition, which has over 47,000 signatures, is one of several boycotts the group has staged. Their recent boycott of retail giant Target gained almost 1.4 million “signatures” since April 20, after the company announced support for inclusive bathroom access in each of their 1792 retail locations. Target ignored AFA demands, and the policy directive remains in place.
The AFA has also led boycotts against a wide range of organizations, including PetSmart, McDonald’s, Hallmark, Ford Motors, American Girl Dolls, Archie Comics, and The Gap, among countless others.
In 2012 the group also considered boycotting Google, after the company’s announced their “Legalize Love” campaign. The AFA never followed through with the boycott, and in fact uses the search engine to power search results on their website.Â
Hilton responded to the AFA petition saying, “Hilton Worldwide is a global company of diverse cultures serving diverse guests … We are proud to depict and reflect our guest diversity in our advertising…”
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Images via AFA
Hat tip: Salon
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