Posted February 24, 201114 yr A special edition of Lady Gaga’s new single, ‘Born This Way’ is to be exclusively sold at the retailer Target. The company has in the past donated considerable sums to organisations that support those who discriminate or even advocate death and violence to gays. Now Lady Gaga has forced the retail chain to “make amends” and donate to gay rights groups. Target, which has 1,743 stores across the United States, donated $150,000 of corporate funds to support a political action group, Minnesota Forward. This organisation supported Tom Emmer, who supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage in his failed attempt to run for governor of Minnesota. His campaign had earlier donated to a Christian punk rock ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International. Although the chief executive of Target, Gregg Steinhafel, apologised for the donation, the company has donated to other right wing candidates with anti-gay records. Target does pay benefits to same sex partners of employees. Now, following a meeting with Lady Gaga, the company has promised to stop the donations and give to LGBT groups. “That discussion was one of the most intense conversations I’ve ever had in a business meeting,” Lady Gaga said. “Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they’ve made in the past … our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they’ve made supporting those [antigay]groups.” The company has committed $500,000 to LGBT community projects, although that is a tiny fraction of the $156 million it donates every year to ‘community efforts’. “We, as a company, are considering and taking very — it is part of our hearts to care about this issue. It’s who we are. Around this, we’ve established this policy committee because we understand the importance of decisions like this one and we want to be more thoughtful. We said that we’re giving almost half a million dollars already in 2011 because we want to demonstrate our commitment to the LGBT community,” Dustee Tucker Jenkins, vice president of Target told Billboard magazine. ‘Born This Way’ was described by Sir Elton John as the ‘new gay anthem’. Source: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/21/targe...lady-gaga-deal/ I think things like this, shows that GaGa isn't just exploiting the gay community, but is genuinely trying to use her influence to promote gay rights. YOU GO GIRL. Edited March 13, 201114 yr by BORNsıɹɥɔWAY
February 24, 201114 yr I love that she basically told them DON'T BE FUCKING HOMOPHOBIC OR YOU CAN'T SELL MY ALBUM and they backed down because they want to stock what's going to be the biggest selling album of the year.
February 25, 201114 yr Another reason to love her!!! :wub: It is rare nowadays for celebrities to walk the walk, so good on her!!!!
February 25, 201114 yr Such moves just shut up the mouths of haters...an artist who is truly devoted to her fans and trying as much as possible to change things! How can you hate a person who has done so much not only for LGBT community but for so many other activities too? Inspiration...
March 9, 201114 yr Author GaGa has severed the contract with Target because she is still unhappy about their political donations. Born This Way" is Lady Gaga's minority and gay rights anthem, and as such, she's decided not to partner with a chain retailer known for its donations to anti-gay rights political candidates. Metro Weekly reports, citing sources close to the singer, that Lady Gaga has nixed her deal for a exclusive special edition of her upcoming album, with the company's continued political activity the main stumbling block. "She and Target didn't see eye to eye on Target's policy of political donations and how they affect the LGBT community," the source told the magazine's website. In July, it was revealed that Target's Political Action Committee had made donations to MN Forward, a PAC that supportered Minnesota State Rep. Tom Emmer's campaign for governor. Emmer is a hardline conservative who holds staunch anti-gay rights stances, and has been linked to a ministry that advocates killing gay people. Following the revelation, Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel apologized and promised Target would more closely oversee its donations, but in December it was discovered that the company's PAC had donated over $30,000 to anti-gay rights politicians, 3/4 of its political spending in 2010. That included donations to MN Reps. Erik Paulsen and John Kline, both of whom are vehemently anti-gay rights. When Gaga first struck the deal with the retailer in February, she noted the difficulty she had with Target's history, and said that it had become part of their negotiations. "That discussion was one of the most intense conversations I've ever had in a business meeting," the singer told Billboard.com. "Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they've made in the past...our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they've made supporting those groups." Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/08/l...t_n_833209.html
March 11, 201114 yr That's awesome! Because I love Target, now I can shop their without feeling guilty again! (because it's amazing).
March 12, 201114 yr Author That's awesome! Because I love Target, now I can shop their without feeling guilty again! (because it's amazing). How big is Target in America? I've never heard of it before I read the article.
March 13, 201114 yr How big is Target in America? I've never heard of it before I read the article. It's pretty huge here. It's probably Wal-Mart's biggest competitor it has over 1500 stores in the USA. (But it is just in the USA, and just now is expanding to Canada this year). Meanwhile Wal-Mart has 8,500+ stores in 15 countries. Target >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Wal-Mart.
