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| A gay Seattle couple started a Web site to encourage a nationwide boycott of
Virginia-based businesses because they were angry after the state’s General
Assembly passed the most-restrictive law on gay couples forming civil unions
or contracts. The Lynchburg, Va.-based catalog company J. Crew is the first business
that they are targeting. |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: BRYAN ANDERTON
COMMENTS
 
A gay Web site developer and his partner have launched VirginiaIsForHaters.org,
a site dedicated to urging a boycott of Virginia-based companies and their products
and services, in response to a recently passed anti-gay law in the state.
The site’s name pokes fun at the longtime Virginia travel slogan, “Virginia
is for lovers.”
Jay Porter and his partner David Smith, both residents of Seattle, were motivated
to create the Web site after the Virginia General Assembly passed a measure
in April that not only prohibits the state from recognizing civil unions but
also bans “any partnership contract or other arrangements that purport
to provide the benefits of marriage.”
The Human Rights Campaign called the measure, “one of the most discriminatory
and restrictive bills in the country.”
“I was furious, and we had posted a number of items on Nonfamous [another
blog site the couple operates] about this new law, and it just seemed like
something that was bigger than just a couple of posts,” Porter said.
“It just seemed like in the larger debate on same-sex marriage, that
this was really an outrageous response, but for whatever reason it just hadn’t
seemed to have gotten the attention that I thought it deserved.
“I thought it was a line being crossed that this state was taking away
these rights that were absolutely fundamental … how do you address when
a state takes away your right to enter into a private contract?”
The couple lives in Seattle and has no ties to Virginia. Porter said he was
just “infuriated” by the law the Virginia General Assembly passed
and felt that the site would be the most efficient way to reach a larger audience.
Porter boasts that the site, which took four hours to set up, has had 5,000
visits so far.
“I just think at a certain point we have to be honest with ourselves
about what these people have in mind for us,” Porter said. “This
law for me was a wake-up call for that.”
One of the first items on Porter’s agenda was a call to boycott J. Crew
Group, Inc. — the popular clothing retailer — whose customer service
and distribution centers are both located in Lynchburg, Va., home to gay rights
opponent Jerry Falwell.
“I certainly know that J. Crew has a number of gays and lesbians as
really good customers, but it also really incorporates Virginia into its brand
identity,” Porter said.
“It’s just as fair as the state of Virginia deciding to pick on
gays and lesbians who were in no way harming anyone else by creating these
private contracts. If Virginia is going to be that punitive with gay families,
then that was the bar that we were operating under. These boycotts have been
very effective.”
Heather Lynch, director of public relations for J. Crew, did not respond to
repeated Blade inquiries seeking comment.
According to Porter’s Web site, “We think that if the good people
of J. Crew (or their accountants) see a boycott as a business issue, it is
conceivable that they could drop their politically inconvenient affiliation
with the State that Loves to Hate.”
J. Crew is, so far, the only company listed on the site as a boycott target.
Joseph Price, the chair of Equality Virginia, said he salutes the new Web
site as a “proactive” response that will raise awareness of Virginia’s
new law. He said his group will soon implement an education campaign that will
target heterosexuals in Virginia.
“We’re going to be focusing on educating heterosexual Virginians
about what the legislature has done, because we don’t think that your
average Virginian would support denying anyone — gay or straight — the
right to enter into these contracts,” Price said.
Price confirmed that Equality Virginia plans to file a lawsuit challenging
the constitutionality of the new law before July 1.
“The fact that there are people talking about relocating out of Virginia
or not spending their tourism dollars here, demonstrates how horribly this
law is being perceived by everyone out there but the legislature,” Price
said.
Porter said he ultimately wants to send a message to the state of Virginia
that while legislators are free to enact “whatever laws they want to
make gays and lesbians feel unwelcome,” they should “understand
that those laws come with a price.”
“There are lots of people who just find things like this just distasteful
and disgusting,” Porter said.
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