After
years
as
one
of
Starbucks’
frequent
customers,
Meghan
Kleppinger
says
she
is
calling
it
quits.
Kleppinger,
assistant
to
the
national
field
director
at
the
conservative
Concerned
Women
for
America,
vowed
in
an
Aug.
10
column
published
on
WorldNetDaily.com
that
she
would
boycott
the
coffee
chain.
Starbucks
supports
“the
homosexual
agenda,”
including
this
year’s
San
Diego
Pride,
Kleppinger
wrote.
Citing
an
e-mail
from
the
California
chapter
of
CWA
that
called
San
Diego’s
annual
Gay
Pride
event
“a
festival
with
sexually
oriented
venues,”
she
described
the
Pride
Parade
as
“pretty
disturbing.”
Kleppinger
said
she
was
most
alarmed
that
the
two-day
festival
included
activities
for
children,
since
it
was
discovered
that
at
least
two
registered
sex
offenders
volunteered
to
assist
San
Diego
Pride
with
this
year’s
festival.
“If
Starbucks
is
doing
this
knowingly,
it
is
blatant
irresponsibility,
and
if
they
are
doing
it
unknowingly,
it
is
irresponsible
of
them
not
to
have
done
their
homework.
…
All
I
could
think
was
‘Starbucks
hates
children,’”
she
wrote.
Kleppinger
could
not
be
reached
for
comment.
THREE
MEN
connected
to
San
Diego
Pride
were
discovered
to
be
sex
offenders,
according
to
a
statement
read
by
San
Diego
Pride
Co-Chair
Philip
Princetta
at
an
Aug.
15
meeting
at
the
San
Diego
LGBT
Community
Center.
All
were
convicted
of
committing
sexual
acts
with
minors,
and
resigned
from
the
organization
before
the
festivities
began.
One
of
the
three
was
a
part-time
employee
of
San
Diego
Pride,
one
was
a
paid
contract
laborer
and
the
third
was
a
volunteer,
according
to
Princetta.
Alan
Hilowitz,
Starbucks’
media
manager,
said
the
company
was
aware
that
the
sex
offenders
volunteered
for
the
Pride
Festival
and
subsequently
resigned
before
the
event
began.
The
company
paid
a
fee
to
provide
samples
of
several
products
during
the
festival
and
also
had
employees
who
walked
in
the
parade.
Hilowitz
could
not
say
if
Starbucks
would
support
San
Diego
Pride
again,
but
stressed
that
the
company
has
championed
diversity
since
its
inception.
“As
a
company
committed
to
embracing
diversity
and
inclusion,
we
welcome
differing
points
of
view
and
realize
that
people
express
their
opinions
in
many
ways,
including
the
Internet
and
in
articles,”
Hilowitz
said.
KLEPPINGER
ALSO
TAGGED
Starbucks
for
celebrity
quotes
printed
on
coffee
cups
as
a
part
of
the
chain’s
“The
Way
I
See
It”
campaign.
“Nearly
all
of
them
are
liberal
celebrities,”
Kleppinger
said.
The
campaign
features
quotes
from
several
gay
celebrities
including
singer–songwriter
Rufus
Wainwright,
musician
Stephin
Merritt
and
author
Armistead
Maupin.
“My
only
regret
about
being
gay
is
that
I
repressed
it
so
long,”
Maupin
says
in
his
quotation.
“I
surrendered
my
youth
to
the
people
I
feared
when
I
could
have
been
out
there
loving
someone.
Don’t
make
that
mistake
yourself.
Life’s
too
damn
short.”
Conservative
voices
from
talk
show
radio
host
Michael
Medved
and
columnist
Jonah
Goldberg
of
the
National
Review
Online
are
also
featured
on
Starbucks
cups.
The
company
earned
a
score
of
86
out
of
100
on
the
Human
Rights
Campaign’s
Corporate
Equality
index
in
2004.
The
company
earned
points
for
same-sex
partner
benefits
and
a
non-discrimination
policy
that
includes
sexual
orientation,
but
was
chided
for
lacking
policies
protecting
transgendered
employees.
Starbucks
also
supports
a
variety
of
conservative
and
liberal
non-profits
through
in-kind
donations
and
employee
volunteerism,
Hilowitz
said.
The
chain
employs
approximately
90,000
workers
in
more
than
9,000
stores
around
the
world.
When
businesses
choose
to
support
gay
causes,
they’ve
often
considered
the
potential
reaction
from
their
customer
base,
said
Pam
Scholder
Ellen,
associate
professor
of
marketing
at
Georgia
State
University.
“Starbucks
knows
that
there
are
likely
to
be
detractors—people
who
do
not
believe
in
those
same
causes
or
want
the
company
to
invest
differently,”
she
said.
“They
know
that
customers
can
vote
with
their
feet
both
coming
and
going.”
