The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) is taking a little shine off of Target's and Best Buy's scores in light of political contributions that went to support an anti-gay candidate.
A few months ago, Target and Best Buy were in the midst of a firestorm in light of contributions they made to MN Forward, a business community-backed political action group that supported anti-gay Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer, who is running for governor.
The furorfrom employees, the buying public, LGBT-rights organizations and even shareholderscompelled Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel to apologize to his workers. However, Target only went so far. After meeting with HRC, the corporation refused to take corrective action by donating an equal amount of money to a pro-LGBT candidate.
In August, Advocate.com reported that HRC would drop both companies from its annual Buying for Equality Guide. ( The guide gets its ratings from the Corporate Equality Index, or CEI. ) The Minnesota Independent reported HRC pledged to donate $150,000 to political causes in Minnesota to offset Target's contributions.
HRC Deputy Press Secretary Paul Guequierre told Windy City Times that the companies "have not been removed from the CEI; they have been deducted 15 points [ from their previous 100, the most a company can score ] not for the political contributions [ to MN Forward ] but for the refusal to make things better after all the requests." He added that no other action ( e.g., protests ) is planned at this time.
Emmer easily captured the Republican primary election in August. He is running against the DemocraticFarmerLabor Party candidate Mark Dayton, an heir to the Dayton-Hudson department store fortune; almost 50 years ago, Dayton ( the initial incarnation ) opened its first Target, according to Advocate.com .