Alicia Colon: Gays Shop at Target
We don't spend a lot of time wondering what boggles Sun columnist/Staten Island superpatriot Alicia Colon's mind (offhand we're guessing logic, adding numbers without using her fingers, and the ability of a Thermos to keep liquids hot or cold), but yesterday an opportunity came up to watch one of the five boroughs' brightest minds in action. In the course of a column where she speculated that Wal-Mart's recent financial difficulties stemmed from customer disapproval of that corporation's membership in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Colon muses:
So what's happening at this point? According to the latest announcement from the AFA's chairman and founder, Donald Wildmon, the organization will no longer call for the boycott of Wal-Mart, because the retailer has promised not to contribute to controversial causes. Its official statement reads: "Wal-Mart will not make corporate contributions to support or oppose highly controversial issues unless they directly relate to our ability to serve our customers. Wal-Mart does not have a position on same sex marriage and we do not give preference to gay or lesbian suppliers. Wal-Mart does have a strong commitment to diversity among our associates and against discrimination everywhere." Whew, that's a relief for low-income families everywhere who haven't completed their Christmas shopping. What boggles the mind, however, is why Wal-Mart even decided to enter into an arrangement with an organization representing individuals that are very unlikely to shop there in large numbers.
Help us out: Is she saying that the gays don't shop at Wal-Mart? Is even the least fabulous 'mo unwilling to avail himself of the low, low prices on cheap goods made in poor countries for fear of ostracism from their community? Or is she just engaging in cheap stereotyping? It's a mystery. The mind, as they say, boggles.
