So one of the regular blogs that I read is JoeMyGod, which is a really good source for pretty much all things GLBT and equality related. This morning, Joe posted an excerpt from an opinion piece in The Atlantic by Jonathan Merritt, where Mr. Merritt discussed how we really should become level-headed in our arguments, and basically stop with the culture wars by stopping the threats of boycotts or such. The quote that got to me was this one:
As Josh Ozersky argued on TIME Thursday, ‘businesses should be judged by their products and their practices, not by their politics.’ I agree: I don’t care how my dry cleaner votes. I just want to know if he/she can press my Oxfords without burning my sleeves.
You know what, Mr. Merritt? I do care. Why on Earth would I give my money to a corporation that is just going to turn around and – especially now thanks to Citizens United – fund that money into attacks against what I believe in? It’s like giving a drug addict a syringe of morphine and then telling them, “Please don’t inject that on yourself”. In short, it’s bollocks.
I may not know what my dry cleaner’s voting record is, but if I read good things about them (in reputation, as well as doing good for the community), then I’ll pay them for services. But if they are like the Chick fil A company? I’ll take my money elsewhere.