The mounting pressure on Apple to remove their online store from the Christian Values Network has paid off. Change.org has announced that Apple recently joined Microsoft, Macy’s, Wells Fargo, Delta, REI, and BBC America in pulling it’s support to CVN’s donation service. CVN is used as a fundraising tool by several anti-gay, anti-women organizations like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.
It seems a petition started by a Seattle, WA resident was the catalyst. Petition author, Ben Crowther was bullied throughout high school for being openly gay, “The harassment got so bad I had to go the principal,” Crowther told Change.org. A regular target of anti-gay vandalism, Crowther who is in college, says “I no longer live in the dorms because the bullying was so bad.” Being gay isn’t the only reason Crowther started the petition, like most of us he’s a fan of Apple products and equality.
21,000 of us insisted Apple stop allowing CVN to use their brand to raise money for hate, and our voice was heard. This seems like a remarkably small number when you consider how many customers Apple has, but that was all it took; the tipping point to sway one of the most powerful companies in the world.
Apple sets an example for the other 700 companies still using CVN. Some of the big name companies that are still contributing to CVN are Disney, the Gap, Banana Republic, Expedia.com, T-Mobile, Sprint, Best Buy, Target, Sears, WalMart, Kmart, Barney’s New York, Linen’s N Things, Home Depot, Best Western, Kodak, Direct TV and Netflix.
by Revel & Riot Contributor Tammy Bannister