The "Christian Values Network" (CVN) is under fire. In the last week, Microsoft, Macy's, Wells Fargo, Delta, and BBC America have stopped using the charitable donation service. Why? Because CVN funnels money to extreme anti-gay groups.
Here’s how CVN works: A customer makes a purchase and then uses CVN to direct a company to donate to a "charity."
Some of the charities are legitimate, but others are just anti-gay front organizations -- like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council (an organization formally classified as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Centre, widely recognized for monitoring extremist activity).
Still, Apple continues to use CVN. That means that when people make purchases from Apple or the iTunes Store through CVN, they can tell Apple to give money to hate groups -- and Apple does.
That’s why student (and Mac user) Ben Crowther started a petition on Change.org asking Apple to stop funding anti-gay hate groups through CVN. Click here to sign Ben’s petition today.
Beyond spreading misinformation about LGBT people, Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council have actively lobbied Congress to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," reject the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and repeal the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act -- also known as the Matthew Shepard Act.
Microsoft ended its affiliation with CVN and its anti-gay allies after a member of Change.org petitioned the software company. Another recent successful campaign started on Change.org’s platform got TOMS Shoes to explain its ties with Focus on the Family and denounce their anti-gay agenda.
If people like you speak out, we can convince Apple to end its relationship with CVN. Apple has supported LGBT rights in the past, most prominently donating $100,000 to the campaign to defeat Prop 8. And, when more than 158,000 people signed a Change.org petition asking Apple to stop offering a "gay cure" iPhone app earlier this year, Apple removed the app from the iTunes store.
Please show Apple that supporting anti-gay organizations is bad for business -- and hold Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council accountable -- by signing Ben Crowther’s petition today:
http://www.change.org/petitions/apple-stop-raising-money-for-anti-gay-hate-groups
Thanks for taking action,
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