The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is frosted that Starbucks was a prominent supporter of the marriage equality referendum in Washington state. NOM is so irritated, in fact, that it's going to take the fight to Starbucks in...
... the Middle East.
The Huffington Post reports:
The Colorado Independent reports that officials from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) have vowed to make Starbucks (along with other companies that support same-sex marriage) pay a “price” in Middle Eastern countries that are hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. The statements were made during a Nov. 8 conference call, scheduled as a discussion of the 2012 elections which saw sweeping marriage equality victories in Maine, Maryland and Minnesota, as well as Starbucks' home state of Washington.
NOM dim bulb Brian Brown is actually threatening Starbucks' business:
"So for example, in Qatar, in the Middle East, we’ve begun working to make sure that there’s some price to be paid for this," Brian Brown says in audio recording of the conference call, which can heard on the Independent's website. "These are not countries that look kindly on same-sex marriage. And this is where Starbucks wants to expand, as well as India. So we have done some of this; we’ve got to do a lot more."
NOM's efforts will, of course, be wildly ineffectual, like being mugged by a hamster. Why this just makes me want to go out and get a double latte at the Starbucks and ponder the pathetic lameness of NOM.
UPDATE: When I first wrote the diary, I had not considered that NOM's efforts may lead to violence against Starbucks and its employees in the Middle East, as discussed in the comments. It's one thing to run a useless boycott in the U.S. but quite another when it could directly lead to violence. That's obviously no laughing matter at all, and the NOM folks should seriously consider their tactics before doing anything stupid with potentially dangerous consequences.