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Compiled by GayToday
Courtesy of the ACLU
Peter Oiler was fired by Winn-Dixie Stores because the grocery chain thought Oiler's cross dressing would harm its image |
New Orleans, Louisiana -- Winn-Dixie Stores, the Southern grocery giant and major
Fortune 500 company that has been under attack for 14 months for firing a
truck driver who cross-dressed off-duty, is trying to shut down a web site
protesting the company's actions, the American Civil Liberties Union said
today.
"Winn-Dixie fired Peter Oiler because they thought he'd harm the company's
image -- but now they see it's their own discrimination that's harming
their image," said Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights
Project. |
For the second holiday season in a row, ShameOnWinnDixie.com provides
background on Oiler, as well as information on the ACLU's pending federal
lawsuit on his behalf. Oiler worked for nearly 20 years at Winn-Dixie's
Louisiana branch before being fired for occasionally cross-dressing away
from work. The web site, created and maintained by a coalition of activists
working with the ACLU, also includes contact information for Oiler's former
supervisors and executives involved in firing him.
In a letter to a transgendered woman in rural Alabama who helped design the
web site more than a year ago, Winn-Dixie's corporate attorney demanded that
the web site be removed from the Internet "immediately." Coles said
Winn-Dixie's demands are groundless.
Yesterday, Winn-Dixie's letter to the Alabama woman was posted at http://www.ShameOnWinnDixie.com/wdletter.pdf (PDF File),
along with a new Action Alert urging people to call and e-mail Winn-Dixie's
national President and CEO, Al Rowland, to express their opposition to
Oiler's firing and the company's attempts to stifle protests.
"ShameOnWinnDixie.com isn't going anywhere," said Courtney Sharp, a
transgendered activist in New Orleans who helped organize the web site and
the holiday-time mobilizations.
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"This attempt to bully us out of holding Winn-Dixie accountable won't work.
We're more energized than ever because our message is clearly getting through,
and Winn-Dixie is nervous."
Meanwhile, activists in Georgia and Florida announced that they are
continuing plans to protest outside Winn-Dixie national headquarters in
Jacksonville on January 4, marking the two-year anniversary of Oiler's firing
and honoring Terrianne Summers, the transgendered woman who led efforts for
anti-Winn-Dixie protests for the last two years and was murdered last week
in a possible hate crime.
"Two years after Peter Oiler lost his job - nearly costing him and his wife
their home - we will tell Winn-Dixie that its actions are appalling, and
that we haven't forgotten," said Jessica Archer, Executive Director of the
Florida Organization for Gender Equality.
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Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Fired Truck Driver Exposes Winn-Dixie's Image Insecurity
Action Alert: Winn Dixie--Talking Back to the Beef People
Transgender Equality--A Handbook for Activists Published
Related Sites:
Shame on Winn Dixie
Winn Dixie
American Civil Liberties Union
GayToday does not endorse related sites.
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Details and updates on the January 4 protest and other ongoing activity will continue
to be posted at www.ShameOnWinnDixie.com
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