Badpuppy Gay Today |
Monday, 27 April 1998 |
The Human Rights Campaign assailed the Nike Corporation Thursday for welcoming Reggie White back to the Green Bay Packers two weeks after White made a speech to the Wisconsin Assembly filled with racial, ethnic and anti-gay stereotypes. "Contrary to what Nike claims, White did not apologize 'to those who may have been offended,'" said Elizabeth Birch, HRC's executive director. "I, for one, heard no apology to the millions of gay and lesbian Americans, and our friends and families, who were gravely offended by White's remarks." Birch sent a letter Thursday to Philip H. Knight, Nike's chairman and chief executive officer, expressing dismay that the company put out such a statement about White. "It is especially distressing to hear a statement like this from Nike, which has a non-discrimination policy that covers sexual orientation and offers domestic partner benefits to its lesbian and gay employees. It is incomprehensible that your company could have such policies yet fail to see how hurtful and divisive Reggie White's remarks were to our community." In the speech delivered last month to the Wisconsin Assembly, White, an ordained minister, called homosexuality a sin and asserted that it was a chosen "alternative lifestyle." He equated gay people to "liars, cheaters, [those who are] malicious and back stabbers." In response, the Human Rights Campaign, the Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum and the Latino/a Gay and Lesbian Organization sent a letter to the Campbell Soup Co. asking that the company reconsider its continued use of White as a spokesman. "We sincerely hope you will reconsider using White as a representative for your products," leaders of the three groups wrote to Campbell President and CEO Dale F. Morrison. "Given that the Campbell Soup Co. has as a non-discrimination policy that covers sexual orientation, as well as race and ethnic origin, it would be inconsistent to employ as a company spokesman a man whose beliefs and public statements contradict that very policy." In addition, they asked NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to publicly censure White. "He appeared before the Wisconsin Legislature because of his public profile as a football hero," they wrote. "The NFL has an obligation to make sure that players, including White, do not abuse their positions as professional athletes to put forward political and personal opinions that contradict the tradition of fairness that is the hallmark of the NFL." HRC, through its web site, is urging its members and supporters to write to the heads of Campbell Soup Co. and other companies that use White as a spokesman, including Nike and S.C. Johnson Wax, to reconsider their arrangements with the football star. Human Rights Campaign: WWW: http://www.hrc.org |
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