By Jeffrey Page

When the details of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law were revealed, some people called for a boycott of the state. The counterargument was that this could cost people their jobs. Of course that might never happen but would I want it on my conscience if it did?

However the Arizona Atrocity is no minor irritant. When it comes to Arizona, we’re dealing with the enactment of the first American Apartheid statute, one that can get you arrested for passing a red light and then being scrutinized as someone who just might be in the country illegally. Or arrested for failing to have proof of legal residency on you at the time you pass that red light. As far as I know, there’s nothing in the law that requires certain other born-elsewhere Arizonans – John McCain, Jon Kyl, Jan Brewer – to carry proofs of their legal residency with them at all times.

So, boycott Arizona? Sure. Deal me in. But it should be known that this isn’t much of a sacrifice. I had no plans to go to Phoenix.

Then there’s Target.

Do I continue to shop at Target stores now that the CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, has contributed $150,000 in corporate funds to support the candidacy of a man named Tom Emmer, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in Minnesota and who stands for many things I find repellent? Or do I boycott Target? By the way, such corporate contributions are legal for the first time in about 65 years, courtesy of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case.

All right, who is Tom Emmer, and why should I care about what happens on Election Day in Minnesota? After all, it’s 1,200 miles from my house to Minneapolis.

This is the extent of Emmer’s thinking about marriage: “I believe marriage is the union between one man and one woman.” Twelve words to deny basic rights to a segment of the Minnesota population. At his campaign web site, Emmer makes no mention of where marriage is discussed in the Constitution and how it became a political issue. He doesn’t explain why anyone would care about his definition of marriage.

But never mind Emmer. Let’s concentrate on Gregg Steinhafel. Some of the gay employees in Target’s 1,700 stores became alarmed with his sending that check to aid one of those not-now-not-ever candidates and then trying to wriggle out of the public spotlight.

Target has 350,000 employees. What’s the American gay population? About 5 percent of the total? So let’s agree that Steinhafel has about 17,500 gay and lesbian people on his payroll. He heard their shouts and the best he could come up with was: “Target’s support of the [Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender] community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our company.”

Unwavering? When you remove the plain brown wrapper, the truth lies there like a rotting walleye, the Minnesota state fish. Steinhafel divides where division is not possible. You can’t lean back on prettily written corporate personnel policy – Target supports domestic partner benefits and some other programs important to gay people – while forking over $150K to someone who would withhold a basic human right to 17,500 of your employees.

So follow the money. I frequently buy socks, shirts and veggie burgers at Target. The money I spend there goes into the corporate treasury. The treasury is tapped to allow Steinhafal to donate money to Tom Emmer so Emmer can wage war on human rights for 5 percent of the population. Does that sound unwavering to you?

The result is that it’s some of my money going to help Emmer.

Spend my money at a Target store, such as the one in Middletown? No. There are other places to buy socks and veggie burgers.

Either I stand with the struggle for full rights for all people or I turn my back. There’s no compromise.

Jeffrey can be reached at jeffrey@zestoforange.com

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