After failing to secure an equal
donation for pro-gay candidates from Target, the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC) is expected to make the donation itself.
In an interview with the AP, HRC
president Joe Solmonese said he would announce the donation Saturday
night at the group's annual Twin Cities dinner in Minneapolis.
The donation is a response to
Minnesota-based Target donating $150,000 to the group MN Forward, an
independent political fund supporting Tom Emmer, the anti-gay
Republican nominee for Minnesota governor.
The retail giant apologized for the
donation but rejected a request by HRC, the nation's largest gay
rights advocate, to give an equal amount of money to a pro-gay
candidate. HRC
has already said it would drop Target and electronics retailer Best
Buy, which also contributed to MN Forward, from its annual Buying for
Equality Guide.
Solmonese said the group may spend more
in Minnesota, a state teetering on the edge of legalizing gay
marriage.
“We've understood long before the
Target situation that Minnesota was poised, as is New York, to be the
next state to win marriage equality,” Solmonese told the AP.
The group will divide the money between
WIN Minnesota, a progressive political fund backing Democrat Mark
Dayton, OutFront Minnesota, the state's largest gay rights advocate,
and individual candidates, with WIN Minnesota expected to receive the
lion's share.
Gay
rights activists and progressive group MoveOn.org began a campaign to
boycott Target after its donation came to light.