The Christian conservative group
American Family Association (AFA) has launched a boycott against Old
Navy for offering Gay Pride t-shirts, RightWingWatch.com
first reported.
The retailer began selling 2 Gay Pride
t-shirts last week in 26 stores nationwide.
“We are proud to support the new
@OldNavy Gay Pride tees. Yay for all kinds of families!” the
retailer tweeted to its more than 44,000 followers last week.
One shirt exclaims “Love Proudly”
in rainbow colors, while a second offers a rainbow flag on a black
background. Both include the tagline, “Pride 2011 Old Navy.”
Commenters on Old Navy's Facebook page
said the shirts sold out quickly in many stores.
Ten percent of sales go to gay activist
Dan Savage's It
Gets Better Project, which urges troubled gay teens not to give
in to bullies, because life eventually gets better.
Four of the group's radio personalities
have urged Christians to boycott the clothing giant owned by the GAP.
“If you are not in promotion of the
gay lifestyle. If you are not in promotion of men loving men and
women loving women sexually, relationally, and promoting that as a
lifestyle in this country, and throwing your money. If you're not in
favor of throwing your money after promoting that idea across this
country, then why would you shop at Old Navy. Because you buy these
t-shirts they're giving a portion of those proceeds to this
organization that is promoting gay pride love in this country,”
Buster Wilson, managing director of AFA's American Family Radio, told
listeners on Wednesday.
“This is very irresponsible for
Christians to go to Old Navy,” he added. “When you support them,
you are supporting what God calls an abomination.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
AFA has previously called for boycotts
against other corporations over their support for gay rights,
including Ford Motor Company, Pepsi, Campbell Soup Company,
McDonald's and Hallmark.
Recently, home
improvement giant The Home Depot shrugged off an AFA boycott against
it.