JC Penny Stands Up to Bigots and Homophobes
When news got out that JC Penny had hired talk show host Ellen Degeneres the bigots came out in full force. The American Family Association sent out its "One Million Moms" group to launch a protest against the clothing retailer calling on them to dump her as a sponsor and "be neutral in the culture war." 
Well, GLAAD decided not to take this sitting down. On Wednesday, they launched a counter-offensive, urging supporters to call JC Penny to encourage them to hold onto Ellen as a spokesperson. They even launched a Twitter campaign urging people to use the hashtag #StandUpForEllen. By Thursday, they'd reported more than 10,000 calls to JC Penny and as of Saturday, almost 30,000 signatures to an online petition at change.org.
JC Penny eventually came out with a statement affirming its decision to hire Ellen as its spokesperson. Apparently, they're nownot even taking calls from One Milliion Moms anymore.
But that's not where the story ends. As GLAAD notes, in 29 states -- including Texas, where JC Penny is headquartered -- it's still legal to fire someone for being gay or lesbian. In 34 states, it's ok to fire someone for being transgendered. There have been various efforts to introduce an federal anti-discrimination law for about forty years, but they've all been unsuccessful so far.
Well, GLAAD decided not to take this sitting down. On Wednesday, they launched a counter-offensive, urging supporters to call JC Penny to encourage them to hold onto Ellen as a spokesperson. They even launched a Twitter campaign urging people to use the hashtag #StandUpForEllen. By Thursday, they'd reported more than 10,000 calls to JC Penny and as of Saturday, almost 30,000 signatures to an online petition at change.org.
JC Penny eventually came out with a statement affirming its decision to hire Ellen as its spokesperson. Apparently, they're nownot even taking calls from One Milliion Moms anymore.
But that's not where the story ends. As GLAAD notes, in 29 states -- including Texas, where JC Penny is headquartered -- it's still legal to fire someone for being gay or lesbian. In 34 states, it's ok to fire someone for being transgendered. There have been various efforts to introduce an federal anti-discrimination law for about forty years, but they've all been unsuccessful so far.
BY ROB SALERNO -
xtra.ca
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