Last week an interesting item showed up on Queerty. It seemed that Gap, Inc., a longtime friend to the LGBT community, was hosting a fundraising breakfast for anti-gay Congressman Paul Ryan.
Ryan is best known for his proposed federal budget that would drastically cut Medicare and Social Security, possibly double interest rates on student loans, and allow the "1 Percent" to divide the country's wealth gap even further. Ryan also carries an anti-LGBT voting record, including a vote to enshrine anti-gay discrimination in the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting marriage equality.
While the fundraiser had been announced and the location was part of the invitation (Gap, Inc. Headquarters in San Francisco), we researched further and discovered a more interesting story.
When word first began getting around about the fundraiser, LGBT people started making calls to Gap, Inc. to complain about the company's seeming endorsement of the anti-gay candidate. Considering most of my own wardrobe comes from Gap subsidiary Banana Republic, it was also important to me.
On Friday afternoon I contacted Gap, Inc. and was sent to literally dozens of different voicemail boxes. I left messages for two different people in their media relations department and then looked back to the invitation from the event, posted on SFGate. A contact number for Paul Ryan's event planner was listed on the invite, so I thought I'd try them. I spoke to Kristin Hueter, who effusively spoke about the event as one of her firm's most successful. She told me that they were no longer going to be using Gap, Inc. Headquarters because the event sold out and had become far too large for that location. She assured me that it was no longer an issue, and it seemed that the story I was going to post had become a non-story.
An hour later, I received a call back from Edie Kissco from Gap, Inc. I'd left a lengthy message for her outlining what I hoped to speak with her about, and the moment I answered the phone she said, "Let me just start by saying that the Paul Ryan event will no longer be taking place at Gap, Inc." Edie went on to tell me that Gap, Inc. had contacted the organizer and asked them to find a new location.
Then another call from Gap, Inc. came in, this time from Stacy Rollo, also in media relations. I told her what Paul Ryan's event planner relayed to me, and she responded, "That is absolutely untrue. We did not know when the event was booked that it was a fundraiser for Congressman Ryan. Once we heard what this event would be, we immediately contacted the planners and asked them to find a different location."
Gap's Edie Kissco followed up via email:
Gap Inc. is not hosting or organizing a fundraiser for Congressman Ryan. The fundraiser is a private event, and the location of the event has been moved. To say that Gap Inc. was or is hosting a fundraiser for Congressman Paul Ryan is factually incorrect.Gap Inc. and our brands have a very strong record on LGBTQ community issues as shown by our perfect rating by the Human Rights Campaign annual Corporate Equality Index for seven years in a row. In addition, we are proud of the "Be One" Gap brand ads featuring a gay couple sharing a Gap t-shirt. This ad is part of a "Be Your Own T" campaign which expresses different personalities, heritages, styles and passions. (Incidentally, the men in the ad are a real couple).
Follow Jamie McGonnigal on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mcbenefit
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });24-05-2013 17:09 | Games | Hits:0

Filed under: Culture , Opinion , Roleplaying , Storyboard , Miscellaneous Playing a stupid character...
24-05-2013 16:40 | Games | Hits:1

Unlike Sony, Microsoft was happy to reveal exactly what its new console looked like earlier...
24-05-2013 16:37 | Audio - Video | Hits:3

Disney celebrates the wonderful world of retro-gaming with this latest animated feature Disney's...
24-05-2013 16:24 | Games | Hits:2

The biggest eyebrow-raiser with last week's Gran Turismo 6reveal was that it's launching on the...
24-05-2013 16:24 | Entertainment | Hits:3

Troubled actress Amanda Bynes was arrested at her New York apartment on Thursday after...
24-05-2013 16:23 | Games | Hits:3

The Xbox One will support the used games market , but how this will happen...
24-05-2013 16:17 | Entertainment | Hits:4

This weekend, you'll be able to catch the final chapter of " The Hangover...
24-05-2013 16:17 | Games | Hits:3

Chillingo has announced that it will be publishing a new mobile title from DmC Devil...
24-05-2013 17:07 | Music | Hits:0
Muse will perform to a crowd of 15,000 in London after the premiere of zombie...
24-05-2013 17:00 | Music | Hits:1
Lynyrd Skynyrd Play New TV Theme 'Winning Isn't Everything' Live Southern rockers' tune opens...
24-05-2013 16:53 | Music | Hits:1
Will Arnett spent years toiling away on failed sitcom pilots before the script for Arrested...
24-05-2013 00:25 | Music | Hits:9
After putting the drug molly on blast at the end of his video for "Bitch, Don't...
23-05-2013 22:14 | Music | Hits:7
While Jay-Z has received most of the attention for the music for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation...
23-05-2013 22:07 | Music | Hits:8
Summer music festivals can be things of beauty and discovery for open-minded concert-goers. All you...
23-05-2013 22:00 | Music | Hits:9
As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis was on steroids when he tried to hire...
23-05-2013 20:50 | Music | Hits:6
'Springsteen and I' Trailer Explores Bond Between Fans and Singer Listeners reflect on the...

Following right behind Google’s announcement of the Galaxy S4 Google Edition, it seems HTC is...

MIAMI— Lil Wayne 's battle with epilepsy has been puzzling, not just for his...
Brick-and-mortar retailers won't be stocking their shelves with many new high-profile games this week,…
Armature Studio, the Austin-based developer formed from Retro Studios talent, was working with Capcom…

Pavlof Volcano From Station Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) photographed this striking...
Natural Wallcoverings
Exlusive T-Shirts:
Logistic Transport