How Citizens United Helped Target Make Its Anti-Gay Political Donation

When the Citizens United Supreme Court decision came down earlier this year, holding that corporations could spend an unlimited amount of money in trying to influence elections, it was criticized by scores of people, including President Barack Obama himself, who worried that the decision would lead to a corporate takeover of American elections.

"They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads –- and worst of all, they don’t even have to reveal who’s actually paying for the ads," President Obama said in his 2010 State of the Union address. "Instead, a group can hide behind a name like 'Citizens for a Better Future,' even if a more accurate name would be 'Companies for Weaker Oversight.'  These shadow groups are already forming and building war chests of tens of millions of dollars to influence the fall elections."

You got that right. And if you needed proof, look no further than retail giant Target Corporation, which has stepped into a mess the size of Lake Superior by being caught giving $150,000 to a political action committee (PAC) in Minnesota known as Minnesota Forward. That PAC, in turn, funneled money to support a conservative candidate for governor, Tom Emmer. And Tom Emmer not only opposes same-sex marriage, but he has financially supported and pals around with a religious ministry that has been quoted as advocating for violence against gays and lesbians, wanting to overturn Minnesota laws in order to criminalize homosexuality, and calling all gay people pedophiles.

Oh, Target. The wicked things your money now touches. Perhaps you were hoping your $150,000 would advance "Minnesota Forward." A more apt name may be Minnesota Backward.

As the Associated Press notes, Target's donation to Minnesota Forward speaks volumes about the company's political philosophy. Target is the largest donor to Minnesota Forward, a supposed "non-partisan" group that is headed by a former adviser to current Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a likely 2012 Republican candidate for President. Meanwhile, Minnesota Forward is only supporting one candidate for Governor, and that's Emmer.

But more than that, the AP notes that Target's chief executives have also been major players in the Republican Party donor pool. Former CEO Robert Ulrich was on record giving $617,000, most of it to Minnesota's state GOP. Current CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who more than 13,000 people have emailed to complain about Target's anti-gay donations, is also a big financial supporter to the GOP, giving about $25,000 "almost exclusively to Republican candidates and causes," notes the AP.

Individual CEOs, of course, should feel free to give money to whatever party or cause they want. But look no further than Cinemark or Manchester Hotels to see that donations by CEOs come with huge consequences. In both of these cases, the heads of Cinemark (Alan Stock) and Manchester Hotels (Doug Manchester) gave money to fund Proposition 8. And both saw the wrath (and are still seeing the wrath, in the case of Manchester Hotels) for their anti-gay political activism.

Ultimately, what stings so bad here with Target is that the company appeals to a liberal customer base (certainly more so than Wal-Mart or K-Mart, which I imagine would be its primary competitors), and has made efforts to advance LGBT equality within its own red-painted walls. But as Dana Rudolph pointed out last night here on Change.org, what a company does to change its own corporate policies is important. But equally as important is what they're doing on a broader, societal level to either promote equality ... or minimally, to at least not stand in its way.

And any way you cut it, giving a six figure donation to Tom Emmer sends the message in the real world that exists beyond Target's shopping aisles that the company is a-OK with supporting candidates who want to keep LGBT people second class citizens. Target's failure to recognize that, and instead stick to their guns by saying that their donation was acceptable, is tragic, especially for all those LGBT customers who up until now viewed the company as a corporate ally.

Photo credit: IntangibleArts