Just in case you haven't yet seen this...

[kitanzi]

"If you, reading this, are so inclined to make one phone call, you will nullify a phone call from an anti-gay nutjob. Oh, excuse me, an anti-gay crusader. Kraft Foods is a major sponsor of the 2006 Gay Games. The nutjobs/crusaders have targeted them and are flooding their phone bank. Want to do something about that? Here's their phone # 1-800-323-0768. Toll free. It only takes a couple of minutes to call them and voice your support for their sponsorship. One call to nullify. Please pass the word to your friends, email addy book, relatives, whomever.

Latest word this morning is that the Kraft phone folks are initially wary when told the call is about their sponsorship, then immensely relieved upon hearing the support, and are still asking people to spread the word because the nutjobs are winning. This entire thing is ridiculous on some level, but it's what we're all reduced to."


(Lifted whole from one of several places I've seen this posted - I'll make my call as soon as I get home from work.)

Comments

[ericcoleman]

I'm on the AFA email list (on one of my many anonymous email addresses) and I haven't seen anything from them on this yet. And everyone knows that the Reverend Donnie Wildmon is really fervent about such things.

So that makes me question this a little. What verification have you seen on it ???

afa on Kraft/Gay Games

[singlemaltsilk.livejournal.com]

http://www.afa.net/activism/IssueDetail.asp?id=161

Re: afa on Kraft/Gay Games

[ericcoleman]

They must not love me anymore.

Gotta go make a call

[gingicat]

When I called, the woman I spoke to was SO happy to hear a friendly voice, she'd been getting nastiness all day.

[ericcoleman]

I always start these calls with

"my name is Eric Coleman and I am on the AFA email list"

You get this wonderful silence (ok, I'm a little dramatic, like this is a surprise to anyone who knows me)

"Because I believe firmly in the idea of know thy enemy."

At which point and today was no exception) they laugh.

She was a little surprised and had to verify that I had said what I said, that I supported what they were doing completely. Made her very happy.

They wanted a little more info from me than I really wanted to give, but hey, at the worst I get some junk mail and some coupons for Kraft products.

[gingicat]

See, I've worked as a receptionist, and I cover for the receptionist where I work. I can't be that heartless to a poor schlemiel whose job is to answer the phones, especially if I already know zie's having a bad day.

[ericcoleman]

The end result though, she has a better time. It starts with "oh man another one" and in about 5 seconds she gets ... well ... I am very chatty and friendly on the phone (since I answer them all day).

The response to this method has been uniformly positive.

[kyttn.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I personally find it a bit off-putting that there is a need for Gay Olympics, because the Olympics should be about good atheletes, and have absolutely nothing to do with the romantic preferences of participants. I understand the Special Olympics, because after all those participants are disabled in ways that make the possibility of participation in the "real" Olympics impossible. I wonder if the next step will be Black Olympics, Asian Olympics, Hispanic Olympics? It seems to encourage segregation rather than unification. After all, what makes the average gay person different from the average straight person is simply that they tend to fall in love with persons of the same gender.

That said, I feel strongly that any corporation should be allowed to support any group they want to (provided that the group supported doesn't hurt other people - let's not have Kraft start supporting pedophiles or murders). Supporting a sporting event is certainly a positive thing, regardless of the participants. I wouldn't mind seeing something from Kraft that says whether they actually want the calls or not.

[appleboy]

the Gay Games actually provide an avenue for the literally THOUSANDS of gay recreation leagues of whatever sport you like to come together and compete. I know in the Twin Cities alone, we have two gay softball leagues with 800 players, a gay hockey association, gay rugby teams, gay volleyball teams, etc.

Because we know that there is descrimination and homophobia in sports in our culture, the Gay Games gives an opportunity for these athletes to compete without facing that kind of descrimination. and it allows the thousands of gay athletes around the world to come together to compete on a high level that they would never normally get to.

It's not about the romantic inclinations of the participants, its about athletes coming together to compete without having to face the barriers of homophobia that are rampant in our culture of Sport.

[gingicat]

As I said to a straight coworker once, "Gay pride marches, gay men's choruses, gay women's choruses, aren't about segregating ourselves. It's about making us clearly identifiable so that straight people can look at us and say, 'Oh! You're just like me!' and stop being afraid."

[ericcoleman]

She started it ...

I'm just wondering where my AFA email on this is ... sigh ... I must have offended them somehow by not signing the petitions they wanted me to

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

I always fear that they will see that it's from AFA and then not bother to read it.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

I work across the street from Kraft headquarters. Maybe I'll stop by and give Kraft my support on my way home from work.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Now I like that idea! Did you, in fact?

[aiela.livejournal.com]

I called, they were thrilled to talk to me. (And try to get tons of personal information out of me for their marketers, but hey, it was worth the call.)

[ericcoleman]

Me too ... I gave it to them. I figger the worst case I get a bunch of junk mail, best case, I get coupons for Kraft stuff.

If you think THAT's bad...

[madfilkentist]

I just came across an article (in German) reporting that United American Technologies, a phone company, is slandering its competition with accusations that they operate gay child porn sites.

For those who prefer English, here's another link on the subject -- according to Google News, that's the Inquirer's web site, though the URL is based only on an IP address, which seems odd. I'm half wondering if this is a bogus Internet rumor, even though Der Spiegel is generally reliable.