Converse Joins The Pride Parade

Yesterday it was Adidas and today it's Converse that steps out with a pride-related shoe line.

The Converse Pride Collection is honored to join the LGBT movement. Any crusade that hits the streets as loud and passionate as this one definitely needs sneakers to fit the occasion. We happily abide. The Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Pride hi-tops are adorned with stylish patterns and every color of the rainbow. Each color represents a special meaning to the community. Each step we take brings us closer to universal tolerance and equality.

Memo to Brian Brown: Converse is owned by Nike, the world's largest sporting goods manufacturer. Nike is ranked #111 on the Fortune 500 with annual sales over $25 billion. (Tipped by JMG reader Alan)

Corporations To SCOTUS: Uneven Marriage Laws Are Burdening Our Business

Thirty major corporations have filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to hear AFER's challenge of Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. On the list: Amazon, CBS, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Intel, General Electric, Levi Strauss, Nike, Oracle, Pfizer, Staples, Target, and Viacom. In general, the brief argues that the nation's uneven patchwork of marriage laws places an undue burden on corporations. An excerpt:

Amici include technology, materials, financial services, pharmaceutical, apparel, and entertainment companies; hoteliers and restaurateurs, service providers, consultants, and designers. Amici all share a desire to attract and retain a talented workforce. We are located or operate in states across the country, some of which recognize marriages of those of our employees whose spouses are of the same sex, and others that prohibit marriages between same-sex couples and refuse to recognize existing same-sex marriages. This dual and continuously shifting regime uniquely burdens amici. This legal uncertainty exposes us, as employers, to unnecessary cost, risk, and administrative complexity. In addition, this irresolution hampers our efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Our success depends upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction. The burden imposed by inconsistent state laws of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees creates unnecessary confusion, tension, and ultimately, diminished employee morale.

Hit the link for the full list of corporations.

Christian Group: Don't Shop Pro-Gay

Steve Rothaus writes at the Miami Herald:

The website Faith Driven Consumer has released a buyer's guide for the 2013 Christmas season, ranking retail chains and "connecting Christian consumers with faith-compatible companies." For example, companies that support marriage equality and/or cater to the LGBT marketplace rank lower than store that do not. (Much of the data used comes from HRC's pro-LGBT buyer's guide.)

Bolding above is mine. Faith Driven Consumer is endorsed by Focus On The Family and the American Family Association. They write:

The 2013 Faith Driven Consumer Christmas Guide offers detailed reviews of 43 different companies, with DaySpring, Hobby Lobby, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Foot Locker, Kohl's, Lowe's, and Michaels placing in the top eight. This easy-to-use, downloadable guide ranks companies according to their business practices based on a set of criteria developed by Faith Driven Consumer. Research shows that 81 percent of this 46 million market segment will switch brands when they discover that a retailer is incompatible with their worldview. It also finds that 64 percent of Faith Driven Consumers are currently looking for more faith-friendly shopping options.

Read their company reviews here. Apple and Nike get the lowest ratings. (Tipped by JMG reader Whabbear)

OREGON: Nike Donates $280K To Overturn Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Sporting goods giant Nike, which is headquartered in Oregon, has created a political action committee in order to contribute $280K to the campaign to place a repeal of the state's marriage ban on the 2014 ballot. 

The PAC, called the Nike Equality PAC, plans to focus its efforts on collecting donations from Nike employees and Nike-affiliated companies. The news was first reported by the Portland Business Journal, which notes that the company donated $100,000 to start the PAC and its executives donated the remaining $180,000. “Nike is fully supportive of the initiative to create marriage equality so all our employees are treated fairly and with respect in the workplace and the community,” according to the Nike Equality PAC website. “We believe that diversity drives innovation, and allows us to attract and retain world class talent. For Oregon businesses to attract and retain the best talent, we need fair and equitable laws that treat all Oregonians equally and prevent discrimination.”

Nike, which has 44,000 employees worldwide, was one of the first companies to offer domestic partner benefits. That was nearly 20 years ago. This summer Nike executives submitted a SCOTUS brief supporting the overturn of DOMA.

RELATED: Oregon passed its constitution ban on same-sex marriage in 2004. Twenty-one states passed such bans during the 2004-2006 reign of RNC chairman Ken Mehlman.

PacMan Doubles Down

"I only voiced out my opinion that same-sex marriage is against the law of God. I’m not against homosexuals. I have a relative who is also gay. We cannot do anything if they were born that way. What I do not want is when you disobey the commandment of God." - Pro boxer Manny Pacquiao, responding to a firestorm of criticism following yesterday's newspaper interview. This quote comes via the Courage Campaign, which has launched a petition drive calling for Nike to end their endorsement deal with Pacquaio.

She's Got A New Hat! (Sneaker Edition)

Since Valentine's Day a long line of sneaker collectors have been camped out on Manhattan's West 33rd Street in anticipation of a new Nike design going on sale at Foot Locker. Ten days. On the street. In the winter. For glow in the dark plastic sneakers. Old man shakes fist at cloud. The shoes went on sale this morning. But not in Orlando.

The release of the new Nike sneaker at a Florida mall ahead of the NBA All-Star Weekend was canceled Friday after riot police were forced to break up fights among the crowd outside an Orlando store. Hundreds of people were dispersed from the Foot Locker House of Hoops store after trouble broke out Thursday night in the countdown to the doors opening at midnight, WOFL-TV reported. Orange County Sheriff deputies on horseback and dressed in riot gear with helmets and plastic shields moved in around 9:45pm local time when things got out of control.

Nike Pulls Homophobic Ads

Nike has announced that it has canceled its "That Ain't Right" campaign after it was widely criticized as homophobic by gay bloggers and advertising critics. Via ESPN, here is Nike's statement:

Nike is strongly opposed to discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting athletes regardless of their sexual orientation. The advertisement in question is based purely upon a common insight from within the game of basketball -- the athletic feat of dunking on the opposition, and is not intended to be offensive.

However, after listening to concerns expressed around specific executions, we have decided to drop them from the campaign to underline our ongoing commitment to supporting diversity in sport and the workplace.

Nike has a strong record of support for diversity and is proud to have been honored with a 100 percent score over several consecutive years in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index.

ESPN notes that the most offensive images (including the one posted above) have been removed from the site of the creative agency, Wieden+Kennedy.

Good for Nike and good for Wieden+Kennedy. I don't know what they were thinking.

That Ain't Right, Nike

Via The Gay Recluse comes word of the latest Nike campaign, which features a series of athletes "humiliated" by having their faces pushed into the crotches of other players. Tag lines on the "That Ain't Right" campaign include “Your mama won’t let you come home after this. What would she tell the neighbors?” The ad was created by Wieden+Kennedy.

Non-consensual tea-bagging = gay-mocking hilarity. Yup, a regular riot. Nike is playing on the inherent homophobia of straight athletes, men who must continually compensate for their sweaty physical contact with other males by simultaneously bleating about their heterosexuality at the same time they accuse each other of secretly enjoying all that manly man-touching.

What is Nike selling here besides the idea that gay sex is humiliating?

Worst. Ad. Of. The. Year.