Welcome to the DumpStarbucks.com News!

Let's start with a bit of news this week.

"North Carolina voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved
a proposed amendment to the state's constitution which limits marriage
to traditional one man-one woman marriages." —NBC

Tuesday saw a long campaign in North Carolina end in a victory for marriage! As yet another state came down in support of marriage as the union of one man and one woman it was especially telling that TV commercials from the opponents failed to even mention the fact that the amendment was about marriage as they attempted to sway the conversation. Fortunately voters saw through this smokescreen.

Let's remember this most recent victory for marriage when activists tell us that same sex marriage is inevitable!

On to Starbucks and what you can do this week:

Log into your Facebook account and look up Starbucks. Leave a message on their Facebook wall respectfully asking them why they do not respect the views of those customers, employees, and shareholders who do not support same sex marriage.

Keep it short and sweet, but this is a question they need to be asked and that they have refused to satisfactorily answer.

I wonder what would happen if we put Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, in the same room with Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs?

This past week The Advocate shared a story where Blankfein said that he felt it might be good for Wall Street firms (he was speaking at an Out on the Street event for Wall Street executives) to sit out the marriage battle and let it resolve naturally. Getting corporations involved could backfire he said.

Don't tell me the fact that Starbucks is not physically headquartered on Wall Street makes the difference.

Given Starbucks' corporate support for same sex marriage, and the public comments of Mr. Schultz, it is apparent that Schultz and Blankfein do not agree. As Blankfein is the first national corporate spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and the HRC has supported Starbucks in their corporate position on same sex marriage, it would also be interesting to hear if this is the official HRC position or if Mr. Blankfein is speaking on his own here.

One last bit of news, and big thank you! While I missed this story until recently, New Zealand Right to Life has sent a letter to Starbucks New Zealand and is urging consumers to cease patronizing Starbucks. The New Zealand Right to Life folks are dedicated to doing the right thing and recognize the significance of a company taking this type of position. We applaud them for their years of work to support the sanctity of life and want them to know that we appreciate their support!

Have a great week!