Macy's -- You Can Learn from Ford's, Kraft's and Microsoft's Kow-Tows to the Religious Right

June 7, 2006 4:46 PM

On the day that the United States Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage Macy's alters a window display marking Boston's gay pride week by removing two male mannequins and erasing references to two websites. Why? A fringe, right-wing group complained. Their leader said that they found the mannequins "really disgusting", mistaking a rainbow-themed towel wrapped around one of their waists as being a "skirt"; muscular pectorals as being "enlarged breasts."
posted by ericb (48 comments total)

posted by ericb at 4:49 PM on June 7, 2006

What is it with fringe groups and their incredibly bad web design skills?
posted by psmealey at 4:56 PM on June 7, 2006

“They were male mannequins with enlarged breasts, and one was wearing a skirt,” said MassResistance president Brian Camenker, referring to the gay pride flag wrapped around one figure, cinched with a white belt. “It was really disgusting.”

Disgusting?? What am I missing here..? Was there shit smeared all over their mouths or something? Because that would be disgusting.

These wingnuts really need to get out more...
posted by weezy at 4:58 PM on June 7, 2006

I'm confused. Why would Macy's put this up if they were willing to cave in to an email campaign from a fringe group?
posted by y6y6y6 at 5:05 PM on June 7, 2006

I think it's interesting that even though the hate group is claiming a "victory", the window is still displaying a schedule of gay pride events. It's evidence of their continuing marginalization.
posted by mr_roboto at 5:06 PM on June 7, 2006

What is it with fringe groups and their incredibly bad web design skills?
What is it with corporations and their incredibly tiny, shriveled balls when it comes to dealing with fringe groups? I gotta think the gay population of Boston represents a larger, wealthier demographic than the members of this fringe group.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:06 PM on June 7, 2006

According to c-span, this is the relevant roll call vote. Know the enemy. See where your senators stand. And there were two dems who went over to the dark side. Maybe it's time for Robert Byrd to retire, IMHO.

As for the window display in Macy's, These religious right folks are pure T crazy. Enlarged breasts? Jeezus. Local yokels should write Macy's and tell them that you're not shopping there anymore and here's why. There stuff is overpriced anyway. Get your polo shirts from Lands End and such. Doesn't anybody have a spine anymore?
posted by bim at 5:06 PM on June 7, 2006

As Thorzdad said, the religious nuts are shopping at Wal-Mart. get your blue light special in aisle 3.
posted by bim at 5:08 PM on June 7, 2006

As a kid who grew up in the 70s I have a vague recollection of Anita Bryant, and her idiotic, bigoted rantings about homosexuals, and thinking even then, with my as yet undeveloped mind, that it was horrendously backward thinking. It's shocking to me that thirty years later, there are still people who are unashamed to publicly express exactly the same views.

Been ranting about the Senate "debate" on gay marriage all day, and seeing this ridiculousness was just the icing on the cake.

What an absurd time this is to be alive.
posted by psmealey at 5:08 PM on June 7, 2006

They should have just removed the one mannequin and replaced it with a scantily clad female one.
posted by JekPorkins at 5:09 PM on June 7, 2006

I'd like to see if the same groups would complain if the mannequins were mock-gunning down mannequins of poor people. I'd really, really like to see this, Macy's.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 5:15 PM on June 7, 2006

The best way to show how angry this makes you, is to stop shopping there. Macy's obviously doesn't want 'disgusting' queer money.
posted by FunkyHelix at 5:15 PM on June 7, 2006

Local yokels should write Macy's and tell them that you're not shopping there anymore and here's why.

Folks in Massachusetts and elsewhere have been calling, e-mailing and writing Macy's/Federated all day. At last night's Pridelights Tree Lighting Ceremony Boston Mayor Menino asked attendees to contact Macy's.

Check out what's happening elsewhere online - 1, 2 , 3, 4 and 5.
posted by ericb at 5:17 PM on June 7, 2006

The best way to show how angry this makes you, is to stop shopping there. Macy's obviously doesn't want 'disgusting' queer money.

But first contact them and politely tell them why you won't be shopping there anymore. As two professionals, I think that my wife and I are far more likely to be in their target demographic than those that they were attempting to appease with the removal of the mannequins and urls.

Contact info (from the lunatic fringe's website):

Mr. Terry Lundgren, President if Macy's
(New York City)
800-264-0069
[Even if they won't put you directly to his office, make sure that whoever you talk to gets him your message loud and clear.]

Linda Stahley
Manager, Boston Macy's
New phone number: 617-357-3063

James Gray
President, Macy's East Coast Operations
Executive Offices, 151 W. 34th St.
New York, NY 10001
212-695-4400

Macy's Presidential Complaints
PO Box 8215
Mason, OH 45040
[e-mail]

Customer Service Office:
800-289-6229
Hours: Monday - Saturday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
[e-mail]
posted by jperkins at 5:19 PM on June 7, 2006

Let me add to jperkins list:

E-mail addresses for corporate executives:

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail].

Macy's (Downtown Crossing) in Boston: 617/357-3000, and Federated Stores Corporate Offices/New England: 513/579-7000.

Macy’s is part of the Federated Stores. Others include Bloomingdale’s, Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, The Jones Store, Kaufmann's, L.S. Ayres, Marshall Field's, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, Strawbridge's.
posted by ericb at 5:23 PM on June 7, 2006

This is why I love our Massachusetts comrades (Northampton is my home away from home!). Thanks for the extra links ericb. And hats off to our straight friends (in addition to gay folk) who are kicking Macy's ass too. :)
posted by bim at 5:25 PM on June 7, 2006

What is it with fringe groups and their incredibly bad web design skills?

If jeebus had wanted them to have a better web site, he would have designed one for them.
posted by veggieboy at 5:48 PM on June 7, 2006

Man, I'm tired of being the punching bag for bigoted Republicans trying to win the November vote. Why can't they pick on Latinos or poor people or something? Oh, they do that too.
posted by Nelson at 6:10 PM on June 7, 2006

"What an absurd time this is to be alive.

Ain't that the truth? Thirty years and we're still fighting the same old ignorant assholes. Thirty years and those people still consider it a threat when somebody chooses a lifestyle that they can't understand, even if it has no impact on their own lives.

Gay rights, reproductive rights, privacy rights, all backsliding.

War, debt, ignorance, ever on the rise.

How have we come to this?
posted by rougy at 6:10 PM on June 7, 2006

They should have just removed the one mannequin and replaced it with a scantily clad female one.

Huh? They should...I don't...

What?
posted by birdie birdington at 6:12 PM on June 7, 2006

“They were male mannequins with enlarged breasts, and one was wearing a skirt,” said MassResistance president Brian Camenker, referring to the gay pride flag wrapped around one figure, cinched with a white belt. “It was really disgusting.”

He then dipped their pigtails in the inkwell, and later, wrote their names in the back of his civics notebook over and over, crossing it out every time with a heavy ballpoint pen and an even heavier sigh.
posted by BoringPostcards at 6:30 PM on June 7, 2006

Dear God, save me from Your lunatic fringe.
posted by Mr. Six at 6:32 PM on June 7, 2006

According to c-span, this is the relevant roll call vote. Know the enemy. See where your senators stand. And there were two dems who went over to the dark side.

If anything, there should be more Democrats who voted for it.

Once it was clear that there weren't enough votes to pass the amendment, the smart thing to do would be for Democrats from largely conservative areas (frex, Pryor and Lincoln in AR, maybe Bayh) to switch and vote yes. It would have no effect on the outcome and would limit the ability of their opponents to use it against them in the next race.

Votes are not pure reflections of what people in Congress want.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:39 PM on June 7, 2006

It is time to say forthrightly that the government's exclusion of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters from civil marriage officially degrades them and their families. It denies them the basic human right to marry the person they love. It denies them numerous legal protections for their families.

This discrimination is wrong. We cannot keep turning our backs on gay and lesbian Americans. I have fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation. I've heard the reasons for opposing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Cut through the distractions, and they stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism and in bigotry.

Some say let's choose another route and give gay folks some legal rights but call it something other than marriage. We have been down that road before in this country. Separate is not equal. The rights to liberty and happiness belong to each of us and on the same terms, without regard to either skin color or sexual orientation.

Some say they are uncomfortable with the thought of gays and lesbians marrying. But our rights as Americans do not depend on the approval of others. Our rights depend on us being Americans.

John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, was one of the original speakers at the 1963 March on Washington and is author of "Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement."
posted by robbyrobs at 7:16 PM on June 7, 2006

HOW DO GAY MANNEQUINS EVEN HAVE SEX?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 7:17 PM on June 7, 2006

According to c-span, this is the relevant roll call vote. Know the enemy. See where your senators stand. And there were two dems who went over to the dark side. Maybe it's time for Robert Byrd to retire, IMHO.

He didn't vote for the amendment, he voted to allow the amendment to be voted on (and end a filibuster). In this case, not even a majority of senators wanted there to even be a vote. Or maybe Byrd really dosn't like gay marrage.
posted by delmoi at 7:22 PM on June 7, 2006

As Thorzdad said, the religious nuts are shopping at Wal-Mart. get your blue light special in aisle 3.

That's K-mart.
posted by delmoi at 7:22 PM on June 7, 2006

"What an absurd time this is to be alive.

Are you kidding me? This is the best point in history evar unless you're an American. Or an Iraqi, of course.
posted by delmoi at 7:25 PM on June 7, 2006

Faith in America.
posted by ericb at 7:30 PM on June 7, 2006

I have been into the Deep South, where men frequent Waffle Houses.

I have been to the Midwest, to Vikings games, with people painted purple and gold.

I have seen enlarged breasts. And those, sir, are NOT enlarged breasts.
posted by graventy at 7:36 PM on June 7, 2006

Oh Lordy, I heard the anti-mannequin guy on the radio tonight (first I'd heard of the whole issue) and the host was just incredulous about the whole thing. The longer the conversation went on the clearer it was that the anti-gay dude just thinks about gay people way, way too much for someone who supposedly thinks they're disgusting.
posted by Biblio at 7:38 PM on June 7, 2006

Delmoi wrote: He didn't vote for the amendment, he voted to allow the amendment to be voted on (and end a filibuster).

Hmmm...this kind of misses the forest because of all those damn trees. I'm well aware what cloture is. As far as I'm concerned, though, even agreeing to vote on a constitutional amendment which would sanction discrimination is evil. No one should be willing to even open that Pandora's box.


Delmoi said: That's K-mart.

Kmart, walmart, you've seen one mart then you've seen them all! :>


Xenophobe said: Votes are not pure reflections of what people in Congress want.

True. But let's not advocate that elected officials should be able to totally abandon any sense of right and wrong even if it conflicts with what their constituents might think. Without a certain sense of moral responsibility we'd have never had things like the the civil rights movement.
posted by bim at 7:51 PM on June 7, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

And speaking of religion based bigotry as in ericb's post above, the latest pope has has come out with yet another screed against "contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization and same-sex marriage." If this isn't hate mogering, I don't know what is. He is OBSESSED with queer folks!

(And lest anyone be firing up a flaming post, I was raised as a Catholic and have every right to comment on these folks).
posted by bim at 8:03 PM on June 7, 2006

Fucking Nazi popes.
posted by delmoi at 9:28 PM on June 7, 2006

Lindsay Graham, my Senator, supports "traditional marriage". Senator Graham also wishes he weren't too gay to have a traditional marriage of his own. Isn't there a Republican fag hag out there somewhere who's willing to help Senator Graham?

I don't buy from Macy's anyway. My Macy's stocks crap.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:33 PM on June 7, 2006

"Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia voted 'yes' on Wednesday's motion to move forward with an up-or-down vote on the amendment but said he opposed the measure itself."
posted by Guy Smiley at 9:58 PM on June 7, 2006

First they came for the homosexual, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a homosexual.

Then they came for the bisexuals, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t bi.

Then they came for the T.V.s, and I didn’t speak up,
because I don't swing that way, you know?

Then they came for me, and by that time all that was left were the mannequins of their ideal.

...so, I've got to start sucking dick I guess.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:15 PM on June 7, 2006

No, wait! Get my dick sucked by a man!

Phew! Wow, that could have been a big mistake right there.


What the hell is wrong with these people? Homosexuality has been around for how long? Can we acknowlege it already? 'Cause if it was a choice I'd be all over the gay bars with as damned randy as I get.
It's what these bastards really want. Orwell was right, eliminate sex altogether.
They want the mannequins and this whole perfect world crap. It's like a junkie pusher who wants everyone on the same junk they're on.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:23 PM on June 7, 2006

I find it disgusting that Macy's does *not* have manequins rainbows in their front window.

There, are they going to put them back? I assume I'm equal to any other nutjob.
posted by pkingdesign at 10:53 PM on June 7, 2006

These people really believe that everything bad that's happened to America in the last 6 years is God's punishment for being too tolerant towards homosexuality. Now that Bush's crass attempt to permanently deface the constitution has been blocked, anything bad that happens in the future can again be blamed on God's displeasure with America's "permissive" attitude towards homosexuality. If you don't believe me, read any column on Worldnet Daily. Gays have been around since before we were even human, but scapegoating is almost as old. THe parallels to the villification of Jews in Nazi (and pre-Nazi) Germany are starting to get really fucking creepy.
posted by slatternus at 10:58 PM on June 7, 2006

In high school in Oklahoma in 1998, I did a little regional student congress thing. WHen the issue of gay rights came up, the bigot at the podium sneered, "I don't believe in homosexuality," to which my friend stood up and replied, "What? It's not kin to Santa Clause."

This town also elected a gay friend of mine Prom King, and generally the gays in town would come out around seventh grade, without fear of persecution.

God Bless Bartlesville. Maybe the most liberal town in the state, even if they don't realize it enough to vote that way. (Political parties might as well be local baseball teams around there.)
posted by Navelgazer at 11:18 PM on June 7, 2006

They should have replaced one of the mannequins with a different male mannequin having enlarged female tits and wearing a rainbow-patterned rubber dress on.
posted by tracy_the_astonishing at 6:23 AM on June 8, 2006

just remember, in the words of massnews (the mass conservative online news blog):
No One Knows or Cares What Happens to Camenker

everyone needs a hobby, but camenker should really find a new one.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:39 AM on June 8, 2006

Mannequin police on patrol to nip it in the bud.
posted by ericb at 10:56 AM on June 8, 2006

one question: what makes anyone think that the other mannequins are straight?
posted by JekPorkins at 11:30 AM on June 8, 2006

This action by Macy's would be similar to changing an President's Day window (Abe Lincoln, you know) if it were protested by the KKK.

In 1960, Houston's Foley's Department Store -- now a division of Federated and getting ready to change it's name to Macy's led the voluntary iintergration in the city:

Officials at Foley’s department store, anxious to avoid the negative publicity that civil-rights demonstrations were bringing to other southern cities, convinced other Houston store managers to cooperate with black organizations so that downtown dining facilities could be desegregated as quietly as possible. Consequently some racial barriers began to disappear as city leaders adjusted to new realities

Federated and Macy's have taken a such a big step backwards that it spans 46 years.
posted by Robert Angelo at 1:00 PM on June 8, 2006

OK, emailed everyone on ericb's list. Hope it does some good! (I always feel kinda fraudulent claiming I will boycott certain stores that I almost never shop at, but I doubt that anyone checks.)
posted by Quietgal at 8:57 PM on June 8, 2006

OK, emailed everyone on ericb's list.

I just received this e-mail message: "A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. Remote host federated-fds.com [66.37.206.74] closed connection in response to initial connection: retry timeout exceeded."

It looks like Federated shut down the e-mail addresses, since they likely got flooded.
posted by ericb at 10:12 AM on June 10, 2006