Wal-Mart Unit Caters to Gay Couples in Britain

In America, Wal-Mart is regarded by religious conservatives as a bastion of traditional, family values. How will they react when they find out that a Wal-Mart subsidiary in Britain, Asda, has begun to market products to gay couples who are getting or who have gotten married?

Gay.com reports:

“Ever since gay weddings were given the official go-ahead, we’ve had a number of customers asking if we could introduce gay cards,” Ed Watson, an Asda spokesman, told the Times. “With the launch of our new range, we can ensure that our customers can celebrate every marriage -- whether it is between him and her, him and him, or her and her,” he said. One greeting card Asda is selling features two top hats and reads, “Congratulations, Mr. & Mr.” Another card reads, “Wedding day wishes, Mrs. & Mrs.”

Gail Lavielle, director of corporate communication for Wal-Mart, told the PlanetOut Network the company was not worried about a backlash from the religious right. “I think we have a culture at Wal-Mart first and foremost based on what our customers want, and giving it to them,” she said. “At Asda, they had a real demand for these products and they responded to it. And it may come to us at some point in the future.”

Ford caved in pretty quickly when threatened with a boycott from the Christian Right, so it’s hard to believe that Wal-Mart would offer cards and other products to gay couples in Massachusetts in the face of a religious boycott. Then again, such a boycott would be much harder to pull off — it’s easier to avoid shopping at a Ford dealership than it is to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart in many places.

 

Read More:

• Gay Rights, Gay Marriage
• Evangelical Christianity & Homosexuality
• Catholicism & Homosexuality