Sally Kern's Anti-Gay Rants Are Hurting Business

Hopefully some other cities - e.g., Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake for starters - will learn from Oklahoma City the possible consequences of harboring anti-gay sentiments and/or electing extreme homophobes to office. It seems that while the Kool-Aid drinkers in Oklahoma City are reveling in Kern's message of hate, big bussiness and the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce in particular are less than joyous. In fact, they are already learning that Kern's posionous mindset is turning away progressive businesses and has made the city a place consultants advise clients to avoid.

I have stated in the past and say again that the LGBT community needs to use its financial purchasing power to punish states, cities and businesses that are anti-gay and take their gay dollars elsewhere. With a purchasing power greater than that of the Africa American community within the USA, a concerted LGBT boycott of cities and/or products WOULD have an impact. In short, hate should carry a price. According to this story from the Oklahoma City Journal Record, perhaps it is already happening in Oklahoma City. Here are some highlights:

OKLAHOMA CITY – A San Francisco Bay-area financial services company has not yet ruled out Oklahoma City for a major office relocation, a vice president of a real estate search firm confirmed. A decision is expected in three to four weeks. But Tom Maloney, vice president of California-based Staubach Co., would neither confirm nor deny that the 1,000-employee, AAA-rated client company’s top executive is a lesbian who expressed concern over Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern’s recent anti-homosexual statements, as has been the topic circulating among local business leaders.

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Roy Williams, president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said the issue is a major concern the chamber is trying to address. He confirmed a Staubach consultant was troubled by Kern’s comments during a recent visit to the city. “He told us straight up … ‘I cannot recommend to any of my clients that they should consider Oklahoma City because of that,’” Williams said. “When you have one of the nation’s premier relocation experts making those statements, you should pay attention to that and not dismiss it.

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The significance of the Staubach visit to Oklahoma has grown with e-mail rumors. A representative of a national gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender (GLBT) organization said notes are being circulated that the unidentified company is actually a motorist group – skewing references to the company’s triple-A credit rating – that 6,000 jobs are involved, and that the executive stormed out of the meeting in anger. When asked about Kern’s recorded statements and their effect on any potential company relocations to Oklahoma City, Maloney said, “I’ve got no comment as to what, if any, impact that they’ve had.”

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As for Kern’s comments, “They no doubt send a message out there that no city wants to send, and that is one of divisiveness instead of unitedness,” he said. For the last five years, the chamber has made a greater effort “to embrace differences and embrace diversity, to build a community that is open and welcoming to anyone.”