By Thomas Coy

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) is calling on all PepsiCo shareholders to vote for Shareholder Proposal No. 4 – the Charitable Contributions Report, which asks PepsiCo to divulge its standards for funding and account for how the Company’s charitable contributions are actually used. The PepsiCo Foundation has been one of the largest donors to gay political organizations.

In his testimony at the PepsiCo shareholder’s meeting in 2009 PFOX representative Greg Quinlan told the Board of Directors that “PFLAG contributes to the intolerance of the ex-gay community and stereotypes former homosexuals like myself. By funding PFLAG PepsiCo promotes fear and hostility against the ex-gay community, and supports and spreads lies about ex-gays.”

The “PFLAG Faith Field Guide” encourages gays and their supporters to protest against messages that claim homosexuality is changeable. In particular they single out the Love Won Out conferences as anti-gay and give as evidence the billboards with the message “Change is Possible.”

(Author’s note: The gay political mantra labels educational efforts that show sexual orientation change is possible as anti-gay; even though it is has been a clinically documented fact for over fifty years! Instead of having empathy for individuals who have unwanted same-sex attractions, gay activists see them as traitors to the gay subculture. This gay hostility has also been documented for over fifty years.)

Greg Quinlan also told the PepsiCo Board that he had been heckled by PFLAG members for “being out and open in society as a former homosexual.” Quinlan asked the Board, “Why does PepsiCo fund groups like PFLAG who hate people who are different from them?”

Quinlan also reported to the Board that when Sarah Palin’s home church sponsored an ex-gay conference, “PFLAG issued press releases against Sarah Palin and organized protests at her church. This same church was later vandalized by fire; reminiscence of the burning of Black churches in the South during the civil rights movement.”

In response to Quinlan’s motion a PepsiCo spokesperson at the shareholder’s meeting stated that “shareholders can easily see the extensive steps PepsiCo already takes to document its corporate-social responsibility and foundation activities. Details regarding grant guidelines and lists of donations are already featured prominently on the PepsiCo website.” Quinlan’s motion was seconded and as a result it is before the Board this year.

The American Family Association (AFA) had been leading a boycott of PepsiCo products, which include Pepsi-Cola and Gatorade drinks, Frito-Lay snacks, Tropicana juices, and Quaker foods. “AFA launched a boycott of PepsiCo after the company made $500,000 donations to Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 2008.” AFA suspended its boycott of PepsiCo on February 12, 2010. After monitoring the company for several months, AFA was satisfied the company had withdrawn its major financial contributions to gay activist groups. “Records from PepsiCo, HRC and PFLAG indicate repeat donations did not occur in 2009.”

Yet PepsiCo is listed as one of the leading donors to the gay political organization GLSEN, which promotes homosexual political objectives in schools, and PepsiCo earned a perfect gay friendly rating from the gay lobbyist organization the Human Rights Campaign in 2009, which factors in contributions to gay organizations. The PepsiCo grants for 2008 did not include GLSEN and as of March 31, 2010 the PepsiCo website does not list the recipients of PepsiCo grants in 2009. As Regina Griggs argues the PFOX supported Shareholder Proposal No. 4 “is a reasonable request.”

RELATED WEB NEWS:
PFOX Press Release March 29, 2010
World Net Daily article March 31, 2010