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Wal-Mart CEO Backed Gay Adoption Ban


The new CEO of Wal-Mart was among those who signed a petition to place an initiative on the Arkansas ballot last November to ban adoption and foster parenting by gay couples, reports the group KnowThyNeighbor.org .

A signature from Mike Duke, with an address that matches the known residence and birth date of the Wal-Mart head, was verified by the state and counted to place Act 1 on the ballot. The initiative, which passed with 57% approval among voters, makes it illegal for unmarried cohabitating couples -- gay or straight -- to adopt or foster children.

Opponents of Act 1 charged that the true intent behind the measure was to limit the family rights of same-sex couples. The proposal included straight couples to ensure its constitutional viability, given that a previous ban targeting only same-sex couples had been struck down.

Last week, KnowThyNeighbor.org posted online the names of more than 83,000 Arkansas residents who signed the petition to place Act 1 on the ballot. The public data, which was provided by the Arkansas secretary of state, can be found here .

Duke, 59, became the fourth CEO of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, in February. He has worked for the company since 1995, most recently being in charge of international operations. In January, Newsweek magazine ranked him number 26 on its list of the world's 50 global elite.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Badcowboy
    Date posted: 5/10/2009 12:40:00 PM
    Hometown: Oakland, CA

    Comment:

    D'Mar - This measure was written to prevent same sex parents from adopting - plain and simple. To say it is to prevent unmarried couples from adopting is just showing your ignorance. I do not shop at Wal Mart currently and this just reinforces my intentions never to step foot in the store in the future. They censor movies, rewrite music and promote homophobic books on their shelves. Why would I want a company to decide what I should see, hear and read?

  • Name: Mom
    Date posted: 5/7/2009 9:03:00 PM
    Hometown: West Jefferson,NC.

    Comment:

    As a parent of a gay son. Walmart has lost my business. I can't beleive such a person could be a CEO of any company

  • Name: FosterMom
    Date posted: 5/7/2009 10:10:00 AM
    Hometown: Anytown

    Comment:

    My wife and I have a two-year-old foster son that we would absolutely love to adopt! I had no idea how much our lives would change when he came into our family, but now, I can't imagine our family complete without him. His biological dad is unknown. His biological mother is a prostitute who has been in and out of jail, has mental health problems for which she refuses to take her meds, and is addicted to crack. And Mr. Wally World seems to think that my foster son would be better with her or to remain in the foster care system!? On what planet does this man live!? In my city there are roughly 2500 foster kids and only 500 foster families! I certainly don't see all of the people who supported this legislation in Arkansas lining up to take these kids into their homes. Instead, these people are helping to contribute to the problem of a crumbling and over crowded foster care system by not allowing perfectly capable and loving would-be parents to adopt!

  • Name: allan m
    Date posted: 5/6/2009 6:03:00 PM
    Hometown: pawtucket

    Comment:

    all the sale prices in the world won't get me back to wal-mart again as long as this man is the ceo. I will tell everyone I know not to shop at walmart unless they want to foster advocating prejiduce of other people's GOD GIVEN RIGHTS to have safe healthy families. Of course my god is not the same religion as the ceo so my god is not as good. I guess I should have realized that.

  • Name: Chris Sullivan
    Date posted: 5/6/2009 4:43:00 PM
    Hometown: Chicago, IL

    Comment:

    Part of Wal-Mart's response to me (no doubt a form letter): "We will not support controversial issues but will continue to partner with a broad range of diverse organizations on individual projects. For example, we will not support issues we do not take a position on, such as same-sex marriage. But we may partner with the same organization on individual initiatives such as one that supports workplace equality or fights against hate crime. We are not currently planning corporate-level contributions to GLBT organizations, but our more than 4,000 Wal-Mart Stores and Sams Clubs give local contributions based on their unique communities, and our associates will continue to attend some external GLBT events". Received 5/6/09 Make of it what you will, I still won't shop there again.

  • Name: Atom
    Date posted: 5/6/2009 7:04:00 AM
    Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

    Comment:

    This CEO is a disgrace. Walmart has been trying to get a foothold into the NYC market, and each time they expressed interest in a location there were massive protests. This just gives us more reason to keep them out of my neighborhood. I'd much rather go to Target instead.

  • Name: Craig Garver
    Date posted: 5/5/2009 9:03:00 PM
    Hometown: Tucson, AZ

    Comment:

    And I have a right to my own vote, and I vote never to step foot in a Wal-mart again for any reason. It won't be hard: I've dropped from spending most of my paycheck there a few years ago to grabbing less than $40 a year in stuff I needed on the road and there was no other convenient place to get it. I can easily avoid doing that by planning ahead. Bye bye bye Wal-mart! Enjoy your wonderful homophobe CEO. I'm sure he wouldn't want my queer dollars insinuating themselves on his bottom line.

  • Name: Robert
    Date posted: 5/5/2009 4:23:00 PM
    Hometown: Fair Oaks Ranch

    Comment:

    There are many Sports figures who lost contracts doing Nike, Pepsi, American Express commercials etc., if their personal life shouldn't matter when they got dumped by these companies for their personal decisions. The fact is; once you get that high ranking in a company, it does matter. And as a gay parent who has adopted 3 siblings under the ages of 5, I'm shocked that his wife can even work with "homeless" kids and still vote the way she did. Children need a loving home. How we define that may be different, but if you ask my children, they will certainly tell you that they are not lacking in the loving home dept. I'm sure it will be a cold day when we hear any kind of an apology.

  • Name: Amanda
    Date posted: 5/5/2009 11:41:00 AM
    Hometown: Fayetteville

    Comment:

    Corporate CEOs should be very careful with their opinions, the petitions they sign, and their public comments. At that level, they are representing the company they head, whether they like it or not. When he signed the petition, he was an executive leader of the company, therefore stating he didn't believe same sex couples should be allowed to adopt or foster children. By signing, he sent a message to employees. Someone below said the Act is about non-wed couples, and that is false. The Act is about gay couples, but when petitioned that way, it wasn't receiving enough support, therefore it became about co-habitation couples, when it's really about same sex couples.

  • Name: Karen Webb
    Date posted: 5/5/2009 6:16:00 AM
    Hometown: Moore, Ok

    Comment:

    When I worked at Walmart back in the 90s they did have benefits for domestic partners and at the one where I worked in very red Oklahoma didn't seem to have a problem hiring gays. I worked with several that I know are gay. Of course no union stuff is allowed and on their test before you are hired there is stuff that is anti-union and in there training modules there is stuff that is anti-union, but all over the breakroom is right wing propaganda. And they did want us to work off the clock if we didn't get all the stock put up in our 8 hours.

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