Macy's apologizes
for taking down gay-pride display

The Macy's department store chain says removing two mannequins from a gay-pride display at a Boston branch earlier this month was a "mistake--unquestionably." The display featured a list of gay-pride events and Web sites and two male mannequins, one with a rainbow flag wrapped around its waist. After antigay activists complained, the store removed the mannequins and the Web addresses, which gay-rights activists protested, staging a demonstration in front of the display window on June 11. So last week, Macy's East chairman and CEO Ron Klein wrote an open letter to the gay community, reports the New England LGBT newspaper In Newsweekly. In it, Klein blamed "an internal breakdown in communication," declaring the mannequins "were not removed because of pressure." However, he defended the decision to remove the mannequins, saying the store does not "traditionally" use mannequins in "community windows" because such "tributes" don't include the introduction of merchandise. Klein's letter also notes the company's "commitment to diversity and to the GLBT community," and concludes, "I am hopeful that Macy's long track record of support for inclusion and diversity will be remembered by the GLBT community." (Sirius OutQ News)