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Snag in 'Solution' to Same-Sex Marriage Cards' Dispute

Hallmark Hits
Snag in 'Solution' to Same-Sex Marriage Cards' Dispute

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The Idaho Values Alliance has urged the owner of seven Hallmark stores not to carry a set of four greeting cards that celebrate same-sex marriage... and the owner complied. Instead, he offered customers the option to special-order the cards. However, when The Advocate attempted to do just that, an employee was unable to place the order and suggested the best solution was to contact corporate headquarters in Kansas City.

The Idaho Values Alliance has urged the owner of seven Hallmark stores not to carry a set of four greeting cards created to celebrate same-sex marriage. By Hallmark's acknowledging gay marriage, the company "is doing what 48 states and the federal government have refused to do, and that is to recognize homosexual marriage," Bryan Fischer, IVA's executive director, said in a statement.

Three of the cards feature gender-neutral illustrations, with either hearts or flowers. A fourth shows the torsos of two men in tuxedos holding hands.

The IVA specifically asked Philip Jordan, owner of seven Hallmark stores in Nampa, Idaho, not to carry the cards. An associate manager at one of the stores told PrideDepot.com, an LGBT news website based in Idaho, that his store was not planning on selling the cards as part of its inventory, though interested customers could purchase the cards upon request.

However, when The Advocate attempted to order the cards through Jordan's Hallmark in the Karcher Mall on Thursday, an employee was unable to do so and suggested the best solution was to contact corporate headquarters in Kansas City.

Hallmark spokesperson Sarah Kolell says the company does not have policies that would mandate independent Hallmark retailers to sell all available cards.

"We really feel like they know their markets, they know their consumers, and they know what would best sell in their stores," she said.

Sixty-three percent of Idaho residents voted to ban same-sex marriage in a 2006 referendum. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)

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