ONE Community Blog

By MARTIGA LOHN, Associated Press Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Tar­get Corp.‘s CEO on Tues­day defended the dis­count retailer’s polit­i­cal dona­tions to a Min­nesota group help­ing the state’s Repub­li­can can­di­date for gov­er­nor, telling employ­ees at its Min­neapo­lis head­quar­ters that the company’s sup­port of the gay com­mu­nity is “unwavering.”

Chief Exec­u­tive Gregg Stein­hafel said gay employ­ees have been rais­ing con­cerns about the money help­ing state Rep. Tom Emmer, who opposes gay mar­riage. Tar­get gave $150,000 to MN For­ward, a group staffed by for­mer insid­ers from out­go­ing Repub­li­can Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s admin­is­tra­tion. MN For­ward is run­ning TV ads sup­port­ing Emmer.

“We rarely endorse all advo­cated posi­tions of the orga­ni­za­tions or can­di­dates we sup­port, and we do not have a polit­i­cal or social agenda,” Stein­hafel said in an e-mail.

He added: “Let me be very clear, Target’s sup­port of the GLBT com­mu­nity is unwa­ver­ing, and inclu­sive­ness remains a core value of our company.”

Con­tinue read­ing APNews­Break: Tar­get CEO defends Minn. donations