TODAY: Boycott Starbucks for Valentine's

Just a quick reminder about our nationwide event today for Valentine’s Day, calling for a boycott of Starbucks locations over their tacit support of a pro-gun agenda.

How you can get involved

1. Join this event on Facebook and invite your friends! The more visible support we have, the more effective this campaign launch will be.

2. Do go to a Starbucks near you. Don’t buy anything; instead, leave a copy of this flyer (PDF) about why you’re participating in the boycott.

3. Send Starbucks an email asking them to end their support for guns in their stores. Use this easy online form, and be sure to say why this issue is important to you!

4. Consider a longer-term campaign at your local Starbucks. Talking to the manager of your community’s store about why gun-free coffee shops would be safer for you and your family will help push this forward in every corner of the country. Contact us and we’ll send you a kit with more information.

5. Share the letter from faith leaders below with your friends and family.

Marriage equality and gun control

Yesterday, directors of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship published an open letter to Starbucks about today’s boycott. They wrote:

“Valentine’s Day, 2012 will be a busy day for Starbucks. Thousands of NRA-supporting gun owners have pledged to visit their local Starbucks nationwide, buying lattes to say ‘thank you Starbucks’ for welcoming handguns and other firearms in your stores. They are promising to bring their guns and families, and, yes, there’s a t-shirt.

“Many of us in faith communities want to thank Starbucks, too, albeit for corporate policies that position your brand as socially responsible. Last month, Starbucks joined other Pacific Northwest conglomerates, including Nike, Microsoft, Group Health, Google and Alcoa, to endorse a ‘marriage equality for same-sex partners’ bill in the Washington State Legislature. This came on top of an earlier decision by Starbucks to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the federal definition of marriage as one man and one woman. As Kalen Holmes, your executive vice president of partner resources, stated, Starbucks ‘remains committed to providing an inclusive, supportive and safe work environment for all our partners.’

”Thank you, Starbucks, for this inspiring example of corporate clout used on behalf of public safety and fairness. You have shown that Starbucks wants to do what is best for people; some would say you have stepped out for peace and justice. Corporations can indeed help change the laws of the land on behalf of peace with justice.

”Today, we ask you to take the next logical step in corporate responsibility and leadership. Join Disney, IKEA, Peets, California Pizza Kitchen, and other chains to ban handguns and other firearms in your stores. … Surely you recognize the danger of people carrying guns: you do not allow any guns in your corporate headquarters, guns are barred from your annual shareholder meeting, and your company policy forbids employees from bringing guns to work. Why would you conclude that it is a good policy to allow gun-carrying customers to be the only ones to bring guns onto Starbucks premises?”

Read the entire letter, signed by FOR Executive Director Mark Johnson and Program Director Shauen V.T. Pearce, along with Episcopal Peace Fellowship Executive Director Jacqueline Goler Lynn and Council Chair Linda Gaither, and please share it with others. You can also read more about the Starbucks boycott, originally called by the National Gun Victims Action Council.

And please join us today in a boycott of Starbucks, as we call for “Love in Action” for saner gun laws!