#Do_it_now dossier: Petition against CVN

The "Christian Values Network" (CVN) is under fire. In the last week,
Microsoft, Macy's, Wells Fargo, Delta, and BBC America have stopped
using the charitable donation service. Why? Because CVN funnels money
to extreme anti-gay groups.

Here’s how CVN works: A customer makes a purchase and then uses CVN to
direct a company to donate to a "charity."

Some of the charities are legitimate, but others are just anti-gay
front organizations -- like Focus on the Family and the Family
Research Council (an organization formally classified as a "hate
group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, widely recognized for
monitoring extremist activity).

Still, Apple continues to use CVN. That means that when people make
purchases from Apple or the iTunes Store through CVN, they can tell
Apple to give money to hate groups -- and Apple does.

That’s why student (and Mac user) Ben Crowther started a petition on
Change.org asking Apple to stop funding anti-gay hate groups through
CVN. Click here to sign Ben’s petition today:

http://www.change.org/petitions/apple-stop-raising-money-for-anti-gay-hate-groups?utm_medium=email&alert_id=YrIajXJcpj_pptUerWvhI&utm_source=action_alert

Beyond spreading misinformation about LGBT people, Focus on the Family
and the Family Research Council have actively lobbied Congress to
uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell," reject the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and repeal
the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act -- also known as the Matthew
Shepard Act.

Microsoft ended its affiliation with CVN and its anti-gay allies after
a member of Change.org petitioned the software company. Another recent
successful campaign started on Change.org’s platform got TOMS Shoes to
explain its ties with Focus on the Family and denounce their anti-gay
agenda.

If people like you speak out, we can convince Apple to end its
relationship with CVN. Apple has supported LGBT rights in the past,
most prominently donating $100,000 to the campaign to defeat Prop 8.
And, when more than 158,000 people signed a Change.org petition asking
Apple to stop offering a "gay cure" iPhone app earlier this year,
Apple removed the app from the iTunes store.

Please show Apple that supporting anti-gay organizations is bad for
business -- and hold Focus on the Family and the Family Research
Council accountable -- by signing Ben Crowther’s petition today:

http://www.change.org/petitions/apple-stop-raising-money-for-anti-gay-hate-groups?utm_medium=email&alert_id=YrIajXJcpj_pptUerWvhI&utm_source=action_alert

Thanks for taking action,

- Eden and the Change.org team