At the Starbucks annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, CEO Howard Schultz sent a clear message to anyone who supportstraditional marriage over gay marriage: we don't want your business. After sayingStarbucks wants to "embrace diversity of all kinds," he told a shareholder who supports traditional marriage that he should sell his shares and invest in some other company.
According to a report by Forbes, Schultz seemed a bit intolerant of any Starbucksshareholders who opposed gay marriage for moral or religious reasons. During the meeting, shareholder Tom Strobhar (who founded the Corporate Morality Action Center) pointed out that after the company voiced its support for a referendum backing gay marriage in Washington state, a boycott by traditional marriage supporters caused a drop in sales revenue. Schultz told him "You can sell your shares in Starbucks and buy shares in another company" if he did not agree with the company's pro-gay marriage stand.
Despite strong opposition from the religious and political right, support for gay marriage in America has risen in recent years. The rise of support for gay marriage has also seen a rise of intolerance for those who oppose it. Many who joined the boycott of Starbucks last year were dismissed as bigots, even though the boycott did cause revenue to drop. A website, DumpStarbucks.com, has earned tens of thousands of supporters who refuse to buy from the coffee chain in response.
Remember when: Starbucks charged rescuers for water?
Ambulance workers were forced to scramble in their pockets for money to pay a $130 (£88) bill for three cases of water used to treat victims for shock after the twin towers collapsed.
Orin Smith, president of the Seattle-based coffee chain, sent a refund and free coffee to the ambulance crew after the incident was revealed.
"It's totally inconsistent with the kind of behaviour we would have expected from our people, so it has been very upsetting to learn of this," Mr Smith said.
He added that he did not know why the coffee shop in Battery Park Plaza, near the scene of the attack, had charged for the water.
Al Rapisarda, president of Midwood Ambulance Service, whose workers had to come up with the cash, said he had been personally called by Mr Smith to apologise for the outlet's actions.
"It was a misunderstanding with Starbucks," said Mr Rapisarda.
"It's not a big deal anymore."
The manager of the shop refused to comment.
Starbucks closed stores across America on the day after the attacks, although several premises close to the World Trade Centre and New York hospitals served coffee - and water - to rescue workers for free.
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