“Don’t Buy Bolthouse” Washington, DC Demonstration Held At Whole Foods
3rd Demonstration in Last 3 Weeks
WASHINGTON, DC – At its third demonstration in 3 weeks, an enthusiastic group of dedicated volunteers spent Sunday afternoon in front of the Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) in the heart of Washington’s Gay Neighborhood. This protest follows similar ones held in Los Angeles and New York the previous two weekends. The demonstrations against Bolthouse Farms are because of a $100,000 contribution from William Bolthouse, Jr. to California’s Protect Marriage – Yes on Proposition 8 Campaign. If passed, Proposition 8 would eliminate same-sex marriage in California.
Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC http://www.mdcp.com/ a Chicago based private equity firm, currently owns 72% of Bolthouse Farms and Bolthouse family members own 28%. William Bolthouse, Jr. owns Bolthouse Properties, and leases over 7,000 acres to Bolthouse Farms that is used to grow their crops.
William Bolthouse’s huge financial support was one of the main reasons that this constitutional initiative qualified for the November 4th ballot. His money helped enable Protect Marriage to hire hundreds of paid professional petition circulators to collect the signatures necessary to qualify this initiative for the ballot.
Mayita and Anderson the Mighty Duo Out Front of Whole Foods
Andrew and John, Who Have Been Together for 7 Years, Live in Salt Lake City, But Joined in the Demonstration
Joey, Jason and Ward Ready for the Next Shopper
“We will continue to work hard to get the message out to the gay and lesbian community and our millions of friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers all over the United States to “Don’t Buy Bolthouse.” In the weeks ahead, more demonstrations may be held around the country. Everyone across the United States will be aware of Mr. Boathouse’s $100,000 contribution to eliminate marriage in California,” said Fred Karger, Campaign Manager of Californians Against Hate, which organized Sunday’s Washington, DC demonstration and the two held the previous weekends at Ralphs Supermarket in Los Angeles and Whole Foods Columbus Circle in New York.
“William Bolthouse’s $100,000 contribution is an insult to gay and lesbian Americans,” concluded Karger. Why should we spend our hard-earned money buying Bolthouse Farms’ products only to have it used against us?”
On September 20, 2008, Fred Karger released a letter explaining our actions and the reasons for “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” in a letter that was faxed to Bolthouse Farms Chairman, Andre Radandt (William Bolthouse’s son-in-law) and William Bolthouse, Jr. A copy of the letter can be found at: http://www.dontbuybolthouse.com/letter.html
is there an email list we can sign up on? i am finding myself getting these notices too late.
http://queersunited.blogspot.com/