Home Depot loves us, Lowe''s doesn''t.

Why the difference?

• Home Depot Shrugs Off Group's Boycott; Reiterates Support For Gay Marriage BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF PUBLISHED: JUNE 03, 2011 The Christian conservative group American Family Association's boycott against The Home Depot will continue after the home improvement giant shrugged off their demands to abandon its support for gay rights. According to One News Now, AFA executive vice president Buddy Smith was rebuffed by chairman Frank Blake and other company executives when he presented them with their demands during the company's annual shareholders meeting in Atlanta. %E2%80%9CWe presented to the shareholders and to the chairman and the board of directors over 470,000 signature petitions asking them to remain neutral in the culture war, specifically when it addresses gay marriage and homosexual activist groups,%E2%80%9D Smith told the website. Blake reportedly thanked Smith but reiterated the company's support for gay rights. %E2%80%9CWe're disappointed that The Home Depot continues to close the door and not listen to the millions of customers who are offended that they are engaging in the culture war and taking a position in favor of gay marriage.%E2%80%9D The AFA has previously boycotted Ford, Pepsi, Campbell Soup Company, McDonald's and Hallmark for their support of gay rights.

  http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=8556&MediaType=1&Category=26

• I love Home Depot. \ \ It''s like a lesbian bar (every time I go some cute young babydyke hits on me... ok some bulldykes too but still).\ \ Lowes has slim pickins.

• "Well looks like I will be shifting over to Lowes for everything now. At least until Homo Depot returns to Home Depot."

  http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/07/23/AFA_Boycotting_ProGay_Home_Depot/

• [quote]The AFA has previously boycotted Ford, Pepsi, Campbell Soup Company, McDonald''s and Hallmark for their support of gay rights.\ \ And since all those companies were brought to their knees, Home Depot should be afraid. Very afraid.

  The Voice of the Night

• I find the Lowes'' dykes to be much more helpful and knowledgeable (even friendly?) than the Home Depot dykes. In either case, it''s a relief to know there''s someone there who actually knows how to change out a toilet plunger.

• Home Depot knows where its bread is buttered. Um, hello, are the Christian conservatives in rural areas upgrading their bath fixtures, redoing their kitchen cabinets, or getting gallons of taupe and off-white paints for the den, especially in these rough times? Fuck no, it''s gay men and lesbians who loooove remodeling projects and landscaping who are spending all that money. In the end, pocketbook power speaks the most to corporations, and the AFA membership just isn''t Home Depot''s target demo. Good for them for giving support, though.%0D\ %0D\ OP, has Lowe''s taken a different stance? Didn''t know if they had taken a position either way.

• Lowe''s just isn''t as friendly to its gay employees.

  http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide2011/profile.html?orgid=5046

• "LOWE''s now has 100% of my support and money. It%E2%80%99s not the idea of gay or straight, but that of showing perverted scenes or nudity out in public with children around. If it were to be a man showing his privates to children he''s considered a sex-offender, but what about events like the pride that was supported by HOME DEPOT. It%E2%80%99s showing a wrong message to our children not equality."

  http://causa-nostrae-laetitiae.blogspot.com/2009/07/does-lowes-support-gay-agenda-like-home.html

• [quote]Why the difference?%0D\ %0D\ Because they''re two different companies?%0D\ %0D\ What a breathtakingly stupid question.

• Home Depot is cheaper than Lowe''s, that''s why I go to HD.

• Now I love Home Depot even more. I have ALWAYS disliked Lowes - everytime I go in there, NONE of the employees ever come up to me and ask me if I need any help finding something. In Home Depot however, the employees always ask me if I need help finding something, which I appreciate because home improvement stores are so big that it can be overwhelming. Plus I like Home Depot''s products better than Lowes.

  Lowes Blows

• What about Menards? Or are they only here in flyover country? They hire the cutest guys to round up carts and help load stuff into your car.

• Gay guys may be into remodeling etc but, lesbians might be good at doing some of the manual labor. Otherwise, don''t ask a lesbian about their opinion and re-doing something cause they don''t know the first thing whether something looks good for not.

• R13, for a Nobel prize-winning author, you''re not particularly eloquent.

• Well R14 this AIN''T NO writing class, so I don''t give a fuck!

• Lowes - Target - Hyundai. Evil runs in 3s.

• Wow, R13''s post is incomprehensible.

• going to Home Depot today for Eco-Bond adhesive.

• What did the pirate say when he was hit in the crotch at the hardware store?

  oh menards!

• I''m just surprised so many bigots found their way over to the Advocate site to proclaim their hatred of gays.

• Better still, just go to an independent local hardware. Especially family run stores with old guys around, they''re the ones with the best advice for your projects.

• Thank God for Hetrosexual people, if it wasnt for them Mankind would end up extinct. Will never shop at HomeDepot again!!!!!

• There is something to be said about going to a smaller independently run store that has been around a while. NOT the new ones. The minimum waged paid teenager serving you at the building Super Center is not going to be of any help beyond what he remembers from his afternoon of training when he was hired. Any "sales associate" who claims to be a "trades person" must be the shittiest "trades person" on the planet if he is now working for minimum wage at Lowes - these guys are the rejects who screwed up so often they got fired from their much higher paying "trades" job. With the older and smaller, owner run stores, the owners have years of collected knowledge to pass on.

• Our Home Depot in flyover country is terrible. Nobody can ever tell you where to find anything, except in the vaguest terms possible, and they always try to force you into using the self checkouts, which I absolutely refuse to do. At Menards, on the other hand, if you ask where something is, they will lead you right to it and ask if you need anything else. Plenty of open, manned checkouts. And cheaper prices. Lowes falls somewhere between the two.

• R21-23. There's one of those quaint hardware stores down the street from me. They make fag jokes when gay guys come in. I'll stick with Home Depot.

• Lowe's buckled to pressure from some right wing evangelical group and pulled ads from a new reality show All American Muslim. I've seen the show and it just follow a few Muslim families and they are as American as apple pie and football.

• Maybe Lowe's management is conservative, and Home Depot's is more sophisticated.

• There's a Lowe's about half a mile from where I live, but the nearest Home Depot is several miles away. What I dislike about Home Depot is that every one I've ever been in looks like a bomb went off in the store right before I got there. Their stores are a mess. They also stack heavy things way up on top of their displays and the stacks are often badly done, unbalanced and precarious-looking. I think it's a dangerous practice. I thought Lowe's was great because it hired a lot of older men who had actual experience in construction work. However, on two different occasions I ran into the downside of that practice. The first was when an old carpenter decided for some weird reason to tell me a horrible racist joke, leading to a heated discussion. The second time was when I was looking for a replacement electrical plug because my dog chewed my vacuum cleaner cord. The cord was long, so I decided to cut it off and replace the plug. The salesman decided that I had ruined the plug by pulling it out of the wall and he kept lecturing me about not doing that. It was crazy, but he wouldn't drop it. I figure it's a toss-up. I can drive further to a HD where I feel like I'm taking my life in my hands, or I can go to Lowe's and take a chance on running into some crazy old man. I've been going to Ace Hardware. So far it's a good compromise.

• Never heard of Menards.

• I do like Home Depot but Lowes is cheaper.. ..there is the Olympian thing, too. I guess I don't mind paying a little more.

• Home Depot didn't used to be so accepting of gays. Years ago news came out that they were going to institute a discriminatory policy against their gay employees. It raised a huge stink in the gay community and HD dropped the idea. It looks like they've improved in the last few years.

• Lowe's gives 10% off coupons. Home Depot doesn't. Don't laugh, it helped recently when I spent $800. Better in my pocket than Loew's.

• Why is Lowes bad?

• Menards is based in Wisconsin and owned by a diehard Republican family. Absolutely no love for the gays. Shame, really. Menards does have good and cheap stuff. Home Depot has the least variety. Lowes has the higher-end stuff and more variety, but I think I will stick to HD from now on for most of my wood.

• The Florida Family Association hates gays as much as Muslims.

  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57342138/fla-group-in-lowes-flap-has-history-of-protests/

• I hate hearing that Menards is owned by Republicans. I love their stores compared to Lowes or HD. It's a smaller chain, yet they have better prices and customer service.

• Does everyone who NOW say they will go to "Lowe's" REALLY think there are fewer gay men and lesbians working there? Think again! And WHO REALLY has the so called "AGENDA"? The Gays OR the Straights? Agenda and Queer are hurtful words with hurtful meanings behind them in this context. Honestly...why can't we all stop JUDGING each other and just try to get along........Good Grief!

• Home Depot's house brand paint is great. Loew's is white wash.

• Loew's often has 10%-off coupons. Home Depot doesn't do coupons and btw, they're not KEW-ponz.

• Behr brand Paint is a good product, a bit over priced, but still good (Home Depot)

• I bought my dad gift cards to home depot for fathers day and his birthday because of this.

• At our local Ace Hardware, they don't know their merchandise. I find myself telling an employee, "This is what is used for...." whatever. They just don't know, so I show them with the hope that the next customer who asks about the product will get a helpful reply. I just show my veteran's ID card at Lowe's and get a discount throughout the year. Home Depot gives a veteran's discount on one day a year, November 11th.

• In 2005, Home Depot was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush. Seventy-three percent of the Home Depot's campaign contributions went to Republican candidates in the 2005–2006 US elections. "Home Depot's PAC gives money based on a candidate's voting record, committee assignment and leadership position," said company spokesman Jerry Shields.[34] The CEO in this period was Bob Nardelli, a friend of U.S. President George W. Bush.[35] Nardelli hosted a garden reception/fundraiser for Bush at his Atlanta home on May 20, 2004. -- Wikipedia Before we celebrate Home Depot too much, however, let's consider their PAC's campaign contributions: like Target and Best Buy before it, Home Depot's politics are not as LGBT-friendly as the company lets on. Looking over the Home Depot PAC's contributions, one would think social conservatives would cheer the tool-loving company. Though they've wisely given $30,000 to both the Democratic and Republican Senatorial campaign committees, the GOP's House branch received an extra $30,000, while the Democrats' counterpart received none. ----- Home Depot's PAC Gives Liberally To Anti-Gay Politicos (Don't Tell The AFA) (snip) Meanwhile, the PAC gave generously to PAC's associated with tried and true conservatives like Reps Eric Cantor, John Boehner, and Lynn Westmoreland, all of whom have voted against gay marriage, among other things. And on a more personal level, Home Depot's PAC gave Westmoreland another $10,000 in campaign contributions, and lavished the same amount on Pat Toomey, the Senatorial candidate who in the past voted against every LGBT issue possible. And that's just a sample of Home Depot PAC's favorite Republicans. Before we celebrate Home Depot too much, however, let's consider their PAC's campaign contributions: like Target and Best Buy before it, Home Depot's politics are not as LGBT-friendly as the company lets on. Looking over the Home Depot PAC's contributions, one would think social conservatives would cheer the tool-loving company. Though they've wisely given $30,000 to both the Democratic and Republican Senatorial campaign committees, the GOP's House branch received an extra $30,000, while the Democrats' counterpart received none. In total, Republican Senators and Representatives have amassed a grand total of $434,000 in Home Depot-related money this election season, while the Democratic candidates received a comparatively low $251,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' records.

  http://news.change.org/stories/target_best_buy_and_hrc_a_lesson_in_messy_political_affairs

• Posted: Fri 10:36 AM, Jun 22, 2012 Reporter: CBS News, Posted by Chelsey Moran [bold] Weekend Of Secrecy For Big GOP Donors [/bold] Romney's three-day retreat, which is being held at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, is an opportunity for about 700 Romney's biggest fundraisers to get some face time with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. (Many of them are "bundlers" - wealthy and well-connected individuals who call on their family, friends and associates to max out their contributions to Romney and the GOP - who have raised in the area of $250,000 for Romney.) Some of the biggest names in the Republican Party, and many of the top contenders to be Romney's running mate, are also coming to Park City: CBS News has confirmed that attendees will include former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Republican strategist Karl Rove, former Reagan chief of staff James Baker, [bold] Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone [/bold] and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker.

  http://www.wibw.com/home/nationalnews/headlines/Weekend_Of_Secrecy_For_Big_GOP_Donors_160015265.html

• Are Your Investments Funding the Democratic or Republican Presidential Campaigns? By Beth McKenna Posted in Investments , Stock Market February 24, 2012 There are 14 public companies in the Top 100 Donors that give at least 2/3rds (67 percent) of their total political contributions to Republicans. (Company number 13 of the top 14 Republican donors is... Home Depot. See list a link)

  http://www.gobankingrates.com/investments/funding-democratic-republican-presidential-campaigns/

• Two attendees described Rove and Matalin as the funniest speakers, joking uproariously but not maliciously about the time Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a friend with bird-shot pellets on a hunting trip. Ryan and Thune – both mentioned as potential VP contenders – joined [bold] Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone on a panel about innovation, several source said. Langone charged today’s business climate was hostile to entrepreneurs and told the audience he wouldn’t have been able to start his home improvement company in 2012. [/bold]

• Sorry. Link for the above excerpt from "Romney makes rounds at his donor event"

  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/23/romney-makes-rounds-at-donor-retreat/

• Watch Ken Langone endorse Mitt Romney on Neil Cavuto's Fox News show

  http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1265270619001/home-depot-co-founder-on-endorsing-mitt-romney

• [bold] The Home Depot Man Who Wants to Demolish Obama [/bold] Wall Street titan Ken Langone, who cofounded the main street box store, is heavily invested in Obama's defeat this fall. (snip) Recently, Langone has embraced a new role as an unabashed critic of the president. Last summer, after the White House and Congress (whose members Langone compared to "sex fiends" when around money) clashed over lifting the federal government's debt ceiling, Langone branded Obama "petulant" and "unpresidential" on CNBC. He even ripped the president for entering the Oval Office without a suit jacket on—something, Langone insisted, Ronald Reagan never would have done. (PolitiFact rated this claim "mostly false"; Reagan sometimes wore track jackets in the Oval Office on weekends.) Obama is "not bringing us together," Langone said. "Divide us and we all lose. This has got to stop." Before getting behind Romney, Langone spearheaded the effort to draft New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and as Politico reported, he brought together "50 of the most prized donors" for a conference call to urge him to run. Christie declined, but he noted that if he did challenge Obama, he'd have no problem raising money. Langone says that since he threw his lot in with Romney, he's helped bring 90 percent of the megadonors on the Christie conference call into the Romney camp. "I would say virtually everybody who tried to persuade Christie is partial to Romney," he told me when I reached him at his winter home in North Palm Beach, Florida. "Don't forget: It's the art of the possible, not the impossible," he said. "Romney appears to be the likely candidate for the Republican Party."

  http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/ken-langone-home-depot-romney-donations

• [bold] Romney, Gingrich Shop Home Depot [/bold] June 12, 2012 Mitt Romney already has Georgia. So said his recently minted supporter,  Newt Gingrich,  his erstwhile primary campaign challenger and former House speaker from Georgia, in introducing Romney last night at a fundraising event near Atlanta: The state has voted reliably “red” since 2002. But Romney does require the Peach State’s dollars to compete in states like Ohio and Florida. [bold] He picked up about $3 million of them at a three-tiered reception in a performing arts center off Interstate 75. Nine hundred people paid $1,000, $5,000 or $50,000 apiece. [/bold] They got a stand-up reception with bruschetta, a cash bar and a Romney stump speech for low-end donations, a sit-down dinner with the candidate at a private home at the high end and an opportunity for a photo with Romney in between. [bold] Spokesman Rick Gorka declined to say who hosted the $50,000 private dinner. Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus got a special thank you from the campaign, though, shortly before Romney addressed the crowds at the earlier events. The big-box retailing executive has has been an outspoken critic of President Barack Obama, particularly on the question of government regulation. [/bold]

  http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-06-12/romney-gingrich-shop-home-depot/

• In Nashua NH, Lowe's carries composted cow manure, whereas Home Depot does not. I think the choice is clear.

  Gardener

• Top campaign contributor so far in the 2011-2012 year Home Depot [bold] Check out the bar graph at the link to see the percentage Home Depot donated to GOP candidates and percentage donated to Democratic candidates [/bold]

  http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php%3Find%3DN03

• Gay Men Threatened by Lowe's Employees in Riverside

  http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-gay-lowes-threat%2C0%2C6289392.story%3Ftrack%3Drss

• I have worked for Home Depot for several years now but am currently looking for other employment because of my stand on Gay marriage or just gays in general. If you are a firm believer in the bible then Homosexuality is wrong and any one working for that company is just as responsible as the one who supports it

  Cory

• r54 proves "bible-believing Christians" are amongst the dumbest creatures on the planet. Cory dear, do you know where you are posting here?

• You get a 10% off coupon from the post office for address changes from Lowe's (it recently changed to an online coupon). Home Depot will honor that Lowe's coupon, so no need to go to Lowe's ever. We call Lowe's "Down-Lowes" which explains the homophobic attitutes.

• Lowes is the Chick-fil-a of Home Improvement centers. This is why they just tried a hostile takeover bid of Canadian franchise RONA. Lowes Canadian debut did not work out too well and they are looking to eliminate the competition.

• Doesn't Lowe's own the HGTV and Food Network channels, which are the two of the most gay friendly networks on TV?

• Lowes rally

  http://blog.pe.com/crime-blotter/2012/06/23/anti-hate-rally-being-staged-at-lowes-on-sunday/

• I am a Christian and very proud of it. I am against guys all together. Its wrong. I will no longer go to Home Depot, which I never went any way. I was going to take my cub scouts there to build a fire truck and a dad told me about this so I will not be coming. I think if men like men they just might like children and same for women. Its really bad when your 5 yr old says out loud "mommy theres a boy in the girls bathroom" confusing our children....God loves everyone and I will pray for the gays..NO RAINBOWS!!!

  Me%20

• [quote]Food Network channels, which are the two of the most gay friendly networks on TV? In what way is the Food Network gay friendly???? Their biggest star is the openly homophobic Guy Puke Fieri. What is gay about that network? Seriously...what? Or who?

• [quote]the time Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a friend with bird-shot pellets on a hunting trip. They're still pushing this story to hide the fact that it was Cheney's girlfriend who accidentally pulled the trigger and wounded his friend.

• I enjoy Lowes because the garden sheds they have on display are full size and not just a narrow mock up of a shed. My boys and I have been known on occasion to use these sheds for anal sex parties.

  Suck%20my%20dick

• Fuck Homo Depot faggot lovers.

• I've always gotten better service at Lowe's than Home Depot. I've been in HD looking for something and had to walk around to find a floor person, who took me to the correct aisle which didn't have what I needed anyway and the salesman said he would be right back after he checked stock. Nearly fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the store, went to Lowe's and found what I wanted. It happened a couple of times before I started shopping at Lowe's regularly. (And they seem to have the cutest guys, staff and customers.)

• Lowes website is far better than Home Depots

• Both Lowes and Home Depot are "Walmartizing" their employees, forcing them to work shifts that no sane person would do. Closing at 9 pm and then having them come back in at 5 or 6 am.

• R3 is the guy looking to get on his knees in the Home Depot men's room and suck some dick.

• Rarely do people paid minimum wage know much about the products they are selling.

• I became aware of this article/issue because my brothers hot water heater went out (on Sunday). I found the only place that carried a Propane unit was Home Depot. He refused to let me buy the unit at Home Depot and is going to do without hot water until he can obtain a Propane heater during the week through another store. I am a contractor that spends aprox. 15 thousand dollars a year at Home Depot and another 15 at Menards. I am also a Christian. I do not protest against gays or same sex marriage even though I believe it's wrong (that's my opinion). I also do not treat homo sexual's or lesbians any differently, because it is not my right to judge them. I choose to remain neutral on this issue out of respect for other humans and their rights to make their own decisions. The problem I see is when home sexuals and lesbians try to discredit Christianity to justify their own actions. Since Home Depot is making a firm stand to support gays and same sex marriage rather than being neutral on this issue, they are also making a stand against Christianity. Very stupid move. They should remain neutral on this issue and conduct business without hidden agendas. From this point forward I will be refraining from making any future purchases from Home Depot, even if it costs me more time and money to make purchases else ware.

• Dear, sweet R70: you might think we'll be shocked by your opinion here, but the truth is, we don't find your opinion half so shocking as we find your misspelling of "elsewhere" as "else ware." In our world, spelling and punctuation count.

• R70? "Your opinion" is nonsense and as much a construct as your "god" - neither has any basis in any actual reality, thus neither exists. If you are not gay, then you do not have the right or faculties to understand them nor express an opinion disallowing rights for them. It's that simple. Just don't speak. I am an atheist, but I think all people who go to church should be taxed twice as much as non-churchgoers and not allowed equal rights. Sound fair to you? It's exactly the same thing as your bullshit stance - except attending church is a choice, being gay is not. YOU are the problem out there - equality is not up for debate, though you think it is. You are an infantile, ignorant, hateful person who does not even realize the magnitude of his own foolishness. It's sad. Pray on that.

  Preying%20Here%2C%20Too

• [quote]They should remain neutral on this issue and conduct business without hidden agendas. If HD is open about its support of civil rights for gays and lesbians, how is their "agenda" hidden? Just wondering...

• Am I in the twilight zone? The article says that home depot stood against the homophobes & won't support their efforts, they are with us. To read most of these comments, everybody wants to support the enemy, lowes. Those of you who wrote in this thread that you are now supporting lowes, are fucking IDIOTS, you don't even know who your enemies are

  support%20Home%20Depot%20not%20Lowes%20dummies

• I've bought items in both HD and L's and I found L's to be more expensive overall. I like the more upscale look of Lowe's but I've never really had a problem with the HD look either. I buy by model number and who ever has the best price and delivery gets my business. That said, if I find a one of these stores adverse to treating or hiring gay employees, I will avoid the store involved. Both of these big boys have a price matching policy or will implement one to make a sale.

• You are right, OP, I didn't read the article, I will now

  r75