Gotta wonder what the dough heads at Tim Hortons U.S. operations in Rhode Island were thinking when they decided to sponsor the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage for its first annual Marriage and Family Day celebrations.
Tims issued a press release this afternoon announcing it’s pulling out of the Rhode Island event after emails started making their way to headquarters here in Canada. One gay site registered more than 1,800 signatures to its online petition to Tims.
Tims statement says that it’s not its corporate policy to sponsor events of “religious groups, political affiliates or lobby groups.
“Tim Hortons and its store owners have always welcomed all families and communities to its restaurants and will continue to do so,” the statement goes on to say. “We apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused.”
Perhaps eager to put the embarrassment behind them, there’s no name or number of a media contact on the release. Hint: Tim Hortons has said all it wants to on the matter.
But it’s doubtful company higher ups in Rhode Island didn’t know its involvement in the NOM-sponsored event would stir some bitter feelings. NOM is one of the most out-there anti-gay groups south of the border.
The group counts among its campaigns a highly-publicized effort to get beauty queen Carrie Prejean back her crown. The former Miss California was stripped of her tiara (for contractual violations officially) after her now-famous answer to a question about same-sex marriage (she’s opposed) at the Miss USA pageant in April.
