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Local News
HRC Gala Too ‘Controversial’
for Zions Bank
Just days before the inaugural Human Rights Campaign Utah gala, the Deseret Morning News brought the event new levels of attention with a front-page story about Zions Bank pulling their sponsorship.
The bank had come on board as a gala sponsor just two weeks prior to the event based on information that it would be hosted at the home of WordPerfect co-founder Bruce Bastian, featuring guest speaker Tipper Gore and a performance from pop star Oleta Adams.
The Utah-based company reportedly received an anonymous tip on Wednesday, June 1, that supporting HRC might be interpreted as supporting same-gender marriage—leading the publicly-traded company to pull their mid-level sponsorship.
According to Zions Bank spokesman Robert Brough, as quoted in the Deseret Morning News, the sponsorship was pulled to “avoid any misinterpretation related to the controversy around this issue (same-gender marriage).”
“We signed onto this thinking it was a Democratic Party human rights event to promote equality in the work force, particularly single mothers,” he said. “When we realized there may be some conflicts here, we withdrew.”
The response from the queer community, however, has been vocal complaints about Zions Bank’s decision. Within hours, several public email groups were flooded with calls for boycotts of the institution, contact information for reaching Zions Bank President Scott Anderson, and more.
“I would suggest that anyone with an account through Zions close it immediately,” said Tim Keller in an email. “Anyone with a loan, credit card or mortgage should re-finance immediately. All with a polite letter explaining that there are banks out there that appreciate our business (Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual for instance have supported us in the past.) Strongly worded letters and whining can only do so much ... let’s hit ’em where it counts. I sure as hell wouldn’t do business with them.”
“I’m sick of these corporations like Comcast and Zions blatantly saying ‘we hate gays’ throwing it in our faces but we do absolutely nothing about it,” wrote James Hicks. “They are using Amendment 3 as their stance and their hatred against gays & lesbians. They feel like because Amendment 3 passed they can do whatever it is they want and say, ‘it’s a business decision’ without giving it any merit.”
In a form letter from Anderson, Zions Bank seems to be trying to walk a middle line with the queer community. “When it was brought to our attention that our support of the Human Rights Campaign gala might be misinterpreted by some as taking a position on a controversial issue outside of our industry, we made the decision to withdraw our sponsorship.
“We are disappointed with the way this story has been spun in the media. In making our decision, we were not making a judgment on same-sex marriage. We were making a judgment on whether the issue is controversial. And it is.
“As an organization, Zions Bank does not have a position on the issue. We do, however, strongly support equality in the workplace and strongly support (and, in fact, encourage) all employees in their participation in community groups and organizations they individually support.”
Bastian, a Human Rights Campaign board member, said that while losing Zions as a sponsor is unfortunate, he doesn’t understand why the company didn’t research the event before pledging its support. “HRC is about honesty and being up front,” Bastian told the Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re right out there with what we stand for and what we fight for.”
Bastian said the event is poised to be a huge success and he’s not worried about the impact a major sponsor backing out at the minute will have.
“People are clamoring to get in, and there’s no more space,” he said.
Over 600 people paid $150 apiece to attend the event.—JK, RVM
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