Anti-Gay Sign Forces Job-Seeker to Do a 180
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It’s rare to see someone put their principles over their pocketbook, but Jennifer Bond let a snowboard maker know they could take their job and shove it.
Bond, an auditor, turned down a job opportunity with K2 Sports after learning that the company’s Ride Snowboards promoted a trade show sign that was homophobic.
For the record, I own a few pairs of K2 skis, a Ride board, and three Burton boards, the last one acquired just last weekend. All were bought secondhand at a swap meet or at yard sales, so neither company made any money off my purchases.Bond, an auditor, turned down a job opportunity with K2 Sports after learning that the company’s Ride Snowboards promoted a trade show sign that was homophobic.
Ride started out in the Seattle area about 1994 or 1995. The stock was doing rather well for a while. The company got absorbed into the K2 organization a few years back.
I thought it odd that K2 would have its headquarters in Carlsbad CA. Perhaps that was the location of Anthony Industries, which used to be the parent company of K2. The K2 factory is on Vashon Island, a ferry ride away from Fauntleroy, a suburb southwest of downtown Seattle. I think a lot of their manufacturing has been moved offshore and that some of their skis are made in China now.
Burton is headquartered in Burlington VT. All my Burtons are from Vermont, but when I was in a Sports Authority back in March, I saw Burtons that had been made in Poland. This was two surprises at once. First, that Sports Authority was selling Burtons, and second that they were from Poland.
You can read this at the Burton website:
Benefits
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Domestic Partner Benefit Coverage: Burton offers Domestic Partner coverage to employees who have been in a committed relationship for at least one year. This benefit allows employees to purchase medical and/or dental insurance for their partner as well as other benefits.
Though snowboarding entered the mainstream long ago, you still have that 18-34 male demographic of snowboarders at the core. Possibly they believe they're being rebellious, but if so, it's a triumph of marketing.The etymology of the word \"gay\" is evolving. It has taken on a new meaning in the last few years. It now a pejorative that means \"lackluster\" or \"unimpressive.\" Go to Wikipedia and scroll down to \"Terminolgy.\"
Wikipedia, Gay terminology
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When used as an adjective not describing a person who is part of the gay community, or when used with a derisive attitude (e.g. \"that hat is so gay\"), the term \"gay\" is purely pejorative and can be deeply offensive. The derogatory implication is that the object (or person) in question is inferior, weak, effeminate, or stupid. This usage is common among young people who may or may not link the term to homosexuality, much as some people may not intentionally link the term \"Jew down\" (to be talked down in price) to Jewish people, or \"I was gypped\" (I was cheated) to Gypsies. Some people, including some who identify as homosexual, use the word in the pejorative sense and consider it unrelated to sexual orientation. Thus, using the word \"gay\" in a derisive sense may or may not be offensive to masculine homosexuals, but it is still definitely a vulgarism and is considered offensive to most politically aware people.
I really don't know how I'd respond to a remark along the lines of "You don't have cable? That's so gay," or "You don't have a CD player in your car? That's so gay." I don't think that has anything to do with sexuality. I also don't think you'll be able to stop that usage. Look at all the underground terms for drug usage. Once something catches on with a young community, you'd have as much luck commanding the tide not to come in.On the other hand, Ride's sign at the big snowboard confab was using the word in the sense of sexuality. I figured that after some low level employees got some time off to think about it, they wouldn't make that mistake again, and that would be the end of it. I'm not privy to marketing decisions made within the K2 organization.
Actually (and here comes trouble) I thought the sign was sort of funny. I mean, at the time the sign made its appearance, I owned two Burtons and posted at Outsports and Outboard. Of course, if I were back in the bad old days of being a deeply closeted kid, I'd feel pretty bad about that sort of suggestion. Now, I'd just run into you if you said that to me intending it as an insult. That's worth having my lift ticket pulled.
[ July 14, 2005, 03:06 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]