Originally Posted by
USirritated
After living in Florida for 24 years +, I can honestly say that Florida is no more anti-gay than California. Of course that is all relative. South Florida is similar to Southern California, and North Florida (think southern hicks) is more similar to FAR Northern California (think conservative mountain people and farmers, it is almost 400 miles from SFO to the California/Oregon state line), small country towns, very conservative in both states.
No doubt that CA has its problems (again, every state/country has its problems), but the fact remains that while same-sex marriage is prohibited in both states, CA offers civil unions, while FL does not. FL does not protect state employees based on sexual orientation. CA does. Sodomy laws remained in FL until the US Supreme Court struck them down in 2003. Check out
this image. FL is lumped with the likes of UT, OK, and AK. Such states aren't exactly known for their strong record on civil rights.
Again, I'm not saying it's easily possible to make sure you are
never supporting an anti-gay business/state (I was in Michigan for two days in May--luckily there is absolutely nothing to buy in Michigan so I probably spent a total of $37), but I make judgments about such businesses and states and spend accordingly.
So, back to the original post. Marriott's public support of civil unions makes me more likely to stay at Marriott than I was before, but given the choice between SPG and Marriott, I would definitely stay at SPG due to Marriott's ties to the LDS church.