© 2026 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Starbucks Opponents Take Boycott Attempt Abroad

A group that opposes same-sex marriage is boycotting Starbucks
imacgyv0r
/
Flickr
A group that opposes same-sex marriage is boycotting Starbucks

A group that opposes same-sex marriage is taking its boycott of Starbucks to the other side of the world. The National Organization For Marriage is upset that the Seattle-based coffee chain has come out in favor of legalizing gay marriage in Washington state as well as nationally.

The "Dump Starbucks" campaign got under way last month in the U.S.. Now, the group behind the boycott attempt is running an online ad campaign in local languages in the Middle East, Indonesia and China.

Thomas Peters with the National Organization For Marriage says the overseas campaign is meant to make coffee drinkers abroad aware of Starbucks' stance on gay marriage.

"Obviously these are countries that Starbucks is in, but they're also countries that have very traditional views on marriage," Peters says. "So we think that people in these countries should be aware that Starbucks isn't just coffee, it's coffee with an agenda."

Starbucks issued a statement saying the company will treat customers with respect regardless of their position on the issue.

Meanwhile a website supporting same-sex marriage says it's gotten more than 10 times the number of digital signatures than the Dump Starbucks website has gathered.

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.