"Glee" star Jane Lynch has joined the ongoing boycott against Amway after the Michigan-based direct selling company's president was revealed to have made a personal donation to an anti-gay marriage group.
Lynch, who is openly gay and married to clinical psychologist Lara Embry, "grabbed the pen out of my hand and signed away," according to former Republican presidential candidate and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocate Fred Karger, who asked for the actress's support of the boycott he launched in August, according to Michigan Live.
The postcard bearing Lynch's signature has reportedly since been sent to Amway president and owner Doug DeVos. Other high-profile names attached to the boycott include reality TV star Reichen Lehmkuhl, who is also openly gay.
Karger, who serves as president of the LGBT advocacy group Rights Equal Rights foundation, says his boycott extends to Amway's parent company and all all other businesses affiliated with DeVos' family business, including the Orlando Magic basketball team.
Tax records obtained by Karger indicated that DeVos donated $500,000 to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) Education Fund through his Douglas & Maria DeVos Foundation in 2009. NOM was formed in 2007 to pass Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.
“I imagine NOM leaders Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown thought that no one would uncover the huge Amway contribution, which appears to be the largest family donation to NOM in its history," Karger is quoted by Raw Story as saying in August. He has also launched the website BoycottAmway.com, which includes a full list of all Amway affiliates, a Change.org petition and a phone number to call DeVos.
Meanwhile, Amway officials responded to the controversy in a statement, noting that although the DeVos family believes that one of "the highest callings of any individual is to express their own personal beliefs as a participant in the democratic process," the company's employees and distributors "come from all walks of life and represent an incredibly diverse set of backgrounds."
"The Amway opportunity is open to everyone," the statement concluded.
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