Letter: Walmart allows petitioners against LGBT rights days after Orlando shooting

I feel utterly disgusted after returning home from a shopping trip to the Walmart on Duportail Street in Richland. It was two days after the massacre at a LGBT club in Orlando, and Walmart was allowing people to petition to repeal “the bathroom law” within the entrance of its premises.

It can surely not be acceptable for any store, let alone a corporation that is an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, to condone this display of bigotry and intolerance. It appears there has been little progress since similar petitions against racial equality 50 years ago.

I feel sorry for members of the LGBT community working and shopping at Walmart who were faced with hateful signs saying, “Keep men out of the women’s bathroom.” My heart especially goes out to the young and vulnerable adults who are faced with this hatred while understanding their gender identity. It is perhaps not unsurprising that such groups have a higher rate of suicide.

Our country needs to unify to stop hate crimes, not endorse people who are the epitome of hateful bigots. Such actions promote both homophobes and transphobes, and the consequences of this include one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Letter: Walmart allows petitioners against LGBT rights days after Orlando shooting."