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A number of conservative and Christian groups reacted quickly. The next day, April 12, the American Family Association (AFA) in Tupelo, Mississippi, sent a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft urging an investigation of Yahoo! "for its direct involvement in the sale and distribution of obscene material and child pornography."

AFA also recommended that Yahoo! members threaten to cancel their accounts. The day after that, Yahoo! received at least 100,000 e-mail protests about its porn sales, prompting the firm to shutter its many "adult" clubs and group directories (Yahoo! directories enable discussions between people with similar interests).

Incensed by the shutdown, about 11,500 Yahoo! users organized a counterprotest, forming a "Don't Close Adult Clubs" discussion about their free-speech rights.

In addition, some individuals sent e-mails to the retail partners of Kingdom Buy.com, which has purchased advertising on the AFA Web site. As a result, at least 11 of KingdomBuy.com's 200 corporate partners announced in May that they had severed ties. Since then, two more retailers—J. Crew Group and Enterprise Rent-A-Car—have cut ties.

Wal-Mart, Avon and ftd soon reestablished ties after talking to Kingdom Buy.com founder and President Gary Sutton, and receiving protests from AFA supporters. Retailers JCPenney and Nordstrom have not.

Both companies deny that any outside pressure influenced them to cancel their partnerships with KingdomBuy.com.

"There were very sound business grounds [for the cancellation]," says Jeanine Connolly, public relations manager for the Plano, Texas-based JCPenney.com. "We review the performance of all our affiliates to make sure they are fulfilling our business objectives."

Shasha Richardson, public relations director for Nordstrom, says the Seattle chain ended the relationship in order to keep consumers satisfied. "We don't establish affiliate relations with Web sites that have religious or political content on them," Richardson says. "By going down the path of supporting one side of the issue, we end up upsetting customers."

Meanwhile, the Mississippi Gay Lobby has announced a "worldwide boycott" of any companies associated with Kingdom Buy.com and the AFA. "No gay person should spend another dime with these companies as long as they are funding anti-gay ministries," says Jody Renaldo, the group's executive director.

Despite the pressure, Kingdom Buy.com's sales have held steady since the retailers left, Sutton says, with sales generated from the publicity offsetting the loss of businesses. He expects the firm to donate at least $5 million to ministries this year.

"When we lose affiliates," Sutton says, "the real victims are those who would have benefited from work done by our Christian partners."

AFA will keep up the pressure on JCPenney and Nordstrom, says executive assistant Buddy Smith. "AFA has never run from a fight," he says, "particularly when it's over the traditional values on which this country is built."

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September 3 2001, Vol. 45, No. 11