Focus on Family Pulling Funds From Bank Over Gay Issue

The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family says it is withdrawing its funds from Wells Fargo because of the bank’s support of gay groups.

“Focus on the Family has elected to end its banking relationship with Wells Fargo, motivated primarily by the bank’s ongoing efforts to advance the radical homosexual agenda,” says a statement on the Focus website dated Thursday and attributed to Focus President and Chief Executive Jim Daly.

“Our decision is not personal, but principled, and we trust our constituents and others will respect it,” it says.

The statement does not say how much money the group had deposited with Wells Fargo, and calls to the group’s Colorado Springs, Colo., headquarters were not returned.

Chris Hammond, a vice president of business development for Wells Fargo & Co., the fifth-largest U.S. bank by assets, said the bank provided a $50,000 grant to support the leadership counsel of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

He said it did not, however, agree to match contributions as GLAAD had advertised and Focus criticized.

“That being said, we do support many communities, and we’re proud to be a diverse organization,” Hammond said. “We’re proud of our support of the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) community.”

Hammond said he told Focus officials that the San Francisco-based bank contributes to many charities, “including nonprofit agencies Focus on the Family believes in.”

Glennda Testone, spokeswoman for GLAAD, issued a statement saying: “Thankfully, corporate America knows that discriminating against a group of people based on who they love is not only bad for business, it’s just plain wrong.”