Rumor has it that ultra-Conservative Oklahoma-based chintzy craft goods retailer Hobby Lobby will be opening its new store in Keene on Friday. Not that people around here haven't tried to stop them.
Last year, Jodi Newell and I went down to speak in front of the Planning Board in opposition to Hobby Lobby's request for a building permit. Jodi made some good points about how the company's ethos is inconsistent with the values of inclusion, as expressed by a recent proclamation of the City Council. For my part, I explained that Hobby Lobby is a crummy company with a reputation for breaking the law, and that City should be particularly careful when it comes to accepting the representations of such a historically bad actor.
I also borrowed heavily from the NIMBY playbook. For example, I explained how lighting changes to the building's facade could potentially have an effect on migrating birds, dark skies, and the local bat population. Also, I expressed concerns about maintaining the neighborhood character of that particular strip mall.
The Planning Board didn't buy that argument - and maybe that's for the best, legally speaking. But I represent a lot of people who feel targeted by the culture war that Hobby Lobby has been a leader in and that's why it's important to put up a fight about these things.
More recently, some of us have been having protests in front of their store location on a regular basis. The purpose is to educate shoppers about Hobby Lobby and its work to undermine the secular institutions that make up the basis for our pluralistic society. We aim to encourage people to shop local instead.
There is nothing we can do to stop Hobby Lobby from coming to Keene, but we can help them be less profitable.
Read my full statement to the Planning Board here.