Same-sex marriage foes take Starbucks attacks abroad

A group that opposes same-sex marriage is taking its boycott of Starbucks to the other side of the world.

The National Organization For Marriage is upset that the Seattle-based coffee chain has come out in favor of legalizing gay marriage in Washington state as well as nationally.

The "Dump Starbucks" campaign got under way last month in the U.S. Now, the group behind the boycott attempt is running an online ad campaign in local languages in the Middle East, Indonesia and China.

Thomas Peters with the National Organization For Marriage says the overseas campaign is meant to make coffee drinkers abroad aware of Starbucks' stance on gay marriage.

"Obviously these are countries that Starbucks is in, but they're also countries that have very traditional views on marriage. So we think that people in these countries should be aware that Starbucks isn't just coffee, it's coffee with an agenda," Peters said.

Starbucks issued a statement saying the company will treat customers with respect regardless of their position on the issue. Meanwhile a website supporting same-sex marriage says it's gotten more than 10 times the number of digital signatures than the Dump Starbucks website has gathered.

Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network

On the Web:

• Chinese language Dump Starbucks website