Quebec chain selling skin books upsets Florida fundamentalists

One of the prices that Quebec convenience store chain (and major magazine retailer) Alimentation Couche-Tard may not have factored in when it bought 90 stores in the U.S. southeast, including Florida, was that it was now operating in the ambit of the religious fundamentalists.

The chain is facing a boycott from the Florida Family Association, a right-wing Christian group which claims that C-T is "the largest convenience store chain in America that sells pornography", according to a story in the Globe and Mail. David Caton, the association's executive director, says that what may be fine in Canada doesn't necessarily go down well in Florida. "This is America and we have different values here," he said.

"Anything that shows full frontal nudity is pornographic," said David Caton, the association's executive director, who boasts that his group has managed to persuade 20,000 retailers and 11 oil companies to stop selling the magazines at their stores and service stations during the past 20 years.

Mr. Caton, who also rails against sex on TV and opposes rights for homosexuals, has launched an e-mail campaign targeting Couche-Tard and is calling on the association's supporters to boycott the chain, which operates under the Circle K banner in Florida.

Couche-Tard sees nothing wrong with selling the magazines, which it displays openly in its Quebec stores without any complaints. In deference to sensitivities south of the border, however, Couche-Tard places the magazines discreetly behind the counter at its Florida outlets.

"We're selling sophisticated magazines. I don't consider it pornography," Sylvain Aubry, Couche-Tard's corporate secretary, said in a phone interview from the company's headquarters in Laval, Que.

"For some people, Playboy is nudity, for others it's pornography and, for others, it's just reading the articles," Mr. Aubry continued. "I think it's a question of perception. We're trying to fulfill our clients' requests. North America is a free country."

Caton said he's willing to put up with "pretty racy" men's magazines like Maxim and FHM but he draws the line at Playboy. Penthouse is even worse.

He's particularly upset with Couche-Tard because the company won't even respond to his group's protests. "I think they're more interested in making profits than the effects these materials have on people."

Mr. Aubry says that Couche-Tard isn't about to give in.

"Let them have fun if they want to. ... We have their position and we have ours and, of course, if they start to trash our name, we'll take legal procedures."