Expedia says it ended an affiliate relationship with the Christian Values Network after learning the group donates money to some organizations that some people paint as hate groups.
Expedia's sister company Hotels.com also is in the process of getting its links removed from a Christian Values Network site.
And, Priceline is at least temporarily removing the Christian Values Network from the online travel agency's affiliate network while it looks into the matter.
Expedia this afternoon posted the following status update on its Facebook page: "Thanks you for all your comments about Christian Values Network. When we learned earlier this week that the organization directs funds to to groups that have been deemed 'active hate groups' by the Southern Poverty Law Center, we ended our affiliation immediately."
Hotels.com posted a similar message on its Facebook page.
The URL CVN.org takes you to the Global Prayer Network site, described as "an online Christian prayer community," which offers a toolbar and links to various ecommerce sites. You download the toolbar, select an ad and navigate to an ecommerce site for shopping, and then the group donates "a percentage of your total purchase" to organizations that you designate from a list they provide.
Here are some of the travel companies listed as places to shop through their affiliate programs:
Regarding the image above, Priceline and Hotels.com are in the process of removing their ties to the organization. Other travel companies listed include Ramada, Super 8, RentalCars.com, Best Western, BedandBreakfast.com and several others.
Delta Air Lines and Apple recently cuts ties to CVN.
Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council are among the organizations on the list which the Southern Poverty Law Center and others characterize as anti-gay and anti-women.
For example, the Southern Poverty Law Center says Focus on the Family has argued "that anti-bullying efforts that draw attention to the harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students are part of a 'gay agenda' to 'sneak' homosexuality lessons into classrooms."
The afilliate ties to the Christian Values Network put Expedia in an awkward position as it markets to the LGBT community.
Several efforts had been under way to pressure major brands to extinguish ties with the Christian Values Network.