Tue. May 31, 2005
Washington, D.C. -
Just weeks after announcing plans to promote a boycott against Kraft Foods for sponsoring the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago, the American Family Association launched a nationwide boycott against Ford Motor Company on Tuesday.
The AFA has set up a website (www.boycottford.com) to encourage members to register for the boycott. Ford’s line of vehicles includes Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Mazda and Land Rover.
“If one looks for the company which has done the most to affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle, he would be hard-pressed to find a company which has done more than Ford Motor Company,” AFA Chair Donald E. Wildmon said on the website.
“While this is hardly known to the general population, it is well known by numerous homosexual organizations. In fact, the Human Rights Campaign (a national homosexual organization whose goal is homosexual marriage) gave Ford a 100% corporate rating.”
The Mississippi based AFA has a history of opposing gay civil rights. The conservative group also denounced Ford for its support of GLAAD, saying “Ford believes the effort to legalize homosexual marriage by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is so important that the company is giving GLAAD up to $1,000 for every Jaguar or Land Rover purchased this year.”
It also notes that "Volvo has donated $500 to the Human Rights Campaign when a vehicle is purchased or leased."
Ford was one of the first companies to recognize domestic partnerships among its employees for purposes of medical insurance. The company has consistently advertised in gay media.
“I urge you to take action today,” Wildmon continued, according to 365gay.com. “Sign the petition to boycott Ford. Call your local Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Mazda and/or Land Rover dealer and inform them you will not be buying a Ford product until they stop their promotion of the homosexual movement and homosexual marriage.”
Last week, the AFA ended a 9-year boycott of the Walt Disney Co., although Disney says none of the policies the AFA pushed to have changed are any different.
The AFA launched the boycott in 1996 when the company began giving benefits to the domestic partners of gay employees. It denounced Disney for Gay Days at Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in California and attacked its partnership with Miramax films, which has since been dissolved.
Despite the boycott against Kraft, the company reaffirmed its commitment to the Gay Games according to Games co-vice chair Kevin Boyer.
Written By Ross von Metzke
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