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| GLAAD President Neil Giuliano said he felt like gay leaders may have been 'played' by Ford after the automaker refused to reinstate ads in the gay press. As a result, he said he plans to sell his Land Rover. (File photo courtesy of GLAAD)
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Ford Motor Company
P.O. Box 6248
Dearborn, MI 48126
800-392-3673
www.ford.com |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: ANDREW KEEGAN COMMENTS
 
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believe Ford, but they need to back up their words with some action."
On Dec. 1, the AFA called off a threatened boycott of Ford Motor Co. after the automobile manufacturer agreed to stop supporting the "homosexual lifestyle," according to Donald Wildmon, chair of the AFA.
"They've heard our concerns," Wildmon said in a statement. "Obviously there are still some small matters of difference, as people will always have, but generally speaking, we are pleased with the results."
Wildmon initially called for a boycott of Ford in June, noting on the AFA's website that "if one looks for the company which has done the most to promote the homosexual lifestyle, it would be hard-pressed to find another that has done more than Ford Motor Company."
The protest was temporarily suspended soon after Jerry Reynolds, the owner of a Ford dealership in Dallas, was alerted to the boycott and grew concerned that it might impact his business.
Reynolds contacted Wildmon, arranged a meeting between the AFA and concerned dealers, and helped broker the suspension of the boycott, Reynolds said in a June interview with the Blade.
"If I can get some top Ford executives to sit down with you and your group, would you suspend the boycott?" Reynolds said he asked Wildmon.
The conservative activists immediately agreed, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said the aim of the meeting with Ford was to "see what things most bother [the AFA] and what can be changed to make them happy."
WardsAuto.com, an automobile industry website, reported last week that David Leitch, Ziad Ojakli and other Ford officials met with AFA leaders at the anti-gay group's offices in Tupelo, Miss., on Nov. 29.
Leitch is general counsel and a senior vice president of Ford Motor Co. and Ojakli is vice-president of corporate affairs.
The AFA insisted Ford and all of its brands, which include Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo, refrain from donating to "homosexual social activities," according to the website.
Earlier this year Ford donated $250,000 to the Affirmations Gay & Lesbian Community Center in Detroit.
Additionally, AFA demanded Ford cease all advertising on gay websites and in gay publications.
Ford announced after the meeting that its Jaguar and Land Rover brands would no longer be advertised in gay publications, according to a Dec. 5 report in the New York Times. The company said it had no plans to change the advertising plans for Volvo, the newspaper reported.
But the website that broke the story, Wardsauto.com, reported Dec. 7 that as part of the agreement between AFA and Ford, Volvo ads will be generic and no longer tailored to gay consumers.
The site also reported that Ford agreed not to sponsor any future gay events but told AFA that it would maintain its employee policies against discrimination.
A Ford spokesperson told the Times that the ads were eliminated as a cost-cutting measure
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