Dec 09, 2005  |  By: ANDREW KEEGAN  | COMMENTS     

Ford Motor Co. issued a statement Monday night after meeting with gay leaders that reaffirms the automaker's commitment to diversity but stops short of reversing its decision to pull advertising from gay publications.

"We value all people regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and cultural or physical differences," Bill Ford, chair and CEO of Ford, said in the statement. "This is a historical commitment of the Ford Motor Company that I intend to carry forward."

The company announced its decision to stop advertising its Land Rover and Jaguar brands in the gay press soon after two Ford executives met in Tupelo, Miss., with representatives from the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group that had threatened a boycott over the issue. After the Tupelo meeting, AFA leaders publicly claimed credit for successfully pressuring the company on its advertising decisions.

The apparent agreement between the American Family Association and Ford prompted a coalition of 19 gay rights groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, to demand the meeting with Ford executives.

"If there is an agreement with AFA, we expect Ford to disavow it," the groups said in a statement released Dec. 5. "We expect Ford to publicly reaffirm its historic support for our community. And, we expect Ford to meet with LGBT representatives this week to resolve these concerns."

Despite the meeting with gay leaders, Ford did not reverse its decision on the ads, disavow any agreement with the AFA or resolve the concerns raised by the leaders.

The Ford statement did not specifically mention the advertising decisions or its support for gay organizations and events, but also did not back off from its previous public commitments to pull back on both.

"The automotive industry is a highly competitive business," the Ford statement said. "During these budget-tightening times, our brands must make tough choices where to advertise and how to spend limited sponsorship dollars."

Ford will reportedly continue to advertise its Volvo brand in the gay media but will no longer use gay-specific images in those ads.

Neil Giuliano, the GLAAD president, was among the gay leaders who met with Ford and said Monday night he was "shocked and disturbed" by the company's statement.

"The statement from Ford does not begin to address the issues we discussed in our meeting," said Giuliano. "It clearly shows that they do not have an understanding of our positions, nor are they willing to distance themselves, and specifically correct, the statements that have been made by the AFA."

Giuliano said gay leaders asked Ford to continue supporting gay organizations and events, continue using gay-specific imagery in ads for the company's Volvo brand placed in gay media, disavow any deal made with the AFA on any of these points, and commit to continue advertising, at least at some level, the Jaguar and Land Rover brands in the gay media. Giuliano called the last issue "a deal-breaker" for the gay rights groups.

He said the Ford representatives verbally agreed to each of the requests, but that the statement failed to adequately address even one of them. He also faulted the company for not specifically mentioning in the statement Monday's meeting in Washington, D.C., with gay leaders or the company's commitment specifically to gay and lesbian consumers.

"They are clearly not reaching out to the LGBT community to try to correct what they led us to believe was a wrong impression" made by the AFA, claiming credit with influencing Ford's business decisions, Giuliano said.

"It's very disappointing and frustrating. It almost feels like we were played."

"This means I have to sell my Land Rover," he added, noting that he expected a significant number of other lesbians and gay men who own Land Rovers or Jaguars to do the same. Giuliano said he had purchased the Land Rover because of Ford's decision to advertise the brand in the gay media.

The Ford statement also did not distance the company from the AFA's subsequent claims that the automaker had bowed to pressure from the anti-gay group. But the statement did include a general denial that its decisions were influenced by anything other than economics.

"Ford Motor Company is always willing to engage in constructive conversation with those interested in our policies, even with those who don't always agree with them," the statement said. "But only Ford Motor Company speaks for Ford Motor Company. Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect."

Asked whether he now believes the auto giant did, in fact, cut a deal with the AFA, Giuliano demurred.

"I want to ...