Ford, gay groups to discuss ad pullout

[kweerwolf]

Ford Motor Co. executives will meet next week with leaders of gay rights organizations to discuss the automaker's decision to pull advertisements for its Land Rover and Jaguar lines from gay publications, a Ford spokesman said Friday.

"We look forward to the dialogue with the leadership of the gay community," said spokesman Mike Moran.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said the group would ask Ford to explain why it dropped the ads and encourage company officials to reconsider.

The meeting between the automaker and leaders from 19 gay-rights organizations will come one week after those organizations issued a joint statement decrying media reports of a "confidential agreement" between Ford and the conservative American Family Association. In May, the foundation called for a boycott of Ford because of the automaker's sponsorships of gay events such as Pride celebrations, donations to gay rights organizations and diversity workshops for managers that included sexual orientation training.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/09/MNG4OG5P2P8.DTL

[terrya]

1. Unless Ford repudiates the deal with the AFA, there's really nothing...

to talk about...is there??

[Maven]

2. I hope the gay orgs. use the "B" word themselves

A boycott not just by GLBT people, but marketed to broader urban communities and enlightened people at large.

[Meldread]

3. Actually there are two "B" words.

Bigots and Boycott.

They should enter the meeting and state flat out: "We will boycott bigots."

[Maven]

4. Excellent.

Exactly what I mean by broader appeal. :thumbsup:

[Ally McLesbian]

5. That's the point

Straights, including those I am not out to, have heard from me regarding Ford.

[Maven]

6. Actually, there's another reason not to buy Fords...

The Ford Pinto case. Any company that could let people burn to death in order to save money on parts is evil to the core.

[kweerwolf]

7. Disappointing column on Ford/LGBT issue

I normally enjoy reading Deb Price's columns for the Detroit News. She one of (if not the only) out LGBT nationally syndicated columnists.

But her latest, which appears under the very misleading headline "Gays forgive trend-setting Ford for pulling ads," tends to whitewash the whole episode and never mentions that Ford apparentely agreed to pulling funding from gay events and programs in addition to pulling ads fromLGBT publications.

Her column, after rambling on about what a good corporate entity Ford is, concludes with:

One big new gay fear is that Ford has lost its way. The cover of Between the Lines, Michigan's gay paper, captures that worry: A gay-pride rainbow bumper sticker on a Ford pickup has had "AFA" plastered over it. Where did the gay artist get the Ford pickup? She owns it.

The other new fear among those of us who're gay and prize the jobs Ford provides and the good it does is that gay national groups will lash out. Between the Lines wisely pleads that anyone mulling a gay boycott instead "come to Michigan. See the hard-won benefits and donations before you work to dismantle this valuable relationship."

As anti-gay rhetoric heated up in the 1990s, Ford did have a better idea -- reach out to gay workers and customers. Now, Ford's loyal gay friends are eager to forgive and forget. We just need to hear Ford say, without hedging, that it still values having a good relationship with us.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051212/OPINION03/512120301&SearchID=73229262430615

I suspect her being based in Detroit plays a big part in her soft spin on the issue ... but I really expect more balanced coverage from her.

[Jamastiene]

8. Ford stands for

Fucked Over Rebuilt Dodge anyhow. Screw them. We don't need their crappy cars anyhow.