Ford Motor Company’s Support of Gay & Lesbian Causes-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
This widely circulated eRumor is a forward of an alert from the American Family Association, a Conservative watchdog group in Mississippi.
It urges a boycott of Ford Motor Company because of the company’s support of various gay and lesbian efforts.
The Truth:
The Ford Motor company, either through its company policies or through donations, has been supportive of several gay and lesbian goals.
Examples, mostly from the Ford Motor Company site:
In a press release dated 2/1/05, Ford announced a pledge of $250,000 to the “Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale, one of the largest donations ever made from a fortune 500 company to a lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organization.
In March, 2004, the co-founder of Ford’s gay, lesbian or bisexual employees group (GLOBE) was honored by the Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community center.
In April, 2004, Volvo Cars of North American (a division of Ford) was given an Advertising Research Foundation award for it’s campaign targeting GLBT customers.
In June, 2004, Diversity Inc. named Ford as among the top 10 companies for GLBT workers.
In July, 2004, Ford became the first of the Big-3 auto companies to add “Gender Identity” as a protected category.
In July, 2002, Ford hired Witeck/Combs Communications to handle their advertising to the gay and lesbian market, according to the Witeck/Combs website.