Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
July 2005 – After meeting with a group of Ford dealers, AFA has suspended its boycott of Ford Motor Company until December 1, 2005.
In the meeting, the dealers requested time to see if the concerns raised by AFA in the boycott announcement could be addressed by the dealers in cooperation with officials from Ford Motor Company.
“We believe the dealers were making a good faith effort to work out this dispute,” said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. “Therefore, we accepted the suspension request and will work with the dealers in attempting to resolve our differences.”
He added, “We urge those supporting the boycott to disregard it until December 1, 2005, and on or about that date, we will notify our supporters as to the status of the boycott.”
AFA launched the Ford boycott May 31, 2005. In less than a week, over 110,000 people had signed the pledge to boycott Ford for the company’s overwhelming support of the gay agenda.
“The boycott was initiated by AFA because Ford had openly chosen sides in the culture war, and the side they had chosen was with the homosexual movement,” said Randy Sharp, AFA director of special projects. “The company has been enthusiastically endorsing the gay agenda, even giving money to groups that are pushing same-sex marriage.”
The boycott would not only have targeted Ford products, but also the company’s other automotive divisions: Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin vehicles.
During the meeting with the dealers, AFA agreed to suspend the boycott if the dealers would encourage Ford (and its various automotive divisions) to do the following:
• Stop all donations – whether cash, vehicles or endorsements – to homosexual social activities such as “gay pride” parades and pride weekend celebrations.
• End corporate donations to homosexual organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
• Cease all advertising on homosexual Web sites and in other gay media outlets, such as magazines and newspapers.
This would include an end to Ford’s plans to advertise on the upcoming gay television network, LOGO, as reported in April by HRC. 
