An influential US conservative Christian group threatened Thursday to boycott Ford vehicles after the auto giant said it would resume advertising in gay publications.
The American Family Association, which claims more than three million supporters, said Ford had reneged on a deal to pull ads from the gay media.
"We had an agreement with Ford, worked out in good faith. Unfortunately, some Ford Motor Company officials made the decision to violate the good-faith agreement," AFA chairman Donald Wildmon said.
"We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon," the veteran Methodist minister said, adding "the option of a boycott is now very much alive."
The controversy has placed Ford in the midst of the US "culture war," caught between the powerful Christian right and the vocal gay lobby.
The AFA called for a boycott of Ford this year because of the company's "support for the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage," but claimed a victory on Dec. 1 saying "our concerns are being addressed."
Rumors of a "secret deal" between Ford and the AFA sparked an outcry from rights groups, prompting Ford to state Wednesday that it would continue advertising in the gay press.
"It is clear there is a misperception about our intent," Ford said in a letter to seven rights group. "As a result we have decided to run corporate ads in these targeted publications that will include not only Jaguar/Land Rover but all eight of Ford's vehicle brands."
Ford denied that any deal had been made and insisted that the decision to cease advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications was part of a broad restructuring of advertising budgets at the luxury marques.
It also noted that its Volvo brand would continue to advertise in the gay press. But a number of rights organizations asked Ford to reaffirm its commitment to gay rights.
Company chairman Bill Ford did that on Monday with a statement that said the company values all people regardless of their racial, religious or sexual identity.
On Wednesday, Ford extended that commitment by stating it would continue to support non-profit groups and events in the gay and lesbian community.
Wildmon, however, insisted that AFA and Ford officials had hammered out an agreement that prompted the Christian group to call off its earlier boycott threat.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
RSS