Pro-Family Group Cancels Boycott of Ford Motor Co.

by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
December 1, 2005

(AgapePress) - - Six months after voluntarily suspending its efforts, the American Family Association (AFA) has announced it will not call for a nationwide boycott of the Ford Motor Company.

In late May 2005, the pro-family group called for a boycott of Ford for the automaker's support of homosexual causes. In conjunction with that call for action, AFA launched a website documenting the company's track record of support for the homosexual agenda through donations to pro-homosexual groups, sponsorship of events during "gay pride" events, and requiring managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. But within days of that announcement, several local Ford dealers requested a six-month period -- during which the boycott would be suspended -- to allow the company to address the concerns of pro-family activists.

AFA agreed to the request -- and according to group founder and chairman Donald E. Wildmon, the planned boycott has now been cancelled. Wildmon explains the course of events leading up to that decision.

"We called for a boycott of Ford, then a group of dealers requested a meeting with us -- and we've met with Ford several times in the last several months," he shares. "They've heard our concerns; they have responded, we think, in a very positive way. We've opened lines of communication, [and] we think those lines of communication will stay open."

The AFA founder says in a press release that those dealers played a key role in the process. "The dealers were very helpful in bridging a gap and opening up a line of communication between AFA and Ford," he states. "The dealers are basically our kind of people who share many of our concerns."

Wildmon believes the boycott is no longer necessary, and that Ford executives are addressing pro-family concerns in good faith.

"They've heard our concerns; they are acting on our concerns. We are pleased with where we are," he says. "Obviously there are still some small matters of difference, as people will always have, but generally speaking we are pleased with the results -- and therefore the boycott that had been suspended [is] now officially ended."

AFA says when the boycott was first announced, tens of thousands of concerned Christians responded to an online pledge to boycott Ford before the effort was suspended.