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CAROLIN
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noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
Victory Fund elects S.C.
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Next Issue:
2005;
The year in review
VOLUME 20 . ISSUE ±A
SINCE ±9BA* WWW.Q-NOTES.COM DEMEMBER ±7.2005
Ford proves they're not 'built for the road ahead'
Leading American auto manufacturer
turns its back on LGBT community
by David Moore
Q-Notes staff
During the first week of December Ford
Motor Company began notifying gay media
outlets that it was canceling all ads for Jaguar
and Land Rover but would continue — at
least for now — to run ads for Volvo. The
company owns all three brands.
The ultra-conservative, anti-gay organi
zation American Family Association (AFA)
immediately claimed that it was in response
to their seven-month boycott of the compa
ny — though representatives at Ford Motor
Company in Dearborn, Mich, initially denied
the claims.
“jaguar and Land Rover have been
streamlining marketing and making reduc
tions across the board,” Ford spokesman
Michael Moran told the Baltimore Sun. “The
decisions on advertising were made for busi
ness reasons and not as a social statement
one way or the other.”
Given the history' of the company with
LGBT consumers and employees the move
seemed particularly strident — an action
received with disbelief by LGBT advocacy
organization the Human Rights Campaign,
which immediately released a statement:
“Ford has been a friend to gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender consumers and
employees in the past, and through its poli
cies and advertising it has shown support
for fairness.”
Indeed, Ford has a proven track record
that began with the formation of a gay and
lesbian employee group — Ford GLOBE — in
late 1994.
Since the mid-
1990s, on both a local
and national level. Ford
has advertised in LGBT
publications and fre
quently supported gay
events.
By 1998 Ford for
mally added a non
discrimination policy
that included sexual
orientation to their
employment policy. In
2000 they announced
domestic partnership
benefits, followed by
the addition of gender
identity to their em
ployment policy in
2004.
The Human Rights
Campaign (HRC) award
ed Ford with a score of
100 in 2004 when it released its list of “Best
Companies for Gay Employees.”
“This rating acknowledges Ford’s deep
.commitment to building and nurturing an
inclusive and respectful culture in which all
employees feel encouraged, and able, to con
tribute to their fullest potential,” said Jim
Padilla, chief operating officer and chairman
of automotive operations at Ford Motor Co.
“Not only is this the right thing to do, it is
essential to the future of our business.”
In reaction to the Ford’s gay-positive
Deal with the devil: AFA's Donald Wildmon (left) reportedly bro
kered a deal with Ford representatives Ziod Ojaldl (center) i
David Leitch to
ads from gay m
« of all LGBT^Ioted events and pull
Stance, AFA announced a boycott of the com
pany in late May, 2005.
Said AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon:
“From redefining family to include homosex
ual marriage, to giving hundreds of thou
sands of dollars to support homosexual
groups and their agenda, to forcing man-
see FORMER on 11
Statistics show builying
is a 'serious probiem'
for N.C. students
by Riley Snorton
NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education NeUvork (Gl^EN) relea^d
on Dec. 6 it’s “From Teasing to Torment: A
Profile of School Climate in North Carolina,”
which provides a rare look into students’ expe
riences with bullying and harassment as well as
their attitudes about this serious problem. The
results are based on students in N.C. who were
surveyed as part of a national study of second
ary school students and teachers conducted by
Harris Interactive.
Results from the survey demonstrate that
bullying is far too common in N.C. schools:
• Nearly half of all N.C. students thought that bul
lying was a somewhat or serious problem in
their schools and were 33 percent more likely to
say it was a somewhat
or serious problem than see N.C. on 15
It is time to listen
to our students
and teachers and
make some
chariMs in North
Coroilna schools.'
— GLSEN founder
and N.C. native
Kevin Jennings
Notes from a
gay soldier
Seasons Greetings From Iraq
Editor's Note: These are the thoughts of a gay soltfier — a North Carolina
native — who has been deployed to Iraq. Because of the mditary's "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy, he nnist reman oranymous.
While I’m thinking about Christmas and family and friends
back home — things are getting really dangerous over here. Life in
Iraq has gotten a bit
worse since my last
column. I have lost
two interpreters as a
result of the ongoing
conflict.
As they left the
camp to go home on
a break, they were
attacked. That day
was sad. These guys
become your friend and are your allies to communicate effeaive-
ly. There have been also at least a half dozen soldiers from my
camp alone that have perished. Small arms
fire is increasing daily in the area, there are see NOTES on 17