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Automotive
by Shana Krochmal

The American Family Association hates you.

But don't worry, you're in good company. They also hate Mickey Mouse, Paris Hilton and -- as of May 30 -- the Ford Motor Company. I always feel a little warm and fuzzy when I wake up to the news that yet another set of unlikely allies have been brought together by little more than some crackpot's belief that people like me deserve no rights. And people say that marriage equality will destroy society! I think we've done everything short of buying the world a Coke.

Last I checked, no one was boycotting Coke for not hating gays -- just Ford, which includes everything from the utilitarian Ford Taurus to the perky, topless Mazda Miata to the classic Aston Martin, aka the Bondmobile. According to the cultural diktats over at the American Family Association, Ford committed the unforgivable sin of giving grants to gay groups, having inclusive hiring and benefits policies and (my personal favorite) "forcing managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality." I'd hate to hear about how Ford probably forced employees to attend trainings on how not to sexually harass each other, too. Bastards!

This boycott comes just after the AFA -- the bully pulpit for preachers of hate Don and Tim Wildmon -- finally gave up the ghost of their nine-year ban on Disney. Because apparently they managed to successfully strip that company of all its pink fringes. But the AFA knows what some on the left have yet to fully parse: Boycotting a major company because you don't all want to beat up the same kid at recess is less likely to hurt the bottom line than it is to garner a few headlines. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Except, of course, when the whole point is just to sustain their crusade of hate. And in this world of brand-name smackdowns, it makes sense that the next battle of our uncivil war is upon us. Instead of arguing over whether we've all become slaves to Ikea -- as Ed Norton in "Fight Club" said, we are not our ******** khakis -- the debate now comes down to who shops where. Are you a Red State Wal-Mart shopper or a Blue State Costco devotee? Amazon.com or Powells.com? Silver Ring Thing or SpongeBob SquarePants? No children's toy is safe from scrutiny, and no adult can escape the inane, humorless rhetoric.

Even when you hide out in generic chic, like the rapidly proliferating American Apparel, you're probably not safe, given their cheeky embrace of amateur porn-like adverts. So what's a socially conscious 21st century citizen to do? I'm not going to say you have to take sides, except: Take sides. They hate us. Hate us. It's not a pleasant thing to wake up to, or go to bed to, but ignoring it makes us both vulnerable and stupid.

I'm not suggesting you run right out and buy a Ford (though those new Jaguar X5s make me drool), but take a cue from the small band of Internet activists who made enough noise in a few weeks to make Microsoft do another double-take and remember they're pro-gay. Make some noise. Write a letter to your local paper. Call your neighborhood Ford dealer to thank their staff -- who are far less used to handling zaps by wingnuts than, say, Hillary Clinton's reps -- and let them know that you're gay and you appreciate them not capitulating to the ridiculous threats of bigots.

Ford HQ issued a brief statement reaffirming their shocking values of "inclusion of different people with different perspectives," regardless of sexual orientation, and thanked the rest of the auto industry for not leaving them out there on their own on this matter. They've also been busy giving interviews in which no amount of prodding can get them to back away from their pro-gay support -- all very encouraging. AFA "suspended" the Ford boycott within a week, seeming cowed by public outrage and placated by nervous dealership owners, who basically said that some of their staff does, in fact, hate gays too, so why should they be punished? Ford reps said they would "welcome a dialogue" with AFA.

For my money, the gold standard in major corporate resistance to hatred was set by Kraft Foods Inc., a Gay Games sponsor -- and thus a predictable right-wing target -- in an e-mail to employees posted to the political blog DailyKos: "While Kraft certainly doesn't go looking for controversy, we have long been dedicated to support the concept and the reality of diversity ? We respect diversity of ethnicity, gender, experience, background, personal style and yes, sexual orientation and gender identity."

Wow. Inclusion and a touch of sarcasm. I think I'm in love. And they even protect my personal style, whatever that is. The real kicker for me, though, is how the e-mail ends, because some days I need to be reminded, just like everyone else, that there are people who don't hate us, who understand that these business-page bitchslaps are in fact part of a much larger, much longer-lasting cultural war. Concluded Kraft executive vice president (and my new boyfriend) Marc Firestone: "It's easy to say you support a concept or a principle when nobody objects. The real test of commitment is how one reacts when there are those who disagree."

In a time when our elected officials are far too often ready and willing to capitulate to the wackos who funded their campaigns, the steadfast support of all-American emblems such as Kraft and Ford in the face of an all-out PR attack is a serious coup for our team -- and a sign of the desperate measures to which those blinded by hate must stoop.

So who gives a damn if the AFA hates us? We must be doing something right.

Visit the following URL to take action:

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/supportford