Brains vs. Boycotts, Part 3

And now, at last, the other shoe has dropped; we've finally found out what's really important in the whole Ford kerfluffle, as reported by the Washington Blade after Ford's release of their statement concerning their Monday meeting with "gay leaders".

Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, was among the gay leaders who met with Ford and said Monday night he was "shocked and disturbed" by the company's statement.

"The statement from Ford does not begin to address the issues we discussed in our meeting," said Giuliano. "It clearly shows that they do not have an understanding of our positions, nor are they willing to distance themselves, and specifically correct, the statements that have been made by the AFA."

Giuliano said gay leaders asked Ford to continue supporting gay organizations and events, continue using gay-specific imagery in ads for the company's Volvo brand placed in gay media, speficially (sic) disavow any deal made with the AFA on any of these points, and commit to continue advertising, at least at some level, the Jaguar and Land Rover brands in the gay media.

Now, this is the stunning part:

Giuliano called the last issue (continuing advertising for Jaguar and Land Rover in the gay media) "a deal-breaker" for the gay rights groups.

Yes, you read that right. These groups are not going to go away until Jaguar and Land Rover start buying ads in the "gay media", which is by and large made up of for-profit companies.

In short, the definition of "gay rights" has now been expanded to require that you purchase x number of goods and services from gay companies, or you and yours will be roundly condemned as "antigay" by these "gay rights" groups. Coupled with the fact that these groups have no problem calling the people who pay them and who give them cocktail-party invitations "pro-gay" and "gay-supportive", even when those individuals do things that are blatantly antigay, I think it is now safe to say that the definition of "antigay" has nothing to do with gay rights and everything to do with gay pocketbooks.

Update: New link to the story in the Blade added.

And a note to Giuliano....thanks for making it clear that this is all about the money GLAAD is losing.