Ford considering amending employment policy's sexual orientation clauses
Ford’s shareholders are to reportedly consider changing the company’s equal employment policy language to exclude any mention of sexual orientation. The move is expected after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the automaker’s bid to keep the matter from its proxy statement. As of right now, the Blue Oval’s policy includes clauses that specifically outline the company’s pledge not to discriminate based upon sexual orientation, but a request by shareholder Robert Hurley has submitted the proposal for consideration.
Ford has apparently been petitioning the government agency to exclude the issue, arguing that its inclusion will hurt the automaker’s chances of wooing potential employees at certain universities (that require sexual orientation to be included in recruiting companies’ policies), also fearing that backlash stemming from such a changeover could hurt sales to GLBT supporters.
The proxy statement goes out this Friday, at which point shareholders will vote on the issue. The result is expected to be made public on May 11 at Ford’s annual meeting.
[Source: Associated Press via Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Ryan 4:03PM (4/05/2006)
It's funny how a dick is so political, fuck, Catholics think your going to hell if you do so much as jerk off. Today's "modern" Christian gets hard at the first sign of being able to bash and tear someone down and rip them apart. Christian's at least todays Christians just absolutley love it, they would kill every gay person on earth in the name of God and actually enjoy every second of it.
If this is the heaven I have to try to work for, all straight people only? Send me to hell then. Ahhh, if my dick would just get hard for a women, life would be so much easier.
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Appalled 4:07PM (4/05/2006)
klaatu,
You are just downright scary. Mind your own business, live your life how you believe it should be lived, and don't judge others. I am a Christian, and I believe that Ford and all other companies should have a clause that says it's illegal to discriminate based on race, gender, sexual or religious orientation.
I hope the scary posts by people like you wake up the majority of us who just live our life and let God be the judge at the end. We need to wake up so the so-called Christians who feel it is their duty to run around and judge everyone else, and make us conform to your narrow, bigoted point of view see that you really are a minority, and in the USA, majority rules! Not just the loudest, but the largest.
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Ryan 4:44PM (4/05/2006)
"20. Duke, you're a complete moron.
You want to talk suppressing women?
Try Islam, not Christianity. Dumbass.
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_12289.shtml"
-Klaatu, go build a nativity scene or something.
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Ryan 4:49PM (4/05/2006)
"Try Islam, not Christianity. Dumbass."
*Dumbass*
-Hmmmmm.
""Try Islam, not Christianity. Dumbass."
-According to who? A Christian? HAHA
-Thats like the Impala winning car of the year by Chevy Magazine
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Non-Bizarro Adam 4:54PM (4/05/2006)
Chris,
I am appalled that you allowed yourself to be bullied by mj and changed the pic. This is exactly the kind of bull-crap that allows more and more people to tell me that I can't behave a certain way because it might offend someone. If you are really offended by the sight of pink flames on an F-150, then you need to get a life, because there are a lot more important things to worry about.
The fact that you would change the picture but allow Paul's numerous bigoted, unreasoned, inflammatory posts to remain on the site only further illustrates the ridiculousness of your actions. If mj can demand an apology and the removal of that pic, then I demand and apology and the removal of every one of Paul's comments from this site. But I won't get that, will I?
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Ryan 5:06PM (4/05/2006)
I have a quick question:
If I'm gay, always have, alwyas will, then by Christian standards I'm going to rot in hell with Hitler. So if I'm set in my ways on being gay, because I was born gay, then what is the incentive to do anything moral? I might as well do nothing I dont feel like doing that the Bible speaks of, correct?
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tim 5:13PM (4/05/2006)
Um, "klaatu"... "enough" with the "friggin" "quotes" "already." That's "annoying."
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Ryan 5:18PM (4/05/2006)
#25
"This is exactly the kind of bull-crap that allows more and more people to tell me that I can't behave a certain way because it might offend someone."
-Imagine that, what a fucking concept.
""This is exactly the kind of bull-crap that allows more and more people to tell me that I can't behave a certain way because it might offend someone."
-Such as:
-Being fired for being gay
-Not being able to be recognized in your country as a couple, does not even have to be marriage, just some form of recognition.
You know before you are start going off on how frustrated you are because of offending someone, try being gay and walking into any place virtually ANY place with your partner and having to WORRY about not offending anyone.
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Ryan 5:19PM (4/05/2006)
#25
"This is exactly the kind of bull-crap that allows more and more people to tell me that I can't behave a certain way because it might offend someone."
-Imagine that, what a fucking concept.
""This is exactly the kind of bull-crap that allows more and more people to tell me that I can't behave a certain way because it might offend someone."
-Such as:
-Being fired for being gay
-Not being able to be recognized in your country as a couple, does not even have to be marriage, just some form of recognition.
You know before you are start going off on how frustrated you are because of offending someone, try being gay and walking into any place virtually ANY place (in the USA) with your partner and having to WORRY about not offending anyone.
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Ryan 5:22PM (4/05/2006)
Anyone remember when Christians used to let God be the judge?
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Ryan 5:23PM (4/05/2006)
Anyone remember when Christians used to let God be the judge? Has that ever actually come through?
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Non-Bizarro Adam 6:16PM (4/05/2006)
Ryan,
Way to go overboard, buddy. Did you even read my post? I was commenting on mj being a whiny little brat and Chris caving. If Ford fires someone for being gay, obviously, yeah, that sucks. But is a pickup truck with pink flames really that offensive?
You prove my point. mj should be more worried about actual offenses that happen every day than a stupid picture on Autoblog. Being all knee jerk reactionary here only makes sensible people more wary to accept his arguments when they really count. And you can add yourself to that group as well, based on your response to my post.
Man, the more I think about it, the more you prove my point. Thanks, Ryan. You make this easy.
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Ryan 6:49PM (4/05/2006)
#32
"But is a pickup truck with pink flames really that offensive?"
-In the same article about potentially being able to be fired for being gay? Gee, I wonder.
"And you can add yourself to that group as well"
Oh I'm sure I already was before I even posted anything.
Really why are you so butt hurt over the pic being removed? If it helps out someone offended by it, why the hell not?
I work as a construction project manager for a home builder in Las Vegas,NV trust me I AM offended everytime I hear someone in my crew use the word "FAG", so anytime you can find a glimer of tolearance, it's wonderful.
Gay people as a whole, do not have knee-jerk reaction, they we have put up with more offensive crap than a straight dude could even *begin* to think about.
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r.yo 8:14PM (4/05/2006)
Is a Ford truck with pink flames offensive to use as the illustrative picture for a story about Ford and Ford's gay employees? I wasn't offended, but I found the picture inappropriate. Though I didn't complain about the pic, I appreciate that Autoblog changed it.
I found it inappropriate because I asked myself why the author would choose that picture. Is it a pun on the derogatory term "flamer?" Would one consider the truck to have a "gay" paint job, where "gay" is junior-high slang for "bad" (and that is definitely a "bad" paint job!)?
I don't know. If the article were about people from Poland, I would hope not to see a picture of a guy changing a light bulb.
Plus, the discussion of the picture has sidetracked us from the issue at hand. Given that Ford is having serious troubles these days, why in the world would a shareholder propose removing one of Ford's tools for attracting and retaining talent?
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iQuack 8:42PM (4/05/2006)
Seems to me that people who are so worried about other people's sexuality have personal issues of their own.
If someone is vocally "anti-gay" and makes an issue of it, I suspect latent tendencies in that person. Beware of those who protest too much--what might they be trying to hide?
People should sleep with whomever they choose so long as there's mutual consent, nobody else is being hurt, no illness is being passed, and both participants are having fun doing whatever they're doing.
And anybody who's bothered by this should get a hobby and not interfere with other people's pleasures nor blather unwanted quotes from the Bible.
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Non-Bizarro Adam 9:46PM (4/05/2006)
You're right Ryan, I couldn't possibly have any idea what it means to be oppressed. Only gay guys can be offended, because they are the only ones that deserve it.
I am so glad you are a construction site manager. Instead of coming on Autoblog and throwing around your weight, why don't you grow some balls and use your power to fire one of your crew members for using the word "FAG"? I know if I heard one of my employees using language like that at work, they would be gone. So instead of only standing up to people in the virtual world, if it means that much to you, do something about it in real life.
To answer your question, r.yo, a shareholder would do this because some people get passionate about the most stupid things. Does it matter to this guy if Ford has this policy or not? Not really. But he is willing to cause this stink because he is willing to press his views forcefully upon others.
This is the same argument I am having with Ryan. This shareholder is being a dick by wanting to press his moral alues on the rest of Ford. mj is being a dick by being offended by that picture, and then forcing the rest of us to look at a generic ford emblem instead. If he didn't like it, so be it, but by going so far as demanding an apology, he was being a dick. Go fight a real battle instead of taking on the (obviously) weak editorial staff here at Autoblog.
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Jason 11:02PM (4/05/2006)
Let's think about this whole situation for a moment. Who does Ford stand to lose the most from financially if they piss off one of the two groups, the gays or the Christian terrorists?
Gay people, as a demographic, have more disposable income that most straight people because most of them have no children, etc. Also, especially in the case of a gay male couple, there are two men earning salaries as opposed to only one in "traditional" families. You also have to take into account that the kind of people who are members of the AFA spawn 12 or more children and force their homely looking wives to stay at home and brainwash the brood while dad goes off to the office (and has long lunches at motels with his secretary).
Finally, Ford also has a line of vehicles that actually appeal to those with sense of style, both straight and gay. As recently as two years ago, the only FoMoCo cars that appealed to gays were the Escape and Explorer. Now they have those two SUVs as well as the Mustang, Fusion, Freestyle and Five Hundred that are very appealing. Of course, Ford has long recognized that gays make up a significant number of Land Rover, Volvo and Jaguar customers.
Then you have the AFA types. They probably buy a good many Tauruses and Crown Vics, but only one of those is still around. I'm sure they're also big fans of the Freestar and Econoline, but is that really the image Ford wants to project? I think not!
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RegularJoe 11:34PM (4/05/2006)
I've read all the comments here and it amazes me just how ignorant some people can be. The results of several public opinion polls in the last few years have shown 83-92% of the thousands of Americans asked support equal rights for gays in the workplace. Funny how that could offend 85%. Also, only the religious right thinks 2% of the population is gay. The 10% estimate may be slightly high, but 7-8% is completely reasonable.
For every person who thinks it should be acceptable to discriminate based on sexual orientation, I wish you had to walk in the shoes of someone gay for a few days. Personally, I've worked for a few companies where I feared I would be "found out" and lose my job based on the fact that I'm gay.
I'm very fortunate that I found a company with a written policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Interestingly, the owner of the company is a Christian and it's a very conservative industry (construction). He obviously realizes that people of any sexual orientation can be a great employee.
Come to think of it, what employer wouldn't want a gay person working for them? Without a wife and kids at home, I have no problem working for hours after all the other employees have gone home. Also, without children, I never need to leave work or call in because of sick kids, take off time for school events or run out the door at 5:30 exactly. Without sounding conceited, I am the most productive person in my department and possibly the most in the entire office.
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klaatu 9:13AM (4/06/2006)
I think the hollywood idiots have brainwashed soooo many people in this country. Watch any hollywood movies and much of the TV programming and Christians are made out to be xenophobic and evil and hypocritical, wheras other groups are made out to look like heroes.
Where did anyone get "hate" out of my opinions? Do you just skip over the parts which you don't want to understand and then just make assumptions?
I work in a very conservative industry and our office probably has 10% gays who are out, significantly higher than the population of the US.
We all get along just fine.
I personally do not care what people do in their homes, but as a society we must care under certain circumstances of behavior, or we're sunk.
For one example, the recent pandemic of female heterosexual teachers raping young adolescent boys. This obviously is unacceptable. Likewise, the recent arrest of a Homeland Defense high-up for soliciting a 14 year old girl online is unacceptable to our society - at least for now.
As I mentioned in a previous post, hiring a paedophile to teach gym, or hiring an ex-bankrobber to work in an armored car also MIGHT not be a great idea.... (DUH).
RegularJoe, once upon a day I worked in construction. I didn't give a fig about the rest of the crew, whether they were black, latino, gay, straight, left handed, whatever. I cared how they built houses, though.
You wrote that a large portion of people in this country said they support equal rights for gays. You know what? I could dig out surveys which say the opposite, and frankly, it's all B-S. It's pretty much in a) how you ask the questions (i.e. the biases of the people asking) and b) knowing where and who to ask to get the answers you want to get.
I've seen polls which say 75% of Americans don't want any form of abortion, yet we still have it, right?
Treat one another with respect. Christians, love the sinner but hate the sin. The rest of you, give us a break and use your God-given brains to think for yourself instead of letting some elites in hollywood and media outlets do your thinking for you.
You don't have to be a Christian, America isn't the Christian equivalent of a middle-eastern islamic kingdom where if you aren't the right religion or you convert, you get the death sentence (there was just a case in Afghanistan - you know, the country we Americans liberated from lunatics who kept their women as worse than slaves and exported terror too). I know that case hit even the secular news. I saw it.
In fact, there has never been a truly Christian nation such as are seen in so many islamic nations today because Christ did not wish to have conversion by the sword, as does islam. Nations in the past which used the sword to force their views were NOT Christians; they only said they were.
Ford in an unnecessary position because they took sides in what might be termed a culture war, instead of just marketing to all. THEY chose to stick out like a sore thumb and gain the attention of the AFA, which is where this all got started.
The underlying problem stems from the fact that our culture is being pushed towards complete secularism and a total silencing of any Christian religious beliefs in the public. This smacks of the pogrums of Czarist Russia, Stalinism or Fascism, to those of us who fear that our voices will be totally silenced. You expect the AFA to be silent? Why? Because you don't agree with them? That's being a BIGOT, not us.
There was a German Lutheran Pastor in WWII captured by the Germans (Hitler killed 6 million Jews, but 5 million Christians, Gypsies, Trade Unionists, Communists, Homosexuals and enemies of his Fascist state - people tend to forget the 5 million). This Pastor snuck out a letter which said something like "I did not speak out for the Jews when the Nazis came for them, because I was not Jewish. I did not speak out for the Catholics when the Nazis came for them, because I was not Catholic. I did not speak out for the Trade Unionists, or Communists, or Gypsies, or Homosexuals because I was none of those things. So, when the Nazis came for me, there was nobody left to speak out for my behalf."
Get the point? Either we find a way to get along and find a means of allowing everyone an open opinion in public discourse, or disaster awaits some or all of us. And it isn't Christianity which is looking fascist right now to my eyes, believe me.
In the meanwhile, Ford is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, and nobody is happy with the management decisions which were taken. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
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whofan 7:45PM (4/06/2006)
Hell on Earth is created by man!
Heaven on earth is what we could have if not for ignorance.
Why should we have to die to get there?
I`m strait and can`t see being gay but I have never been intruded opon by a gay person. To each his own.
Diversity is American so is Ford!
Don`t like it, get out of the country and take your foriegn car with you.
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