In the midst of a prolonged AFA boycott, March sales for Ford Motor Company dropped 9%, part of a decline in sales encompassing five consecutive months and 11 out of the last 13. For all of 2006, Ford sales plummeted 8%, according to Business Week.com.

As a result of yet another month of bad news for the automotive giant, AFA Chairman Don Wildmon implored Ford decision-makers to return to its family-friendly roots and end the promotion of homosexuality that triggered the boycott.

“There are a lot of people who don’t believe same-sex marriage is right and refuse to buy cars or trucks from a company that does,” Wildmon said. “Ford needs to remember that and return to the customers that made it an automotive powerhouse.”

Wildmon said it appeared in February and March that Ford was silently backing away from its support of homosexual causes and publications, and AFA gave the automaker the benefit of the doubt.

“We were wrong,” Wildmon admitted. “Ford has now publicly reinforced the fact that they are still giving their support to the homosexual groups, which, incidentally, have as their top agenda item the legalization of marriage of two people of the same sex.”

One of the hopeful signs had been the fact that Ford’s Jaguar division had decided against sponsoring the GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards – a series of media events that the company had sponsored in recent years, including last year.

After AFA publicly praised the company’s decision, however, Ford denied that it had backed away. “We have elected to forgo sponsoring that [GLAAD] program this year,” Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley told The Detroit News, adding that “advertising and sponsorship decisions for all our brands are strictly driven by business considerations.”

Kinley said the company might very well sponsor the GLAAD events in the future.

As it turns out, in fact, Ford remains firmly committed to other homosexual organizations and events. The automaker is a “Gold Sponsor” of the upcoming 2007 PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) National Convention in October, and the company is also sponsoring the 2007 Motor City Pride Festival in June.

“We’d hoped that Ford had come to its senses and decided to remain neutral in the culture wars,” said Wildmon. “Sadly, that was not the case.”

As a result, Wildmon said nearly 700,000 individuals have signed a pledge to boycott Ford over its promotion of homosexuality.

For more information on Ford’s support for the gay agenda, go to AFA’s Web site, www.BoycottFord.com. For company contact information, see AFA’s Boycott Box on page 5.