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Ford drives the extra mile on LGBT
issues
Pride Source
December 15, 2005
Originally printed 12/15/2005 (Issue 1350 - Between The Lines News)
The following is an overview of a decade of commitment to the LGBT community
by Ford.
1994
Ford GLOBE, an group for LGBT employees, founded. Dialog begins with senior
Ford managers.
1995
Sexual orientation included in Ford's Global Diversity Initiative.
Ford GLOBE officially recognized as an employee resource group.
Ford advertised on the NBC world premier of "Serving in Silence" starring
Glenn Close as lesbian Army Reserve Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer.
1996
Ford Motor Company revised its written non-discrimination statement to
include sexual orientation.
1999
Ford sponsored its first gay event, the 1999 Lambda Legal Defense Detroit
"Michigan in March" Celebration.
Ford the first and only U.S. automotive company listed on the 1999 Gay and
Lesbian Values Index of top 100 companies working on gay issues.
Ford sponsored the 1999 Out and Equal Leadership Summit.
The Advocate named Ford to its list of 25 companies with good environments
for gay employees.
Ford of Canada announced domestic partners benefits.
2000
June 8: Ford, General Motors, and the Chrysler Division of DaimlerChrysler
announced same-sex health care benefits.
Ford sponsored Lambda Car Club D2K Grand International Invitational.
Ford received first corporate "Outie" Award for Significant Strides for
Progress at the 2000 Out and Equal Leadership Summit.
Ford and Ford GLOBE presented the Corporate Equality Award at the HRC
Detroit Dinner.
Ford's first LGBT-friendly recruiting ad in a national magazine appeared in
the Diversity Careers in Engineering and IT in conjunction with an article on
LGBT engineers.
2001
Ford expanded same-sex domestic partner benefits to include vehicle
programs, legal services and more.
Ford ranked as 18th on the 2001 gfn.com 50, a list of the 50 Most Powerful
& Gay-Friendly Public Companies in Corporate America published annually by
the Gay Financial Network.
The Gay and Lesbian Values Reports scored Ford nine out of ten points on its
2001 GLV Index.
Ford sponsored PrideFest in Michigan for the first time.
Ford Marketing undertook the most comprehensive study of LGBT consumers by a
major corporation.
2003
DiversityInc named Ford the number one company for diversity, and the number
two company for LGBT employees.
Ford brands Jaguar and Volvo begin the first LGBT-targeted advertising by a
Ford brand with ads in The Advocate.
Ford named winner of 2003 Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Fairness Award.
2004
Ford Motor Company Fund announced a $250,000 gift to the Capital Campaign of
Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center, the largest gift ever from a
Fortune 500 company to an LGBT organization.
Volvo Cars of North America, LLC received the Advertising Research
Foundation David Ogilvy Award and the Association of National Advertisers
Multi-Cultural Excellence Award for its "Starting A Family" advertising
campaign targeting LGBT consumers. DiversityInc announced that Ford ranked in
its annual Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees list.
Ford added "Gender Identity" as a category protected against discrimination,
the first of the Big 3 to take this step.
Ford received a 100 percent score in the HRC Corporate Equality Index.
2005
Ford ranked second in the annual DiversityInc list of The Top 10 Companies
for GLBT Employees.
Ford a perfect score of 100 percent on the HRC Corporate Equality Index.
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