By Ramy Eletreby

Ford Caves -- Wells Fargo Stands Up Against Right-Wing Pressure

The reaction of two gay-friendly companies to pressure from the anti-gay right wing has been markedly different.

On Dec. 1, the anti-gay Focus on the Family announced it was severing ties with Wells Fargo Bank, "motivated primarily by the bank's ongoing efforts to advance the radical homosexual agenda. These efforts are in direct opposition to the underlying principles and purpose of Focus," the organization said in a press release.

Though Focus would not disclose how much money was transferred to First National Bank of Omaha, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the nonprofit Christian group's income last year was $146 million.

Wells Fargo is sticking with the LGBT community, Shelly Freeman, the bank's openly lesbian regional president told IN. "A key part of Wells Fargo's vision and values is to embrace diversity," Freeman said. "We respect the differences among our team members, customers, and communities. Our company wants to earn mutual trust by supporting our corporate values for diversity, taking advantage of different perspectives, and leveraging diversity as a competitive advantage. Wells Fargo is proud to support the gay and lesbian community, which it has done for many years."

The reaction from Ford Motor Company to threats of a boycott by the conservative American Family Association was to pull advertising for Jaguar and Land Rover from gay publications. "The decision with regard to advertising was a business decision," Ford spokesman Mike Moran told the Associated Press. Ford will apparently continue generic Volvo ads and keep same-sex employee benefits, but Ford will no longer support LGBT events.

The move caused an uproar in the LGBT community. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force issued a "unity" statement signed by 18 other LGBT organizations saying they were "deeply dismayed" to hear that Ford "has entered into a confidential agreement with the extremist" AFA. They called for Ford to publicly "disavow" such an agreement, if there is one, and to meet with LGBT representatives. NGLTF Executive Director Matt Foreman told IN that the meeting is expected to take place the week of Dec. 12.

On Dec. 8, West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land and Mayor Pro Tem John Heilman joined the growing chorus of outrage. "Though you say that this is 'purely a business decision,' it is apparent that this shift is in response to pressure from a blatantly prejudiced, anti-family group," the officials wrote to Ford Motor Co. Chair William Ford. "By bending to the will of an organization like the AFA, the Ford Motor Company has aligned itself with a group that uses fear and promotes bigotry."

John Aravosis of Americanblog.blogspot.com goes even further, noting in a series of blogs that AFA used fake scientist Paul Cameron's inaccurate information in a May 14, 2002, "action alert" to try to influence Ford. Cameron, he notes, is the head of the Family Research Institute, which the prestigious Southern Poverty Law Center labels a "hate group" with science that "echoes Nazi Germany."

"It is tragic that Ford 'values' a lifestyle which is harmful to so many, and leads to an early death. The average lifetime for a practicing homosexual is in the lower 40s. Ford equates homosexual relationships with marriage," the AFA alert reads.

Witeck-Combs Communications expects LGBT buying power to reach $610 billion this year so it is not clear whether other companies will follow the lead of Ford or Wells Fargo. Ironically, while the American behemoth Wal-Mart continues to cater to the conservative right wing, CNN.com reported that it's British subsidiary Asda has introduced gay wedding cards for the country's Dec. 21 legalization of civil unions. -- Karen Ocamb

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Military Recruitment Case

On Dec. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR) vs. Rumsfeld. FAIR, an alliance of six U.S. law schools, filed the brief against the U.S. Defense Department challenging the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, which requires campuses to grant military recruiters full access to students. The coalition, made up of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, New York, and Yale universities, asserted that granting military recruiters total access to students would compromise their university's non-discrimination policies, citing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as discrimination based on sexual orientation. Congress has been trying to enforce compliance with the Solomon Amendment by threatening to withhold millions of dollars in federal grants if universities refuse to offer access to military recruiters.

"Our armed forces should recruit among the best and brightest for service to our country," said Sharra E. Greer, director of law and policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). "The best and brightest, however, include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, too. Law schools are simply asking the military to adhere to the same rule as every potential employer recruiting on campus: no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Military recruiters should not receive a special exception to university non-discrimination policies. Our country, and our students, would be better served by a welcoming policy in our armed forces." SLDN filed an amicus brief supporting the law schools.

New York Law School, Vermont Law School, and William Mitchell College of Law have reportedly complied with the Solomon Amendment.

Human Rights Campaign Releases World AIDS Day Report Card

On Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, the Human Rights Campaign issued its second annual report card rating the United States government's response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in four key areas: prevention, care and treatment, research, and global AIDS. In the area of prevention, HRC gave the government an F for failing to provide adequate prevention education, especially to vulnerable minority populations. Last month's CDC report stated that in five major U.S. cities, 46 percent of black MSM have HIV and two-thirds of them don't know it. Gay men still account for the largest percentage of new infections, rising 8 percent between 2001 and 2004. In the area of care and treatment, HRC issued another F due to significant cuts in funding to federal HIV/AIDS treatment programs with a reported 211,000 people not receiving antiretroviral treatment. In the area of research, HRC issued a D citing the recent passage of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill, which granted a less than 1 percent increase to the National Institute of Health. On global AIDS, HRC issued a C based on Congress and the president signing the Assistance for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act this past year.

"These grades are not simply letters in the alphabet; they are emblems of our government's failure to respond to one of the most devastating national and global health crises in history," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "The Bush administration and congressional leadership's response to this disease has been abysmal." -- Karen Ocamb contributed to this story

Several Gay-Themed Films Earn Independent Spirit Award Nominations

With the Nov. 29 announcement of Film Independent's 2006 Independent Spirit Award nominations, this year's gay-themed films earned a collective 13 nominations, hopefully pointing to a future of films that embrace the often underrepresented LGBT community. Films like Brokeback Mountain, Capote, TransAmerica, Happy Endings, and Mysterious Skin are all recognized by the award nominations, but their gay themes are their only common thread. All the films boast stylistically different screenplays, settings, characters, and other cinematic elements, showing how universal and unassuming gay issues are becoming through art. "These nominations spotlight filmmakers whose screenplays are stronger than ever, who are taking on riskier subjects, who have used technological innovations to great effect, and who have gone far beyond the typical, personal, coming-of-age films that dominated independent filmmaking several years ago," says Dawn Hudson, executive director of Film Independent. "The filmmakers and actors weren't afraid to address political, social, racial, and moral issues -- while making terrifically compelling movies."

Brokeback Mountain, a love story between two male cowboys, and Capote, a biopic on famed author Truman Capote, each earned four nominations including Best Feature. Transamerica earned three nominations including Best First Feature. Mysterious Skin and Happy Endings each earned a single nomination.