NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–A boycott of Procter & Gamble has been launched by Focus on the Family and the American Family Association, targeting such products as Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Pampers diapers because the conglomerate has lent support to the homosexual agenda — specifically in its home city of Cincinnati.
The boycott is based on Procter & Gamble’s support of a ballot measure in Cincinnati to repeal a 1993 city charter amendment prohibiting homosexual rights laws. A Procter & Gamble executive was granted leave to run the campaign and the company donated $40,000 to the effort, according to the Associated Press. The ballot measure passed with 54 percent of the votes Nov. 2, clearing the way for Cincinnati officials to pass a law protecting homosexuals from discrimination.
Randy Sharp, AFA’s director of special projects, said the boycott will continue because the issue was not just about Cincinnati’s Article 12.
“The issue was about a major American corporation who serves millions and millions of families with their products becoming involved in a political and social agenda outside of their company,” Sharp told Baptist Press. “Not only did they support the repeal of Article 12, but we have found numerous instances in which they have supported gay pride parades, they have placed ads in homosexual magazines, they support conferences across America which are designed to promote the homosexual agenda.
“And when you couple all of those things together, I don’t think there’s any question that Procter & Gamble is one of the nation’s leading companies in supporting the idea behind same-sex ‘marriage,'” he said.
To date, more than 300,000 people have joined the boycott by signing a pledge on the AFA website, and thousands more have signed hundreds of petitions that have circulated around the country, Sharp said.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, “Procter & Gamble’s blatant support of homosexual-friendly corporate policies and community statutes places them on the list of companies that must concern American families. When Procter & Gamble or any company uses the proceeds from sales of their products to fund their pro-homosexual agenda, we need to take notice. It is important that individuals convey their concern to Procter & Gamble and other groups that promote these family unfriendly ideologies.
“As for me and my house,” Land said, “we are reexamining what is in our medicine cabinet and our laundry room to make certain we exercise good moral stewardship so as to not favor Procter & Gamble products with our purchases.”
Sharp said the purpose of the boycott “is to encourage Procter & Gamble to recognize the health and social dangers of homosexuality and to not lend their financial support to that agenda. It’s one thing to say we will not discriminate — and everyone to some degree would agree that discrimination is not good. However, there comes a point when you not only have a non-discrimination clause but then you go out and promote the homosexual lifestyle.
“And so our purpose is to encourage Procter & Gamble to recognize that everyone is equal in God’s eye [but also that its push to] promote and help further an agenda is not a good thing for the company,” Sharp said.
Some people are choosing to boycott all Procter & Gamble products, not just Crest, Tide and Pampers, Sharp said. The best way to determine whether a product is made by Procter & Gamble is to look for the manufacturer’s name on the back or bottom of the product.
Focus on the Family and AFA first called for the boycott in mid-September, and Sharp said it needs to last indefinitely.
“It takes a while to get a boycott off its feet,” he said. “We believe that with the accessibility of online communications and the Internet, it doesn’t take near as long for a boycott to become effective and to be felt by Procter & Gamble. Ten years ago, before the Internet, it would take a long time, but in just two months we’ve seen tremendous numbers of people who were able to immediately get information.”
Since companies often review their financial status on a quarterly basis, Sharp said AFA will monitor Procter & Gamble’s profit and loss statements to see whether their boycott is making an impact.
“I really believe that over the course of the next year or two we’ll begin to see that a consumer boycott is having an effect on P&G’s bottom line,” he said, adding that since other variables could cause a fluctuation in earnings, time is needed to let the boycott run its course and then analyze the data.
Sharp, a Southern Baptist, noted that Procter & Gamble is the first national corporation to become politically involved in a homosexual agenda issue.
“For Southern Baptists, there comes a point when we have to put our faith and our principles of faith above economy. I think people did that in the election too,” he said. “We have to say as Southern Baptists that rather than save 10 cents on this product, I think I’m going to put my faith above personal gain, that the mission is bigger than the individual. We’ve got to stick together. We believe homosexuality is wrong, and we’ve got to put our faith and principles before personal gain.”
Concerning the boycott of Disney begun by AFA and joined by Southern Baptists in 1997 along with Focus on the Family and other groups, Sharp said it “is still in effect.”
“While Disney has made some improvements, we continue to monitor their activities. We’re still very disturbed by Disney’s ABC network. Disney, through their ABC network, continues to offend families with the broadcast of indecent programming. In general terms, ABC prime-time programming is unfit for family consumption,” Sharp said.
“Disney continues to host gay days,” he said, “and continues to market music filled with obscene and heavily sexual language, so the boycott is still active.”
Within the SBC, the Disney boycott was embraced via a resolution adopted by messengers at the convention’s 1997 annual meeting in Dallas. Thus, if the boycott is to be revisited, it must be done by messengers during a future SBC annual meeting.
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For more information about the Procter & Gamble boycott, visit www.afa.net.
For information about the national debate over same-sex “marriage,” visit https://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage
