Claim: Procter & Gamble supports the overturning of a Cincinnati charter amendment that prohibits the City Council from enacting any protections specifically aimed at gays and lesbians.
Status: True.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]
CREST, TIDE MAKER GIVES MONEY, CLOUT TO REPEAL LAW FORBIDDING SPECIAL RIGHTS FOR HOMOSEXUALS Procter & Gamble, makers of Crest toothpaste and Tide detergent, has publicly thrown their support and money behind the homosexual political agenda. P&G recently wrote to their Cincinnati employees urging them to support the repeal of a city law that forbids giving special rights to homosexuals. In 1993, the citizens in Cincinnati adopted the law by a vote of 62% to 38%. P&G is now working to get that law repealed and has given $10,000 toward that goal. https://www.pgboycott.com/pginformation.pdf (letter to employees) To our knowledge, Procter & Gamble is the first company to support the political agenda of the homosexual movement. While not explicitly saying so in their public announcement supporting the repeal, P&G clearly showed their support for homosexual marriage. P&G said they "will not tolerate discrimination [against homosexuals] in any form, against anyone, for any reason." To keep homosexuals from being legally married is discrimination for good reason, which P&G says they will not tolerate. Taking them at their word, P&G supports homosexual marriage. Take Action American Family Association is asking pro-family groups and individuals to: (1) Boycott two products of P&G — Crest toothpaste and Tide detergent. (Make sure your replacement is not a P&G product.) (2) Call Chrm. A.G. Lafley at 513-983-1100 and politely let him know that you are participating in the boycott and will ask others to do the same. (3) Please Click Here to register your support for the boycott. We will send a regular update to P&G on the number participating. (4) Please forward this email to your friends and family. (5) Click here to print out and distribute the boycott Crest and Tide petition. Sincerely, Don Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman P.S. Click here for a complete list of P&G products. |
Origins: In 1993, Cincinnati became the only U.S. city
relationships."
In 2004, a move was afoot to repeal this 1993 amendment and by so doing restore to homosexuals living in Cincinnati the legal protections against discrimination those whose color, sex, age, religion, or background would allow them to assert if they felt they'd been treated unfairly because of such characteristics. While
One of the entities that provided financial support to the move to overturn
Procter & Gamble positions itself as being against all forms of discrimination, which means if the 1993 amendment had excluded age or race or religion from the list of protected characteristics, it would have been in this same fight for the same amount. That the characteristic was homosexuality was unimportant to P&G; what mattered was the underlying concept.
Two conservative groups chose to interpret P&G's involvement in this matter as the soapmaker's advocating in favor of gay marriage. The American Family Association and Focus on the Family urged their supporters to refuse to buy Crest toothpaste and Tide detergent, two of P&G's biggest selling products, because they felt a symbolic boycott was the best way to make their opinions known.
Spokespeople for P&G say those organizations wrongly characterized the company's support of repealing a Cincinnati charter amendment to mean that it was supporting same-sex marriage. When we asked P&G what it had to say about its backing of the proposed repeal and the call to arms being issued by the American Family Association and Focus on the Family, it replied:
P&G has not taken and will not take a position on the legal definition of marriage. The repeal of Article 12 has nothing to do with the marriage debate. Like P&G, many local organizations and individuals support the repeal. Some are: the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, approximately Here are some links you may want to visit. Cincinnati Enquirer https://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/09/22/editorial_ed1a.html Cincinnati Post https://www.cincypost.com/2004/02/11/edita021104.html WCPO TV https://www.wcpo.com/news/2004/local/02/21/archbishop.html P&G has a long-standing commitment to supporting families. In fact, few companies can claim to be more family-friendly than P&G. We offer benefits such as adoption assistance, flexible work hours and child care centers just to name a few. Another way we care for families is through our P&G Fund donations to health and human services. Thanks again for contacting us. I'm sharing your message with the appropriate people.
We're glad you came to us for the facts on our support of the repeal of
On 2 November 2004, the ballot measure to overturn
Last updated: 4 November 2004
Sources: