By Mary Rettig April 18, 2006

(AgapePress) - A Christian activist in California says despite what top officials with the Ford Motor Company may state about not giving money to support pro-homosexual social activities, a Ford dealership in Los Angeles is a major supporter of a homosexual rodeo organization in that city.

The International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) claims member associations in 31 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. James Hartline, a Christian activist in Southern California, notes that Ford has sponsored many IGRA events around the United States -- and that a prominent Ford dealership in L.A., Galpin Ford, is a corporate sponsor of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association (GSGRA), an IGRA member.

"It's the number-one volume Ford dealership in the world," Hartline says of Galpin Ford. "In other words, they sell more Fords out of this one dealership than any individual Ford dealership anywhere in the world -- and they're a corporate sponsor of this gay rodeo." Other sponsors of the Los Angeles chapter of the GSGRA include the Hilton Burbank Airport & Convention Center, Bud Light, and the homosexual television network "Logo."

According to Hartline, IGRA events do not typically let on in their advertising that they are homosexual events -- meaning many uninformed families will attend and be subjected to open displays of sexuality.

"These gay rodeos are not necessarily marketed in a way where people will know because they don't read the gay newspapers [or] the gay press," the activist says. "So a lot of these families will think, 'Oh, it's a rodeo.' So they bring their kids to this event, thinking they're just going to another fun rodeo."

So instead of just watching bucking broncos and barrel racing, families may encounter men dressed up as women as well as "mocking" of family values, says Hartline -- and unknowing parents will be very shocked by other things they and their children will see, he adds.

He calls that the "unthinking mindset" of the Ford Motor Company, that it would give corporate backing to such events in the name of diversity without even caring about the impact it will make on children and families.

The Christian activist claims the homosexual agenda is being forced into very family-friendly arenas -- like rodeos -- by corporations such as Ford through sponsorship. Hartline believes strongly that consumers need to let their dealerships know such anti-family sponsorship will not be tolerated.

Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.