Kraft Foods and
its shareholders decisively voted down a proposal Tuesday
that would have revoked the company's sponsorship of
the Gay Games in Chicago this summer. At its annual
stockholders meeting, 99% of Kraft's investors
rejected the move by fellow stockholder Marcella Meyer
to "disassociate" from the eight-day sports event because of
her opposition to homosexuality, Advertising
Age reports.
Any shareholder can make such a proposal, called
a proxy statement, which then must be voted on by all
company investors, and many corporate gay rights
supporters have used such a tactic to force companies to
adopt gay-friendly policies over the years.
But Meyer, a Chicago doctor, sought to cancel
the sponsorship because of her belief in a link
between being gay and contracting sexually transmitted
diseases, particularly HIV. She expressed her concern that
Kraft would be legally liable in the case a Gay Games
participant developed a "lethal illness" after the event.
Kraft has been under fire by conservatives, led
by the American Family Association, for its support of
the Gay Games, but the company has maintained its
sponsorship despite the protests.
"Diversity makes us a stronger company and
connects us with the diversity that exists among the
consumers who buy our products," Marc Firestone,
Kraft's executive vice president/corporate counsel and
corporate secretary, wrote in a memo last year about the
company's marketing commitment to the Games, according
to Advertising Age.
Kraft has donated $25,000 to the Gay Games, an
amount the company's board considered "well within the
scope" of its $85 million charitable-giving program.
(The Advocate)
