2/28/09: A California gay-rights group announced Friday it is formally ending a boycott of one of Utah's most high-profile car dealerships.
Fred Karger, director of Californians Against Hate, said Friday the two-week boycott of Ken Garff Automotive Group was being called off immediately, following a series of meetings that included face-to-face discussions between company principals John and Robert Garff and Utah philanthropist Bruce Bastian, a leading gay-rights advocate. (Californians Against Hate)
2/11/09: Mrs. Katharine Garff, mother of Ken Garff Automotive Group Chairman of the Board and CEO Robert Heiner Garff, gave $100,000.00 to the California’s Yes on Proposition 8 campaign to take away the rights of gays and lesbians. In the past 9 years, Katharine Garff had only given $3,000 in political contributions, all to U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch. Now all of a sudden she becomes one of the largest contributors to Prop. 8 in the country.
The Garff family owns dozens of car dealerships in 4 states — Utah, California, Texas and Iowa. Please support this important Boycott and support equality for all.
http://www.boycottkengarffautomotive.com/
Utah Dealerships
- Ken Garff Chrysler Jeep Dodge
4175 W 3500 S
West Valley, UT 84120 - Ken Garff Ford
597 East 1000 South
American Fork, UT 84003
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Honda Downtown
64 E. 900 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111 - Ken Garff Honda Ogden
900 W. Riverdale Road
Ogden, UT 84405 - Ken Garff Honda of Orem
115 E. University Parkway
Orem, UT 84058 - Ken Garff Hyundai
198 East 500 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Jaguar
543 South State Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Mercedes
575 South State Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Mitsubishi Downtown
150 East 500 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111 - Ken Garff Nissan Riverdale
615 W. Riverdale Road
Riverdale, UT 84405 - Ken Garff Nissan Salt Lake
777 S. West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Nissan of Orem
285 W. University Parkway
Orem, UT 84058 - Ken Garff Porsche Audi VW
196 E. University Parkway
Orem, UT 84058
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Buick Pontiac GMC Mitsubishi
900 W. Riverdale Rd.
Ogden, UT 84405
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Saab
560 S 200 E
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Ken Garff Volvo
525 South State Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
California Dealerships
- Surf City Nissan
17331 Beach Blvd.
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
800-615-9640 - Stadium Nissan
1140 W. Katella Ave.
Orange, CA 92867
866-374-8080 - Puente Hills Subaru
17801 E. Gale Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91748
626-626-4800 - Ken Garff Chevrolet Cadillac of the Desert
78-611 US Highway 111
LA QUINTA, CA 92253
866-889-2520 - Acura of the Desert
68-100 Perez Rd.
Cathedral City, CA 92234
800-549-0463
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Toyota of the Desert
68-105 Kyle Rd.
Cathedral City, CA 92234
866-650-7306
Leave feedback on Yelp.com
Texas Dealerships
- Texan Pontiac GMC Buick
18225 Eastex Freeway
Humble, TX 77338
281-973-5827 - Casa Pontiac GMC Buick
1701 I-10 East
Baytown, TX 77521
800-481-4397 - Northwest Dodge
19616 NW Freeway
Houston, TX 77065
800-496-0939
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Clearlake Dodge
15711 Gulf Freeway
Webster, TX 77598
800-619-0103
Iowa Dealerships
- Dewey Ford
3055 S E Delaware Ave.
Ankeny, Iowa 50021
800-807-8240 - Dewey Dodge Jeep
3175 S E Delaware Ave.
Ankeny, Iowa 50021
888-364-6908 - Stew Hansen Dodge City Jeep
12103 Hickman
Des Moines, Iowa 50323
888-993-8282
Leave feedback on Yelp.com - Stew Hansen Chrysler Dodge Jeep
2412 N. Jefferson
Indianola, Iowa 50125
888-687-4576
Help spread the word through Yelp.com that Mrs. Garff’s $100,000.00 contribution to Yes on 8 will cost them lost car sales. Follow the link to Yelp.com and enter Garff Automotive Group. Leave a comment on what you think about their enormous support for Prop 8. Comments can be posted for any of Garff Automotive owned dealer around the U.S.
Posts
16 comments:
Oh wouldn't I feel HORRIBLE if I had ever bought a car from one of those outlets?! The haters are all around us; we need to expose them! The boycott will not be, (as they might dismiss it to be, just from OUR LGT community,) but also from our families, friends, clients, etc. I am out with EVERYONE in my life, including my clients, and everyone would follow my lead if we were in those states! CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING $100K TO WASTE ON HATE? I sure hope that entity will feel the pain! SPREAD THE WORD!
It's ironic that Utah Pride takes place right across the street from a huge Ken Garff dealership.
To vote in free conscious or donate money to a cause that one believes in; does not translate to being a discriminator. It does not mean that you will be fired from your job if you are gay. It does not mean that people have the right to harass you if you are gay. It simply means that through a vote, a decision to alter the definition of marriage as exercised for mileniums of time should be amended. People on both sides of this issue spent money and voted. However, you only see one side of the aisle really over stepping bounds. Using scare tactics of posting personal information and inviting people to harass donors is closer to being a hurtful discriminator.
The yes vote on Proposition 8 was all about HATE. Why would any one be ashamed of their hate vote? Why would it ever be hurtful to expose them for what they are. Better yet, why would they be afraid of having people know how much money they spent on H8. Let them all be exposed for what they did and how they voted. This is a matter of basic civil rights. The world should know and expose those people who hate others through their bigotry and hypocrisy (they do not hesitate to take money from the queer community and then use it to fund Yes on Prop H8). Until they are exposed for what they are, our gay community will continue to suffer violence and discrimination. We are not playing parlor games here. We are asking to be seen as equal human beings in this country.
To exercise your right to vote is one thing.... to donate sums of money larger than the majority of the population of the country makes in a year to influence the political process is another.
Garff and their troglodyte* ilk are free to support whatever they want to support. We are free to patronize whatever businesses we want to patronize - and Garff ought not to be one of them.
*A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
i dont understand why the boycott is being lifted? this article is totally ambiguous, why should we now support a company that is linked to donating so heavily to prop 8, just because it was the owners mother, well i would be surprised if that $100,000 she donated didnt in someway come from her successful son. if u want the gay community to support this hater, how about trying to explain to us why?
It is ambiguous but my guess is they made a deal financially that they won't publicize that helps the gay community.
I'm not convinced...they throw in a ton of money to pass a law that denigrates gay folks and strips away our civil rights. You call for a boycott asking that and fair-minded people everywhere not allow their dollars go toward paying off those bigots. They start to sweat because they realize their bottom is being affected...so you have a lil' chat, announce victory, and call off the boycott?
Am I missing something?
What exactly did you get in exchange? A promise to adopt a non-discrimination policy at their dealerships? What does it mean to "pretty much already" have a non-discrimination policy anyway? Did you share a hearty chuckle at that nutty ol' battle-axe Mom and her whimsical $100,000 "personal gestures"?
How about a matching donation to an AIDS charity or to organizations that now must fight to defeat this monster he and his family helped to create. How about a wad of cash to support a GLBT youth center in his city?
"We promise not to fire any fags we find working at our dealerships. I mean, we already *pretty much* don't fire 'em when we find em now."
That's what you got? That's not penance. That's not setting things right. That's lip service.
You had an "open and honest" discussion...pointing out that gays are human beings capable of complex thought and feeling, and deserving of the same civil rights they have...and you think they "understand now why this was upsetting and hurtful to many people."
What are they...5 year olds? Did you teach them to put their underpants on first and to look both ways before crossing the street?
Unless the boycott extracted more than a "I had no idea" and a "my bad" from these folks, then I don't see why you're calling it off. This isn't summer camp - we're not sitting around campfire singing Kumbaya. This is war - and they started it.
Money talks, bullsh*t walks. They need to put their money where their mouths are. Unless there's more to this deal, it sounds to me like you just took a hike.
It is a good thing this boycott was called off. It was a disgrace it ever even begun. Ken Garff has given $100,000 to the HRC and donates cars to be used in gay rights parades. Short of Mr. Garff being gay himself, you people would not be satisfied, and would still call for his head. HIs wife gave money to prop 8 something she has the legal right to do and should be able to do without a boycott. This was despicable and shows how extreme the gay community can be at times!
OK, I am not boycotting anything.And anyway, the boycott was called off. People have a right to support whatever they wish. Remember the blacklist in the 50s? Now we have a pinklist. It's the same thing, think about it. Be careful of the actions you take - they might come back to bite you. Better to do domestic partnerships for now and think the whole thing over. Calm thoughts provide good results.
Something is up with this. I wrote a post on YELP regarding this company and received a very hostile email from someone whom I suspect was with the company. Later, I received an email from YELP that my post was being taken down because they do not allow "political" postings. Man on man, they must have a lot of time over there at YELP to check all of the millions of postings and their "political" content. The whole thing smells bad. And I think that it is has to do with money and the power of the gay buck. Man those Mormons love to take our money and use it against us!!!! Include their crazy grandma's. They may be the worst. You think they do do not have an agenda???? Check out who is leading the Republican Conservatives top contender for the next Presidential Election. Mitt the Nitt.
Let's say that the Garff family has donated toward the gay cause...I say, to my family and friends: boycott Ken Garff Automotive Group until they clarify what's so shameful about supporting oppressed minorities.
Their is nothing shameful in supporting oppressed minorities when what they seek is in alignment with the constitution. But gay marriage is not in line with the constitution or virtuous and acceptable behavior to example for children. While no man or woman has the right to treat a lgbt individual poorly or disrespectfully they have the right to support what they want obviously within the realm or appropriate. And as the majority of california residents saw it is not appropriate to have gay marriage!
That argument holds no water. A 150 years ago, the majority of people in the Southern U.S. believed that slavery was "appropriate". At the same time, the majority believed that women should not vote. The majority of Germans believed in Hitler's claims. Sometimes the majority is just mistaken.
Anyway, I would like to kindly point out that homosexuality, unlike mormon evangelizing or voting to support hate in the constitution, iS NOT A BEHAVIOR. (It's amazing that people are so mediocre.)
Mrs. Katharine Garff, Ken Garff Automotive Group Had $100 gran to donate to prop 8. But could not donate anything for all the employees last xmas!! She could have used thay $100 grand and got gift certs for $25.00 for all the employees for hoiliday meals.The employees who work hard to line there pockets. Thay did not even send out a personal xmas card. To there hard working employee. weather thay are gay / bi/ les / or straight. It a shame there are people like Mrs Garff in this world. Lets hope someday she will need something and give back to her how she has been to others !
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