GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE December 16, 2005

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an $11 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Gysegem, Joltin, the city, Trimble and others.

That suit was dismissed in March of 2005 by Judge Christopher A. Boyko, who felt that Phillips had a claim, but that it was better suited to state courts.

But the federal suit caused Warren to bring in a visiting judge who vacated the first conviction in December 2003.

Barnabee chose to appeal the second conviction to the Eleventh District instead of asking for it to be vacated because she feared the city would reinstate the felony charge and force a new trial, in an attempt to create a defense for itself in the federal suit.

The three judges heard the appeal September 23. The city filed no briefs in opposition and did not appear in court.

As a judge, Gysegem is immune from any suit Phillips might bring for allowing him to be wrongly prosecuted. But Phillips is suing him for remarks he made to a newspaper.

In a story about the federal suit, the Warren Tribune Chronicle asked Gysegem about convicting Phillips under a nonexistent law.

"He has a habit of pulling down his

Ford

Continued from page 1

sponsorships was solely a business decision. The division of Ford that contains the two luxury lines, the Premier Auto Group, showed a $108 million loss in the last quarter, and sales of American automakers are down across the board.

Ford will continue to advertise its Volvo line in the LGBT media, although it will no longer have gay-specific ads.

In the newer letter, Laymon includes a point-by-point examination of the issues the LGBT leaders brought up, and Ford's stance on each of them.

He asked that the LGBT community judge the Volvo ads when they come out. "We expect our brands to create advertising that supports their brand image and is appropriate and effective in connecting with the intended audience," he noted. "That is unchanged."

He also said that the company would continue to support "certain events," but that the company's dire financial straits will limit its support of events "in all communities in 2006."

He reiterated Ford's position that the removal of Jaguar and Land Rover ads from gay publications was a business decision, but Ford will now take out a corporate ad covering all eight Ford brands in the gay media that carried the original ads to explain the motivations behind removing the ads.

Triangle Foundation executive director Jeffrey Montgomery, who was in the meeting with Ford, said the company had continued talks in conference calls afterward.

Triangle, Michigan's largest LGBT advocacy organization, produces a number of large events including Motor City Pride, which Ford has sponsored.

pants around young boys, and as far as I'm concerned, that's still illegal in the state of Ohio," Gysegem told the paper.

Trimble is the stepfather of the boy who accused Phillips of propositioning him. According to Phillips, Trimble chased him in his car until he cornered him in a parking lot, then opened the car door, punched Phillips in the head, and took the keys out of the ignition.

Once on the scene, Warren police refused to take Phillips' statement.

Phillips said he is still angry, but no longer bitter about what happened. "Now they know they did wrong," said Phillips.

"I spent four months in a place you can only describe as a real-life version of hell," said Phillips, "sleeping on the floor next to people accused of murder and raping children and afraid to use the bathroom or shower."

"I lost 120 days of my life due to the ignorance of some people," said Phillips, "but this time justice prevailed. Things went the right way."

Phillips says he hopes that during the upcoming suits he gets answers as to why Rose, Gysegem, and the others did what they did to him while knowing that the law had been struck.

"It's important to me that they also hold themselves responsible," Phillips concluded.

Montgomery believes that Ford's statement about sponsorships means it will still support many of the ones it has sponsored in the past.

"My belief, based on our conversation, is they said they will continue to fund organizations and events at the same level as they are," he noted. "That level of support is not going to be lessened."

"Ford worked in good faith with us in coming to terms with these matters," Montgomery said in a release when the second letter came out. "Although they might not admit it, it is clear to me that the American Family Association created this mess by characterizing its relationship and influence with the company in the most cynical and dishonest terms."

"It is a credit to Ford that they have been willing to do what they could to replace that impression with today's strong statement of commitment to our community and many of our organizations," he concluded.

Ford's broad antidiscrimination policies remain in place, as are domestic partner benefits for employees. In addition, Ford's LGBT employees group, GLOBE, is one of the most powerful such organizations in the United States.

Laymon restated support both for the policies and the group.

"Hate groups like the AFA try to get as much out of these 'victories' as they can," Cleveland LGBT Center executive director Sue Doerfer said, referring to the possibility that the AFA claimed credit for business decisions already made by the company, then related to them by the two executives who met with AFA officials in November.

"What they've really done is put Ford in a bad light, which could actually harm its relationship with the AFA."

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