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CNN.com, 9/17/2004
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Conservative Christian groups are urging a boycott of two of consumer product maker Procter & Gamble's key products, charging the company is aligning itself with gay rights groups, according to a published report.
The New York Times said Friday that James Dobson of Focus on the Family and the Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association are angry at P&G for a statement on the company's internal Web site opposing an anti-gay rights statute in its hometown of Cincinnati. The law exempts gays and lesbians from special civil rights protection.
The two influential conservatives charge that by opposing the Cincinnati statute, the company is joining a push to allow same-sex marriage. They are urging supporters to boycott Crest toothpaste and Tide laundry detergent.
"For Procter & Gamble to align itself with radical groups committed to redefining marriage in our country is an affront to its customers," Dobson told the paper.
Procter & Gamble spokesman Douglas Shelton told the Times the groups are mixing two unrelated issues. Shelton said the company opposed just the Cincinnati statute and not efforts by the group to amend the Ohio Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
"The issue that these organizations are trying to put in our laps is one that we have not taken a position on," he said.
Conservative Christian groups have also criticized the company, the nation's largest television advertiser, for putting ads on what they consider racy television programs.
In the 1980's, a rumor spread through evangelical Protestant churches that the company was connected to Satan. The company eventually filed libel suits against individuals it said were spreading the rumor.
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