“Very Gay Raptor” Built By Ford
At MotorBiscuit, we strive to be inclusive and PC. That said, it is Ford who has named its special pickup the “Very Gay Ranger Raptor.” It is meant for the Christopher Street Day celebrations in Cologne, Germany. The CSD events celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, with the parade having just taken place yesterday. Of course, the Very Gay Ranger Raptor was one of the parade’s main attractions.
Why did Ford name the Ranger “Very Gay?”
Cologne is also Ford’s headquarters in Europe, and it has supported the hometown even for years. But discriminatory comments to Ford posts about the CSD required a response. The Very Gay Ranger Raptor is its response.
Originally meant to be the standard Ford Performance Blue, things changed after someone posted that the color looked “very gay.” So Ford took it back and found a custom shop to paint the gold Alphafoil and rainbow stripes. When it was finished Ford called the pickup Very Gay Raptor.
The Very Gay Raptor took over 60 hours to be transformed
Over 30 square meters of the gold film were used for the design. There were over 60 hours put into the makeover message. And this isn’t the first vehicle Ford has applied rainbow stripes to.
For the 1998 CSD celebrations, Ford created a one-off Ka pickup truck. It added a similar rainbow graphic scheme. This was the first time that Ford had supported the event. So, the GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Employees) at Ford are celebrating 25 years of celebrating diversity in the workplace.
What is the Christopher Street Day?
The gay pride celebrations began in the US in 1970 after the infamous 1969 Stonewall Inn Riots in New York. Europe’s version called the Christopher Street Day happened in Berlin in 1979. The first LGBT parade in Germany was in 1972.
Now, most of Germany’s larger cities celebrate CSD. In 2002 Cologne held the Europride festivities which saw 1.2 million people attending. Each city’s CSD celebration takes place on different weekends between June and August.
In the past Porsche has also supported the CSD with rainbow-colored 911 coupes. And all of Germany’s automakers have supported the CSD in one way or another for the past several years. In all, 46 German cities celebrate these gay pride festivals. In some, street festivals and cultural events last for days or even an entire week.
