Airline Cuts Ties with Chocolate Provider Over Owner's Pro-Life Views
Swiss Air Lines will no longer distribute chocolates from the Swiss chocolate maker Läderach because the company’s leaders support a pro-life, pro-family Christian group.
The 10-year partnership between the airline and company will end in April, according to LifeSite News.
The company has been under attack by LGBTQ groups, according to Swissinfo, and has been subject to vandalism and calls for boycotts.
“It was about us, as customers, wanting to draw attention to our displeasure at the patent homophobia,” protest leader Rupan Sivaganesan said.
“Not many people are aware of the stance of the company’s management.”
Jürg Läderach, who owns the company, is the president of the Swiss branch of Christianity for Today. Johannes Läderach, his son, is on the board of the group, which sponsors an annual March for Life in Switzerland. The group supports Biblical marriage and opposes abortion.
“I understand it if people value a woman’s right to choose more than an unborn child’s right to life. But I ask for understanding for my opinion,” Johannes Läderach, 33, said. “I’m allowed to have a different opinion.”
He said his critics do not understand him.
“Because I fight for the unborn life, I’m accused of misogyny. But I’m not a misogynist – 60 percent of our managers are women,” he said.
He said that protests will not change his positions.
“I don’t want to stop fighting for my Christian values just because we’re having success as a company,” he said. “Ultimately what counts is not how much profit we make but whether we stand by our convictions.”
He went on to say the company does not discriminate.
“No one at Läderach is homophobic – neither the management nor the staff,” he said.
“We have homosexuals working for us, too. We don’t ask them. I attended a gay network event because I wanted to hear what the LGBTQ movement has against Läderach. There, I explained that I may have a different opinion on same-sex marriage or on the question of when life begins. But this does not mean that I have anything against homosexuals. Läderach has a zero tolerance for discrimination,” he said.
Läderach said that his staff has been loyal, but also noted that they are now bearing a difficult burden.
“Not a single employee has left the company since the wave of criticism against me,” he said
“I accept that my opinions provoke resistance. But it’s not acceptable that employees have to live in fear.”
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