Disney, Chevron Decry Boycott Over Prop. 187 : Politics: Firms say they didn’t support measure, though both backed Wilson’s reelection.

Two corporations targeted in a boycott over Proposition 187--Walt Disney Co. and Chevron Corp.--decried the action Monday, saying they never supported the sweeping ballot measure to deny non-emergency government services to illegal immigrants.

Disney took no position on 187, Disneyland spokesman John McClintock said.

“Disney is not anti any particular ethnic group,” McClintock said. “I hope that everybody who considers this boycott would consider very carefully just what it is that they’re boycotting.”

Meeting in Tucson on Sunday, a coalition of Latino activists employed by small, grass-roots organizations formally called for a boycott of “all businesses, tourism, vacations, conferences and meetings” in California, particularly targeting Disney and Chevron, until Proposition 187 is repealed.

“We’re asking everyone not to go to California for vacations, tourism and meetings, much the way people boycotted Arizona after the state failed to adopt the Martin Luther King holiday,” said organizer Jesus Romo Vejar, a Tucson attorney. “This is not a negotiable issue. Proposition 187 has to be repealed.”

In the wake of last month’s passage of the measure, Latino leaders in Colorado, Texas and other states have announced that they were considering boycotts of California and the products and services of its companies. But only a handful of concrete actions--primarily by journalism groups--had been taken to initiate a boycott. Last month, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Assn. decided to move a national convention to be held in Beverly Hills in 1995.

The boycott will concentrate initially on Disney and Chevron because those corporations contributed heavily to the reelection efforts of Gov. Pete Wilson, who made Proposition 187 the cornerstone of his campaign, Romo said.

Disney made contributions to both candidates for governor, McClintock said. Disneyland has received phone calls about the issue but attendance at the park has not been affected, he said.

Chevron spokesman Jim Hendon said the San Francisco-based oil company is aware it has been named as a target.

“We’re taking the reports seriously and we’re trying to find out more, but it isn’t clear yet whether there is a boycott and what form it will take,” Hendon said.

Chevron contributed nearly $123,000 to Wilson’s campaign and $5,000 to Democrat Kathleen Brown’s campaign, but it took no stand on 187.

Romo acknowledged that a boycott could hurt Latinos employed in the Southern California tourism and restaurant industries.

“We take our position with a great deal of pain, realizing that it will have an adverse impact on the people we’re trying to protect,” Romo said. “But Proposition 187 isn’t just about California. It’s about the whole nation.”

So far, the rebounding tourism industry has not noticed any boycott and no groups have canceled meetings at the Los Angeles Convention Center, said Michael Collins, senior vice president of the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Sponsors of the boycott say they plan to reach out to larger mainstream groups and leaders in coming weeks for support of the action.

“The real success in this will be getting all the organizations that were present (in Tucson) to get the word out to national organizations and other ethnic groups,” said Roberto Martinez, who runs the American Friends Service Committee office in San Diego. Martinez said he supports the boycott but that the national Quaker-based service organization for which he works hasn’t taken a position.

Major organizations that have taken no position include the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

“We’re neutral on the issue for the reason that it’s not our purview,” MALDEF spokesman Robert Almanzan said. “MALDEF’s job in the 187 issue is to follow through with our litigation--that’s our mission and what we’re doing.”

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Times staff writer Greg Johnson contributed to this report.