BP's Disaster

Undoubtedly faced with one of the biggest PR nightmare's in history, BP's website is now predominantly devoted to the oil spill disaster. The only thing blatantly missing is BP taking responsibility or offering an apology. I would have expected more from a company that earned a perfect 100 on HRC's corporate equality index.

Fame Friday

“In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it.” -Shakira, who has recently spoken out against Arizona's new immigration law. 

New Gay Luxury Hotel Brand Launches

New York based G Worldwide is planning to launch the first ever Gay luxury hotel and hospitality brand nationwide. The brand says it will cater to the LGBT community their friends, families and supporters.

According to a press release, “beautifully located hotels with uber high-tech facilities will launch in 5 major US locations over the next two years. Some of the most innovative, creative people in design, food & beverage, nightlife, events and hospitality have assembled to create this pioneering resort lifestyle concept.”

G Worldwide will begin with properties in New York, Florida, California and Las Vegas before setting sights internationally. Few other details appear available at this time. The brand appears to be using the tagline "it's about time" on its website. G's aesthetic seems to resemble that of the W.

The brand plans to officially launch promotional activities on June 1st at Gay Pride Parades across the US culminating at the legendary NYC Pride extravaganza where it is a Gold sponsor this year.

Washington Blade Resumes Publication This Friday

The Washington Blade, which served the capital's gay community for 40 years before it was closed by its bankrupt former parent last year, is returning to newsstands Friday.
In a notice on its Website, Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, a company of former Blade employees who bought the paper's assets in February, said the paper will return under its old name.

Since the Blade's closing the company founded by Publisher Lynne Brown, Editor Kevin Naff, sales executive Brian Pitts and other former Blade employees had produced an online and print publication called DC Agenda. 


"For more than 40 years the Washington Blade's commitment to excellence in journalism made it a weekly 'must read' for the LGBTQ community locally and even worldwide," Naff said in a statement. "This is the tradition we have tried to emulate with DC Agenda. We are thrilled that the Washington Blade is once again owned locally."



Videos from the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards - Los Angeles

Mississippi teen Constance McMillen at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010. Constance McMillen presented the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Wanda Sykes at the event.



Wanda Sykes accepts the Stephen F. Kolzak Award from Constance McMillen at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010.



Drew Barrymore accepts the Vanguard Award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010.



Glee accepts the Outstanding Comedy Series award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010.



Chaz Bono and Johnny Weir talk about GLAAD's important work and its young adult program at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010.



Richard Buckley accepts an award for A Single Man on behalf of his partner Tom Ford at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010.



RuPaul accepts the award for Outstanding Reality Program for RuPaul's Drag Race (Logo/VH1) at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010.

New Campaign to End 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Launches Today

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network launched a new media campaign today in the fight to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” this year. Every weekday morning as the markup of the Defense Authorization bill approaches in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of pro-repeal voices will share a letter to President Barack Obama from someone impacted by the discriminatory law. The campaign is called, "Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama."

"This is a critical hour as we're very close to reaching the 15 votes needed to include repeal to the Defense Authorization bill," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. "We are just two or three votes away and we urge the President to engage now and help us line up key votes still needed to get DADT repealed this year. By people sharing their personal stories on how this terrible law has impacted them, we can send a powerful message to the President and our own community as we build momentum going into this crucial vote."

People are encouraged to visit the campaign page, where they will be able to read the daily letter and take action. Actions including sending a letter to members of Congress, sharing personal stories about DADT, and posting the daily letter to the Facebook and Twitter accounts. BrandFabulousness is among a growing list of LGBT blogs helping to spread the word.

Major Mike Almy of the United States Air Force wrote the first letter for Monday. He describes his discharge after distinguished service in Iraq because e-mail to the man he loved was found on his computer.

“Despite this treatment,” writes Almy, “my greatest desire is still to return to active duty as an officer and leader in the United States Air Force, protecting the freedoms of a nation that I love; freedoms that I myself was not allowed to enjoy while serving in the military.”

Dance Weekend

Tracy Young remixes Tardy for the Party. She can make anything sound good.

Fame Friday

"I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking." -Joan Rivers

Marriott Launches Gay & Lesbian Travel Site

Marriott has launched a new website for its LGBT travelers. The sits includes images of LGBT couples, background information on Marriott's dedication to diversity and inclusion with specific focus on gay and lesbian travelers, as well as Marriott's partner LGBT organizations, including the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The site even includes information on Marriott's pet-friendly policies, since LGBT travelers are more likely to be pet owners. 

"Marriott's greatest strength lies in the rich diversity of culture, talent and experiences of our guests and associates around the world," reads a message from J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. on the site. "Our differences make us stronger; our culture more vibrant, our business model more flexible, our work more meaningful. Thank you for making Marriott International the global leader in hospitality."

IPG and Time Hold Fundraiser Benefitting At-Risk LGBT Youth

On Monday, the GLBT employee affinity groups of Interpublic Group (IPG) and Time Inc. held a fundraiser featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race to benefit the Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk High School. IPGLBT, an Interpublic resource group for GLBT employees and their allies, hosted the fundraiser in conjunction with OUT@Time Inc., the gay employee resource group at Time Inc. and the Logo cable channel.

“The Hetrick-Martin Institute is a remarkable resource for at-risk youth, and Interpublic is proud to participate in supporting this important community organization,” said Philippe Krakowsky, EVP, Strategy & Communications at Interpublic Group. “We’re also excited to partner with OUT@Time and Viacom’s Logo on this worthy fundraising event. It represents one of the many programs that we are undertaking as part of our commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion across our organization.”

The evening started with a cocktail reception at Interpublic Group’s main office in New York, attended by more than 150 people. The highlight of the evening was a guest appearance by RuPaul’s Drag Race breakout star Pandora Boxx, a recently cut contestant from the show, who mingled with guests and charmed the crowd. The reception was followed by a private screening of the evening’s RuPaul’s Drag Race episode and an exclusive sneak-peek of the season finale held in the HBO headquarters next to the Interpublic office. Over $2,000 was raised during the evening for the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

The Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) runs a program in New York that supports at-risk gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning youth. HMI also directs the groundbreaking Harvey Milk High School. IPGLBT has been working with HMI throughout the year, including tutoring students at the high school.

The mission of the IPGLBT group is to ensure that GLBT employees, consumers and their allies have relevance within IPG, their operating companies, and the work they do for their clients. It is one of four groups in the IPG MERGE (Multicultural Employee Resource Groups for Excellence) program, which aims to bring employees together in support of the company’s inclusion and diversity mission.

OUT@Time Inc. is an employee organization for Time Inc. lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees created to address the ever evolving needs of the LGBT community and to be a voice for the community within the corporate structure.

Is Publishing Dead?

This is fantastic: 

LGBT Marketing Conference April 30th in NYC

Community Marketing is hosting a full-day conference on marketing to the LGBT audience at the Westin Times Square on Friday, April 30:

Community Marketing, Inc. and Pink Banana Media have announced a full-day educational and networking conference for business leaders interested in growing their LGBT market share. The Gay & Lesbian Marketing Conference follows successful regional programs held by the organizers throughout the country over the past several years. Participants from the New York City region, as well as across North America are invited to attend the conference.

"In a soft economic market, the gay and lesbian segment presents an especially valid and viable opportunity for growth,” said David Paisley, the event organizer. “The Gay & Lesbian Marketing Conference offers a comprehensive research, advertising, marketing, and communications forum that will help attendees reach a broad spectrum of LGBT consumers."

More information can be found here.

The Power of One

Here's a great AdAge article on a big segment marketers are largely missing: singles. 

United Church of Christ Launches New Campaign

The United Church of Christ, whose last campaign included the famous banned ejector ad, has a new ad campaign that includes images of LGBT couples. I love the line "never place a period where God has placed a comma." Take a look:

Dance Weekend

Fame Friday

“I have said before how much I regret making this exception to our antidiscrimination policy. I believe the military's discriminatory employment policy is deeply wrong - both unwise and unjust.” -Elena Kagan, during her tenure as Dean of Harvard Law School.

This was in reference to her opposition of the Solomon amendment, a law which denied schools federal funding if they failed to allow military recruiters on campus. A number of schools, including Syracuse University, challenged the law in court and lost. Kagan's full remarks on the Solomon Amendment can be found here. 

Elena Kagan is highly speculated to be Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice John Paul Stevens. 

Glee Flash Mob in Seattle

This was put together by a gay PR firm in Seattle called One Degree Events: 

Constance McMillen Named Grand Marshal of NYC Pride Parade

Constance McMillen, Lt. Dan Choi, and Judy Shepard will be grand marshals at the New York City Pride March on June 27.

McMillen is the Fulton, Miss., honors student who fought back when her school told her that she couldn’t take her girlfriend to the prom. The 18-year-old and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the school board, and that case is still in court. However, a federal judge ruled that McMillen’s constitutional rights were violated, a decision that likely will impact LGBT students nationwide.

Choi is a 2003 graduate of West Point and has a degree in Arabic and environmental engineering. He has been at the forefront of the effort to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy since he declared on national TV that he is gay. The Army issued discharge papers using DADT, and Choi has challenged that. On Feb. 5, he was placed back on active reserve service with the Army National Guard.

Shepard is the mother of Matthew Shepard, whose murder was declared a hate crime. She is the founding president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which is dedicated to working toward the causes championed by Matthew during his life: social justice, diversity awareness & education, and equality for GLBT people.

New York City’s annual Pride March began in 1970 as a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The March has since grown to become the oldest and one of the world’s largest GLBT events. This year’s Pride March will begin at noon on Sunday, June 27.

Mascara Brand Capitalizes on Ricky Martin's Coming Out

Yardley cosmetics brilliantly used Ricky Martin's recent coming out episode in an ad for their tear-proof mascara. According to a press release, the ad was "an immediate response to the high level of local and international coverage given to this piece of showbiz news last week. We wanted to offer young female fans a quirky, tongue in cheek solution to the announcement in a ‘tear proof’ mascara." The ad was done by a South African agency called Bester Burke Slingers. I give them an A for moving so quickly. US agencies should be reacting this quickly to news and current events to ensure their brands stay relevant in today's era of instantaneous communication.

Dance Weekend

Ameerah - The Sound of Missing You (Original Mix)

Fame Friday

"I don't care how the word of God applies here. This is a courtroom, not a church, so don't preach to me." -Judge Judy

Upcoming Conference: How Diversity Management Drives Employee Engagement

On November 8-9, 2010, DiversityInc will hold a two day conference in Washington, D.C. covering a range of employee-engagement topics, focusing specifically on how organizational behavior affects different groups and personality types. They will break several times during the day to have small-group professionally-facilitated discussions, which will explore how diversity-management best practices can be used to increase engagement across race/ethnicity/gender/orientation/disability/age/religion. The wisdom of both the subject-matter experts and the diversity-management executive discussion will be captured and released in a report to be given to all attendees.

The conference is designed for senior-level executives at larger corporations who are running a relatively sophisticated diversity-management operations. Learn more here. 

LGBT Consumers More Optimistic About the Economy

Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs recently released the results of a study, and the results aren't surprising to those familiar with the LGBT consumer market. One in four LGBT adults believe the US job market will improve within the next six months, compared with just one in 10 heterosexual adults. Also, just 20% of LGBT adults say they expect their household's financial condition to worsen in the next six months, compared with 32% of heterosexual households. The study was conducted among 2,509 adults in the US, 336 of which identified as LGBT. The full results and methodology of the study can be found here.

LGBT-Targeted Census Ads Are Being Debuted Now

The first-ever PSAs from the U.S. Census Bureau to be tailored for the LGBT community are being unveiled right now in New York City at a news conference featuring out Star Trek star George Takei. The PSAs include six different videos featuring a spectrum of community leaders. One PSA is in Spanish, and all encourage LGBT people to mail back their census forms. Click here to watch the live press conference. 

New LGBT-Targeted Daily Contest Site Launches April 15th

Unicorn Booty (yes, that's right) is a daily contest site targeted to the LGBT community that will be fueled by the power of social networking. Each day, the sight will give away a free product from a different featured company. Users simply leave a comment about the product on the site for a chance to win. Companies can promote their products by purchasing a day on the site starting at $30, and 10% of all proceeds go to LGBT-friendly non-profits (the first being Seattle-based Lifelong AIDS Alliance). Here is their video press release:

And here's more on how it will work: