OUT Magazine lays off entire editorial staff

Things weren't getting any easier on their own for the struggling gay magazine. In a shocking move, the entire editorial staff has just been laid off. This comes just two years after The Advocate, once the country's leading LGBT news publication, ceased being available on newsstands and is now only available as a subscription in combination with OUT. Is this the beginning of the end of all LGBT print publications?

Nebraska Churches Take out Full Page Ad to Oppose LGBT Nondiscrimination Protections

Get this: 214 churches in Nebraska recently pitched in to take out a full page ad in Omaha's World-Herald newspaper to oppose an LGBT nondiscrimination bill. If passed, the bill would provide basic protections to LGBT people in Nebraska. Currently, LGBT people in Nebraska have no protections on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and thus can be fired from their jobs or denied housing just because they are gay. And 214 churches across the state came together to make sure that keeps happening. Apparently it's just the Christian thing to do. 

Whitney Houston: 1963-2012

The world has lost an icon, and tonight's Grammy Awards will surely be one to remember. Rumor has it that Jennifer Hudson is pulling together a performance to honor Whitney in time for tonight's big show. Here are my favorites from one of my favorite artists all all time.

Jurors in Lawrence King Hate Crime/Murder Trial Speak Out...

...and it will make you sick. The gay panic defense is alive and well. Where is the justice for Lawrence? 

The Gay Jersey Shore is Coming

Oh God. This can't be good. I can just see the ads now from NOM and the "family" institutions using clips from this.

Still Recovering

It's now been a week since my last post, the longest I've gone without posting since I started the blog over a year ago. So I wanted to share why this is: I have been slowly recovering from sinus surgery I had recently, and today is the first day I feel well enough to use the computer. I had endoscopic sinus surgery and a septoplasty to correct some issues in my nasal passageways which have caused me to to suffer from chronic sinusitis over the past 10 years. The recovery is slow and painful but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run. The worst part is that I can't breathe through my nose and I'm not allowed to blow my nose for another week. So I've been trying to sleep the time away as much as possible. Thanks for understanding, and I'll be back up blogging at my normal pace just as soon as I'm feeling like myself again.
-Brian

Fame Friday

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" -George W. Bush


Note: I tried to think of someone scary for the Halloween edition, and this was the best I could do.

NOM's New TV Spot... Have Your Barf Bag Ready

This ad is crazy and scary.

Blue Moon Resort Files for Chapter 11

The latest LGBT victim of what appears to be the recovery coming to a halt is Las Vegas' Blue Moon Resort. The hotel, which catered to the gay market, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The hotel listed assets of about $85,500 and liabilities of about $937,000 in its filing. But for now, the 43-room property near Sahara Avenue and Interstate 15 will continue operating and believes it has a bright future once the economy turns around, manager John Hessling said Wednesday.

Campell's Soup Situation Gets Even Uglier

-PLEASE SEE ABOVE UPDATE REGARDING THIS STORY-

Request Foods, the Campbell’s Soup affiliate that teamed up with the “Family Research Council” to run this discriminatory ad advocating against civil rights, is an even dirtier company than we thought. Thanks to a tip from a BrandFabulousness reader, I learned that the president of Request is a guy named Jack DeWitt, who has a long history of contributing toward anti-civil rights causes, and is even rumored to have ties to Eric Prince of Blackwater Security. Isn't it amazing that Campell's would have any ties whatsoever to such an inhumane company that would sponsor this piece of garbage? Especially considering Campbell's excellent track record with the LGBT community?

Campbell's Soup In Hot Water

Request Foods is a food packaging and marketing company based in Holland, Michigan that works for Campbell’s Soup. Recently, along with the “Family Research Council,” they’ve launched a major effort against a simple civil rights law that would prevent workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians. So in essence, this partner of Cambell’s Soup thinks it’s ok to fire somebody just because they’re gay, and they’re getting vocal to try and make sure they can still do that.

With the help of lots of money and a few phony statistics from the FRC, Request recently placed a highly offensive and untrue advertisement in Holland, Michigan's local paper. You can see the ad here.

Are we going to let a major brand like Cambell’s Soup, who we’ve come to love and appreciate for their LGBT-friendly marketing, get away with this? No! It's time to send Campbell's Soup a message urging them to distance themselves from the anti-gay actions of Request Foods, and to support Holland, Michigan’s anti-discrimination civil rights ordinance.

Hawaii Governor Vetoes Civil Unions

It's a sad week for so many in Hawaii who have been fighting since 1993 just for the separate and unequal institution of a civil union. Yesterday, governor Linda Lingle vetoed the state's civil union bill that had passed in both houses in Hawaii by solid margins. 



Bigotry Wins: Hawaii Gov. Lingle Vetoes Civil Unions from Joe Jervis on Vimeo.

Chicago Free Press Ceases Publication

The Chicago Free Press, one of the city’s major LGBT newspapers with a circulation of 50,000, has ceased publication.
The Free Press was started in 1999 by employees who had left Chicago’s Windy City Times. In 2000, Windy City Times was sold to Lambda Publications, publisher of Chicago gay paper Outlines, which assumed the Windy City Times name and continues to publish that paper.
In a story on the Windy City Times website Monday, publisher and managing editor Tracy Baim said, “This is not a day to celebrate. All media, gay and mainstream, are facing new and difficult paths to survival. So it is never a good thing when a media outlet closes. We at Windy City Times will continue to strive to cover all parts of our community through every tool at our disposal, from traditional newsprint to iPhones, the Internet, video and podcasting.”

 Read more at The Advocate.

Continental and United to Merge

It's official. United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed to become one. The combined airline will retain United's name and Chicago headquarters, with Continental's livery, logo, and colors.

“Continental is strong where United is weak and United is strong where Continental is weak,” said Continental CEO, Chairman and President Jeff Smisek during a Monday morning conference call with investors and reporters. “It's a match made in heaven.”

Other than their network, I'm not sure where exactly United is strong. From a branding perspective, I'm surprised they went with United's name. The Continental brand has more equity and a better reputation on practically every front. 

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.

Avenue Q's puppet cleavage causes concern in Colorado

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  — Puppet cleavage has been ruled out for advertising posters in Colorado Springs bus shelters. Lamar Advertising rejected posters for a touring production of the Broadway show "Avenue Q" because they show the cleavage of a fuzzy pink puppet. Lamar account executive Jeff Moore says the company takes a conservative approach in Colorado Springs. The city is known for its political conservatism, and some conservative Christian groups have headquarters in the city, including the now infamous Focus on The Family. The poster has been replaced by one showing the face of another puppet. "Avenue Q" is a Tony-winning musical about twentysomething New Yorkers, both human and puppets, searching for life and love.

Alexander McQueen Commits Suicide

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was discovered dead today after taking his own life. The industry was left reeling after the 40-year-old's suicide this morning, which comes just days after the death of his beloved mother, Joyce. It is also just three years since his close friend, style guru Isabella Blow - who plucked him from obscurity and helped him become a star - killed herself.

Read more here. 

Florida "Family Policy" Council Purposely Uses Wrong Photo To Mock Adoptive Couple

This is unbelievable. A Christian group in Florida with the deceptive name of "Florida Family Policy Council" has made a deliberate attempt to ridicule a lesbian couple involved in an adoption case. After the lesbian couple was granted adoptive rights, the group used the photo on the left in their press materials about the case. That photo is the first thing that comes up when you do a google image search for "ugly lesbians." The actual couple in the case is the beautiful pair on the right, South Florida trade-show executive Vanessa Alenier and her partner, Melanie Leon. 

What can we do about this?

1. Share this story as widely as you possibly can to shed light on this phony and malicious organization

2. Give them a piece of your own mind at http://www.flfamily.org/contact_us.php

And remember, it's a Christian group, so choose your words accordingly.

The full story can be read here. 

Frightening: Focus on The Family to Air Super Bowl Ad

This is unbelievable. Focus on the Family, one of the most dangerous and despicable organizations in existence, will be joining the ranks of some of the country’s most respected and wealthy marketers by airing a TV ad in the upcoming Super Bowl. The organization has survived largely over the past several decades on its ability to brainwash middle America into thinking that gay people are sinful and can be changed. Because of this, I hold them accountable for countless suicides of LGBT children and teenagers in the U.S. Anybody who's seen the movie "For the Bible Tells Me So" has seen this first hand.

Anyway... they're actually spending upwards of $2.5 million on one Super Bowl spot, which supposedly will be focused on their anti-abortion views. $2.5 million. $2.5 million? Yes, $2.5 million. Forget about doing the Christian thing and helping out those in need in Haiti. Focus on the Family is spending $2.5 million on a Super Bowl spot. 

Be scared. If you've seen how your rights can be voted on and taken away like they were with prop 8, you should be very scared right now. What's next from them in 2011? An ad against gay marriage? Adoptive rights? Why is it that in 2010 such a hateful organization that has caused damage of such drastic magnitude can have that much money to throw away? Can you imagine if a white supremacist group raised that much money in the name of bringing back segregation? Hey, it could happen. Majority rules, right?

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but keep in mind how powerful this group is. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest group in the country advocating for LGBT equality, and they have 750,000 members. Focus on the Family has 2.3 million. Scared now?

What can you do about it? Vote. Come out. Speak out. Get involved. You'll regret more the things you didn't do when you're dying than the things you did do in life.

More about their Super Bowl ad is here.

What's going on in Buffalo?

Christopher Rudow's recent murder is likely the latest in what's been a string of anti-gay hate crimes in Buffalo. As somebody who used to live there and wait tables at a restaurant in the Walden Galleria, this is shocking. What's going on?