FH Out Front Blog

And the Nominees Are...

Aloha, friends (I learned that from the aforementioned vacay in Hawaii—did you miss me?!?). It’s been quite the month for high-profile nominations, from the Primetime Emmys to hopeful Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. On the LGBT red carpet, two organizations have announced their nominations, both equally worthy of a spotlight.

 On Wednesday, Out and Equal Advocates announced nominations for “The Outies,” its annual workplace awards which recognize the most significant achievements in LGBT workplace equality. There are five categories this year—two recognizing individual achievement and three recognizing organizations. Check out the nominees here. Specifically, look at the high profile companies represented in the Workplace Excellence Award, including Google and PricewaterhouseCoopers. This award recognizes an employer that has a historic and ongoing commitment to pursuing and executing workplace equality for LGBT employees, continually raising the bar of workplace equality for others to follow.

As I previously blogged, companies who recognize their LGBT employees will earn an immeasurable ROI among LGBT consumers. Just imagine the brand advocates you create by respecting your LGBT workforce, who in turn, will champion you to their own circle of friends. Just call it “Gay it Forward.”  Winners will be announced on October 8 at the 2009 Out & Equal Workplace Summit in October. My biggest question—what does one wear to the Outies?

Awareness For AIDS

Greater Than AIDS was launched last week, on National HIV Testing Day, by the Black AIDS Media Partnership to create a movement of HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.  The campaign aims to mobilize the black community to talk about HIV/AIDS and protect against the spread of the disease.

Though blacks account for 13 percent of the total US population, this community makes up nearly 50% of new HIV cases. That means, approximately half a million Black Americans are living with HIV. Many of those affected lack access to health care and treatment, making this population even more vulnerable. According to the CDC, black men who have sex with men (BMSM) accounted for 63 percent of new infections among black men in 2006." A campaign that urges testing, prevention and conversation in the black community is essential for change.

Greater Than is a refreshing campaign, though visually dark. The Greater Than AIDS Web site provides advocates with an opportunity to engage others through social network tools, like Twitter and Facebook. The entire Web site is set up as an online community, giving visitors an opportunity to personalize their pages and start or join a conversation. This platform fulfills the campaign’s mission – opening the doors to discussion and change. Additionally, four videos show personal stories of HIV positive people – breaking the silence. Looking for a call to action, there’s plenty. The Web site provides national to local ways people can get involved in HIV advocacy. 

Looking for something to do this weekend? Join Greater than AIDS at the ESSENCE Music Festival in New Orleans. On-site, free HIV testing will be available to attendees, followed by an HIV/AIDS seminar featuring Phill Wilson, Executive Director of the Black AIDS Institute; Marvelyn Brown, activist and author; Dr. Hilda Hutcherson and others.

To be quite honest, I really like this campaign – its overall mission, strategy and tactics. Each platform the campaign utilizes gives a voice to the black community. One of the greatest hurdles in changing behavior goes beyond pure education. Campaigns and communications tactics that truly make an impact are those that give communities what is needed – a platform to discuss issues and motivate personal change.  I’m excited to see the campaign grow and gain momentum.

Continuing the Conversation on HIV/AIDS

As many of us have said countless times before, the conversation about HIV/AIDS needs to be restarted and refreshed. We all need to be thinking about ways to ensure we keep the dialogue going about prevention and protection, treatment and care. With infection rates climbing in many places (including D.C. where it has now been labeled an epidemic), we simply have no choice but to think about all of the ways in which we can leverage communications tools to share information and encourage efforts to fight HIV infections.

So it was great to read this morning about a new coalition of business leaders that has identified three target cities in the U.S. for a new campaign to “fight the spread of HIV and AIDS with better marketing, appearances by professional basketball players and financial donations to city health departments.”  The Washington Post carried the story on the front of its Metro section today and provided good detail about a story that gets far too little attention. 

According to the article, the three cities receiving the funding are Washington, D.C., New York City and Oakland, California. The companies involved are all members of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and include Pfizer, Nike, Nokia, the National Basketball Association and Facebook (among others). Very cool. I must say, however, that I hope this program does not become a one-shot deal. If the companies just write checks and issue press releases and then the campaign goes nowhere, then this announcement will amount to nothing more than bad PR. I really hope that the partners are committed to this campaign and will see it through, including remaining engaged in outreach and communication focused on making a positive impact.

The announcement could not have come at a better time. Saturday, June 27, 2009 is National HIV Testing Day – an annual observance that often seems to be overshadowed by other events and activities. 

What do you think? Is this kind of corporate engagement helpful? What else should we be doing to further the conversation about HIV/AIDS? Please share your thoughts below.

Big Gay on Campus

Happy Pride Month! Here in Cleveland, our Pride Festival is next weekend, June 20 and 21. How fun is that—Pride & Father’s Day! In the ultimate gay moment, my dad will be coming to my gay choir’s “Totally Awesome 80s” concert on Father’s Day, on Pride Sunday (yes, the concert includes two drag songs—“Material Girl” and “Dude Looks Like a Lady”). Couldn’t have predicted that moment in a million years…. We’ll also be performing at the Cleveland Pride Parade, so I’ll blog next time about Pride here in the Midwest.

Now back to the topic at hand (or on screen). My wonderfully observant colleague Bryan tipped me off to a just-published study that reveals “gay male college students are more motivated to learn and more likely to be mentored than their straight counterparts, and their above-average grades suggest this kind of engagement makes.” According to the study, the average gay male undergraduate’s GPA (should that now be Gay Point Average?) is 2 percent higher than that of straight males at the same institution.
Some other interesting findings:

• Gay males find academic work more important than straight males
• We spend 40 to 50 percent more time doing volunteer work or participating in student organizations
• 13 percent of us are more likely than straight male students to report they had a faculty member or administrator they could talk to about a problem

Our sisters were not left out of the study. According to the report, “behavioral lesbians” appear to do no worse, no better academically than behavioral heterosexuals. But “behavioral bisexuals (who are overwhelmingly female) do a lot worse. They spend significantly less time studying. They're much less satisfied with their academic work. They think their academic work is less important than do other women. Bisexual women are not having as good a college experience."

As you can imagine, this study sparked quite a loud online discussion about what these findings mean, why the difference exists between gay men and straight men on campus, and frankly some sad rationale as to why we get ahead (pun intended, if you read some of the message boards). I’m not going to use this forum to analyze the data—I’ll let the researchers do that. But, what I do find appealing is that perhaps this study, and other studies that show that homosexuals in the U.S. are far more likely to be college educated than heterosexuals, provides an opportunity for academic institutions to specifically market and attract LGBT students by providing specific programs, student organizations, and services to ensure that the college experience means something to all students. And if these studies are in fact true, corporate America should be recruting LGBT graduates because it sounds like we are true stars in the classroom!

Tell us—do these findings ring true from your college experience? Were you more academically-inclined than your hetero-counterparts? How involved were you on campus, and how much of that is related to your LGBT-ness?

The State of LGBT Business

Each day, we hear the question asked — when will this economic crisis be over? For some of us, we are seeing optimistic growth for our communities and our businesses. For others, we’re just not sure.

Next week, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce will host the annual National Business & Leadership Conference: Out for Business in Seattle, WA. The sixth annual conference gathers LGBT business owners, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and LGBT chamber members for educational and networking opportunities.  And, as he mentioned on Tuesday, our very own Ben Finzel will be there as well.

“For three days, our GSBA members and chamber members from other states, will meet face to face and have opportunities to make business connections with LGBT colleagues and national corporate leaders from across the country to exchange information, increase business skills and act as ambassadors of our beautiful, progressive city”, said Louise Chernin, Greater Seattle Business Association’s Executive Director, in an Echelon article.

Now is the time to be a sponge, to learn from experts who are succeeding and those who are positioning their companies for growth. Opportunities, like this conference hosted by the NGLCC, provide professionals a platform for growth, personally and for their businesses. 

Levi’s Campaigns for Harvey Milk

Last week, Levi Strauss & Co. launched the “Give Them Hope Now” campaign to raise $500,000 to support the Harvey Milk High School. The high school, located in New York’s East Village, was founded as a safe space for LGBT and questioning young adults. The Harvey Milk High School is a public school operated by the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit social service, education and advocacy organization dedicated to serving LGBT and questioning youth.

Levi’s launch of the “Give Them Hope Now” campaign includes a Web site housing a series of videos, a direct means for donations, social media integration opportunities and information about Levi’s corporate involvements. According to an AdAge article, the campaign utilizes digital outreach efforts with banner ads, e-mail outreach to bloggers, social media and community outreach through Facebook, Twitter, AOL, Glam, Hulu, MSN and Yahoo, pre-roll video and editorial coverage.  In addition to the campaign’s heavily digital components, Levi partnered with Regent Media, photographers and celebrities to generate additional awareness and host monthly fundraisers.

My two favorite elements are the videos and the social media opportunities. The Web site offers heartfelt videos with real life stories of LGBT youth. The videos raise awareness and educate visitors of HMI’s commitment and importance in the lives of these youth. These videos highlight a diverse group of HMI alum and volunteers – male, female, youth, adult, Caucasian, African American and Hispanic. It’s important to see a variety of faces and life experiences – giving potential donors a story they can relate to. 

My second favorite element of the Web site is its social media and grassroots outreach component. Each video has a social media sharing opportunity, giving people a chance to post the videos and the campaign on their social networking site of choice.  These stories are personal ones, and the grassroots elements give people a chance to tell their stories while supporting the campaign and its goal.

It is evident that the LGBT community is a priority audience for Levi’s and this partnership with HMI not only aligns with the company’s brand position, but positions Levi as a leader in the LGBT market. I look forward to seeing the campaign’s progress and commend HMI and Levi for their efforts in making a difference in LGBT youth’s lives.

First, Do No Harm

We’re not doctors, but we communications professionals often follow the adage commonly associated with medicine in our advice to clients: “first, do no harm.” The concept is that we should not plan or conduct communications efforts that cause harm to our clients’ reputation, image or products. If it sounds like common sense, it is.  But that doesn’t mean it’s always practiced in the real world.

I bring this up today because The Advocate ran a story online Sunday about Walmart’s CEO and the 2008 Arkansas amendment to ban adoption and foster parenting by LGBT couples. According to the article, Walmart’s new CEO, Mike Duke, signed a petition last year to put the amendment on the Arkansas ballot (it was placed on the ballot and passed by a large margin in November of 2008).

Communications and marketing, as with politics, is a game of addition. The objective of most communications and marketing efforts is to add more people, not drive them away. Increasingly, efforts that drive away LGBT customers are being seen by consumers as problematic, even for companies that might not seem all that interested in reaching our community. More and more companies are beginning to understand that it’s just not good business to openly discriminate. Not just because our community is offended, but because in ever-larger numbers consumers value companies that value all people equally. 

You could make the argument that Walmart’s CEO was simply expressing his opinion and say that he had every right to do so (and note that he wasn’t CEO when he signed the petition as he just took on that job in February of this year). But consumers also have the right to shop where they feel welcome, wanted and respected. And they are expressing that right more and more by supporting those companies that support them and their neighbors – even the LGBT ones.

Walmart’s CEO is entitled to his opinion. But the consumers he wants to continue adding to his customer base are also entitled to show their displeasure at his exclusionary beliefs by exercising their right to shop elsewhere.

We’ll see if this development has any measurable impact on Walmart’s sales. Despite past support for LGBT organizations and issues, Walmart has been inconsistent in its engagement with our community.  And previous missteps by the company on LGBT issues received scant attention – even in the LGBT blogosphere – and it may be that this is another one-day story. However, if I were advising Walmart (I’m not), I’d tell them to take these kinds of situations seriously.

Walmart has apparently spent a great deal of time and resources to reshape its reputation and build a positive record on sustainability and environmental concerns (no doubt to move beyond their negative “big box” image of the past). They had previously begun attempting to do that with the LGBT community as well, but this latest news adds to the pattern of inconsistency about where Walmart stands on LGBT issues. Continued confusion could cause harm to Walmart's efforts to build a corporate image of responsibility and responsiveness. That may not happen today, with this story, but a continual pattern of these actions will add up over time. It takes a long time to build a reputation, but a very short time to damage one.

Attention Corporate America: You're So Gay

 

Another week, another top 10 list.

But, this one is important. DiversityInc has released its “Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees.” How were these companies chosen? Instead of a talent/swimsuit/public speaking contest, these companies were appropriately analyzed by the following factors: inclusive benefits for same-sex partners of employees, strong diversity training programs, recruitment efforts aimed at LGBT people and the vitality of the company's LGBT employee-resource group.

Check out the Web site for a complete listing of the winners. In addition to the #1 company on the list, our client Ernst & Young, I was also impressed with:

Re:Post - Earth Gay

Note: Today we're launching a new feature to highlight some of our favorite posts from the past. We're calling it Re:Post. Yes, it's a form of recycling, so we thought launching the feature today might be an appropriate way to celebrate Earth Day this year. Our first Re:Post is from one year ago: it's my post on Earth Day 2008 about the intersection of gay and lesbian communications with environmental issues. Although the world has changed considerably in the past year, it's interesting to consider what is still relevant from the post as well as what has changed. Here's the post:

Today is the 38th observance of Earth Day. As I’ve blogged before, environmental issues have not always been front and center for the gay and lesbian community. With so many more pressing, more personal matters before us, we haven’t often been seen (or considered ourselves) as ardent environmentalists.

That doesn’t mean we weren’t there, just that we didn’t often take center stage. Now, as consumer engagement in all things “green” has taken off in the past year, engagement and recognition of gay and lesbian audiences with environmental issues has also increased. I’ve talked in the past about the Greening of Gay Travel and other “green gay” topics. But with this Earth Day, I think the two communities – environmentalists and gay and lesbian people – have now intersected.

The Advocate’s current issue is their first ever “Green Issue” and features “tips for green living,” profiles of “eco heroes” whose professional careers are devoted to “green” issues and a cover story on singer Rufus Wainwright and his efforts to engage his fans on environmental issues. But that’s just one example, retailers such as Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams include “green” messages in their ads aimed at our community. Carbon offsetters focus on our community as a target audience for their “green” products (and Jen Christensen writes about that in the latest Advocate too).

Top 10 LGBT Communications Trends

I was recently reviewing some top 10 trends in communications and decided the LGBT community needed our own. Our community, while not singled out in anything I have read, is made up of avid consumers of communications in a variety of forms. So I decided I'd develop my own list of top 10 LGBT communication trends. Let me know what you think.

1. What's the next twitter? Social media has consumed our communications lives, and the LGBT market is no different. So ask yourself about these new tools; del.icio.us, digg, reddit, stumbleupon. Any sound familiar to you? Check out reddit's active LGBT community here.

2. Let's be real. Authentic communications- the de rigueur for successful social media communications nowadays - is certainly something the LGBT community knows all about. Honest, real and sometimes cutting communications is what is demanded by social media today. It will only get more demanding as we tweet our lives away like Ellen.

3. Employees matter. I think the importance of employee communications will only grow as businesses tighten up their communications to keep the employees they have happy.

4. LGBT friendly jobs? Yes, now we can even search out gay friendly employers. That's thanks to a quick Google search and resources like the HRC and others we can quickly go online to search out new jobs that might just be gay friendly.

5. How green are you? Sustainability is important to all of us. I see the LGBT community embracing the greening of America in new ways, being the trendsetters that we are. What's new and green for you?

6. Diversity rises. Thanks to millennial and the growth of moderate parties on both sides of the aisle, we are beginning to see the rise in support of LGBT issues. Most recently the approval of gay marriage in both Vermont and Iowa within days of each other.

7. Global is local. As our communications become easier and friendlier they also become more global. I see it everyday in blog responders from all of the world.

8. Techno-gays. Just like our communications, technology gets easier, cheaper, faster every day. so more and more of us are becoming techno-savvy consumers of all forms of media with our techno-cool devices.

9. It's all about me. User-created content continues to explode. Now businesses have joined the legions of consumers, including the LGBT community, who share more about themselves than we ever wanted to know.

10. Simplify. As communications explodes in some ways it has gotten simpler. Look at the iPhone, do I need to say any more?

 

The Values Proposition: More Q&A with Mitchell Gold

Today we present the conclusion of our two part Q&A with businessman and LGBT visionary Mitchell Gold. In this part of our conversation, Mitchell talks about his book, CRISIS, and about the importance of being out in business. For more on Mitchell, check out his company’s Web site.

Ben Finzel: We’ve talked a bit on this blog about CRISIS, your groundbreaking book of 40 essays by famous people recounting the price they paid for society’s homophobia. When I met you last year, you told me the book was the most important thing you’ve ever done. Tell us a bit about the book and why it is so important.

Mitchell Gold: First, it is 30 essays of a diverse group of very well known to fairly well known and accomplished people. There are also ten essays from not particularly well known young people under 23 years old. I wanted to make sure to have young people because I know there is a misconception by some that everything is getting better and easier. That might be true for some, but for the vast majority it really isn’t.

CRISIS is important because it gives the LGBT civil rights movement an effective and previously unused way to communicate why full and equal rights are so important to our community. Over the past 4 years I’ve learned that many well meaning people just don’t know the horrible harm that is caused to gay teenagers. Their vote, their church, their family and friends could be causing this harm and if they don’t know about it in the clearest of terms they will never know it and be able to do something about it. We always look for a silver bullet message to get people to change and this is it. This book is transformational. Let me share two true stories:

1) A few days ago I was in Puerto Rico having dinner with a customer who is about 45 years old, a Republican delegate for John McCain, Catholic and recently the father of twin boys. I gave him a copy of CRISIS last October after a dinner where I learned he was a delegate and supporter of McCain with the inscription “May Alfredo and Alberto grow up crisis free.”  As I gave him the book I told him John McCain would be devastating for gay kids in the future because of the potential Supreme Court appointees and the general climate of rejection he would allow….especially with Sarah Palin and her fundamentalist Christian views. I asked him to read the book before the election and think about what kind of world he wants his kids to grow up in…regardless of what their sexual orientation happens to be. 

At our dinner a few days ago he told me he was touched by the inscription and did read the book before the election and consequently changed his position. Even more interesting he told me that he showed his 81 year old mother the book and read from the chapters about Catholics. After some discussion he told me she has now totally changed her views on gay people.

2) In a few weeks there will be an article published in a well known mainstream Christian publication by a well known Evangelical Christian minister and professor of ethics. I can’t disclose much from the article yet but here are a couple of quick quotes:

“Crisis tells the sad stories of dozens of young people….. How often they have been left broken by their fundamental rejection as human beings—at the hands of Christians, and in the name of the Bible.”

“Obviously we must extend such basic acceptance, such human and Christian love.”

“But after reading these stories, it seems to me that Christians have something to request from God, and from the gays and lesbians among us. We need forgiveness.”  

Ben Finzel: We frequently blog about the importance of public figures coming out and sharing the realities of their lives – our lives – with society at large. We’re making some progress in this regard with more people coming out, but there are still some fields, including business, where out leaders are few and far between. Do you wish more business leaders would come out? What do you think it will take for that to happen?

Mitchell Gold: Yes, of course every business leader has to come out. And then they have to do a great job.

We have to have a society where being gay is just simply a normal part of a human’s being and life. It has to stop being such a big deal. And that will happen when fundamentalist anti-gay religious groups stop trying to put themselves in superior positions to others, stop being judgmental, and stop interpreting their sacred books to doing these things.

A big part of this responsibility lies within our own community. Our organizations have to teach the simple truths about our lives, that sexual orientation is not some promiscuous choice, but rather a wonderful natural part of our creation. And we have to remind people that people have been hurt in the name of religious beliefs before and it is wicked. June 20, 1995 is the date that the Southern Baptist Convention issued a formal apology to Black Americans for the Southern Baptist Convention’s role in supporting the horrors of slavery and segregation. Let’s all join together in commending the SBC for recognizing their past mistake with a wink to think about the ones they do today.

Ben Finzel: Mitchell, thanks again for your willingness to share your thoughts with us. I think you’ve made the value proposition of being out, honest and direct very clear. And I think you’ve given us all a path to follow as we consider our own actions and perceptions. Here’s to many more years of success.

The Values Proposition: Q&A with Mitchell Gold

We’ve now conducted Q&As with about 30 people in the two and half year history of the Out Front Blog. I have many favorites among them – Billie Jean King was a real highlight – and this one will definitely join that list as an outstanding example of clear, decisive leadership and vision both for business and the future of our community.

Today, we’re starting a two part Q&A with Mitchell Gold, eponymous founder of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. For the uninitiated, Mitchell’s company makes stylish, sustainable, fabulous furniture. We’re fortunate to have a Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams store in D.C. and I love shopping there.

But Mitchell Gold is more than a furniture impresario. He’s a business leader, author and community activist. And his community is more than just his home in North Carolina (although he’s active there as well) – it’s the LGBT community across the country. Mitchell is active in a number of organizations and frequently participates in LGBT events in cities across the country. It was at one of those events that I met him last year – the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NLGJA) holiday party in Washington. Ever gracious, Mitchell not only stopped to talk with my partner and me at the party, but remembered me when I followed up with an e mail to ask him to conduct this Q&A with us.

Mitchell will be back in D.C. this week to accept a lifetime achievement award from PEN – the local LGBT chamber of commerce. It’s a richly deserved honor. Take a look at our conversation today about consumer loyalty and business values and you’ll see why. And come back tomorrow for the conclusion of our conversation along with a little breaking news from Mitchell that may make you want to run right out and buy a copy of his book, CRISIS (if you haven’t already).

Ben Finzel: We often blog about the importance of loyalty to our community by marketers seeking to reach our community. The premise is that companies that are loyal to us will reap the benefits in loyalty from us, particularly in tough economic times when customer loyalty and brand power can make a difference in economic performance. How important do you think that is now, given the dire state of our economy? 

HRC Raises Bar for CEI 100 Score

We as consumers generally search out companies that are fully engaged in our community beyond advertising and marketing.  The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) has usually been a first stop in researchingU.S.-based companies’ LGBT-friendly operating and hiring policies.

HRC this week announced changes to the annual CEI that includes increased requirements in relation to transgender employees and same-sex spouses and partners.

The new criteria raise the requirements for businesses to achieve a perfect 100 percent rating on the Index in four primary areas including: health insurance access for transgender employees; equal benefits for same-sex partners and spouses; competency training and accountability on LGBT issues; and external engagement with the LGBT community.

According to HRC, the changes to the criteria are derived from feedback from the community including HRC members, communications from participating businesses, conversations at workplace conferences and stakeholder discussions. The process was overseen by HRC Workplace Project staff in close coordination with the HRC Business Council, an advisory group of LGBT workplace activists and our allies.  More on the CEI 3.0 criteria after the jump.

Born in the USA

  Ok, I’ll admit it. This week I was struggling for a blog topic. My colleague Ben had fortunately tweeted on the blog yesterday an article from the Washington Blade about an innovative campaign from the USA Network. I also did my own research—I Googled (love how that is a verb now)! I typed in those magic words… “gay” and “marketing” and got a link to a Baptist Press article, “USA Network Ad Backs Gay Marriage.”

Faithful readers of my every-other-Friday posts know that I love me some TV. Which means, I probably watch USA Network for something (Check! I do enjoy the show “The Starter Wife”). There is an ad shown on that network with a male same-sex couple with one saying “I pledge because everybody deserves wedding gifts.”

Is it Real or Faux?

 

Have you seen the new Nike ad causing all the stir? Nike reports they did not know anything about it. And yet they are the subject of blogs and articles on this "homophobic" ad. What's going on? As it turns out, the Nike ad under scrutiny was published in CMYK Magazine, a quarterly magazine targeting advertising and design professionals. The ad was actually part of a quarterly student ad design competition. Designed by a student from Miami Ad School, the ad is not a real Nike ad after all.

What's all the fuss? The ad itself reads "The Only Thing Worse Than Going to the Ballet Is Going to the Ballet to Watch Your Son." The tagline says "Raise a Champion, Nike Kids." Even though the ad is fake, and no fault of Nike's, it is still causing a stink and offends some of us. CMYK's publisher does not apologize for printing it and argues that it could have multiple interpretations. In fact, it was only after bloggers became outraged and GLAAD became involved that CMYK issued an official apology. To me, even that is a bit lame as the publisher says he did not see it as antigay.

For Nike, they were just the unfortunate brand selected for the false ad. But, Nike has had its own share of problems with past controversial ads. In July 2008, Nike pulled their basketball shoe ad after concerns were raised that the ad was antigay. The ad shows a basketball players face in the groin of an opponent who is dunking the ball. It reads: "That Ain't Right." Nike agreed -- after complaints -- to drop the ad campaign "...to underline our ongoing commitment to supporting diversity in sport and the workplace."  Given these recent stories, I am hoping sensitivity to the LGBT market is top of mind for Nike.

And good news for the LGBT market and Nike. Nike received a 100% rating by the HRC Corporate Equality Index rating for 2008 and 2009. Clearly Nike is doing quite a few things right. Now, with that I am encouraged!

(Red) Empire

I spotted a (Starbucks) Red card recently seeing that they had joined the campaign for 2009,and it brought the complexities of the Product (Red) campaign top of mind again.

The program emigrated from the UK and finally launched in the U.S. in the fall of 2006. Ben posted about that much anticipated debut of the (Product) Red  campaign at the time as it broadened its marketing efforts to support the Global fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

I’ve continued to see the items at Gap stores over the holiday and have spotted plenty of red iPods in the streets over the past year. I even have purchased merchandise from client Hallmark’s (Product) Red collection. But I hadn’t followed the campaign closely enough recently to realize the empire of modern marketing (Product) Red had had become, including the site’s (Red) Blog having continued with regular postings since May 2006.

Dollars for Business Sense

  Last week, as I was reveling in the glory that is vacation, I realized that it was time to make those dreaded resolutions. Every year I try to do it.  Spend more time with family. Eat better. Work out more (or work out, for that matter). Reconnect with old friends.

This year I wanted to be different. In addition to making a personal resolution that I will undoubtedly break, I wanted to make a LGBT-olution that I intend to keep. My idea? Research and support more companies and organizations that are making a concerted effort to communicate directly to me as a gay man. Instead of my routine retail therapy stops (Target, Best Buy, Banana Republic), are there companies that try to know me better? Know my interests? Support causes that are important to our community?

Corporate America Backs Gays

I read about this topic in an article recently and was thrilled. I also questioned it. Who in corporate America backs gays? And what are they doing to show this? I am tired of companies claiming they support LGBT workers then doing  little to nothing to really show that support. So, who in corporate America really backs gays? This online article from 2006 highlights many companies that offer their support, and others who struggle.

One company that surprised me was Raytheon, they make missiles and radar equipment. Not exactly consumer products. Consumers don’t buy many missiles. So companies like Raytheon surely go unnoticed by most consumers. But Raytheon stands out as a great example for other corporations. They target an recruit LGBT workers, and then the company backs them with support both in their local communities and with employee benefits. Others like IBM, Proctor & Gamble, Wells Fargo, Ernst & Young and Motorola were not surprises. Read the article for more excellent examples, including an interview wiht one of our Ernst & Yound clients Mike Syers.

And the good news in all of this? In the annual HRC Corporate Equality Indexon the Fortune 500 businesses and their demonstrated support of the LGBT market, a majority of corporations surveyed offer health benefits for domestic partners. So, maybe corporate America really is leading the way for the LGBT audience and equality.

Trick or Treat?

The Google advertising machine that feeds paid advertising spots to not only Google but other web servers appears to have hit a snag. On The Bilerico Project's web site, ads are showing up on California's Proposition 8 asking viewers to support the protection of traditional marriage in California. Yes, that’s one of three propositions across the U.S. (in California, Arizona and Florida) focused on preventing marriage between two people of the same sex. Readers of Bil Browning’s fun and quirky web site, the Bilerico Project, wrote in to report this unusual and unexpected ad on his web site whose tagline is “daily experiments in LGBTQ”.

               

Bil investigated and reports that Google’s official position (I found it on ThinkProgress.org) from Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, is that the company opposes Proposition 8 in California. However, the company position is not consistent with their Advertising Policies. In Google's Advertising Policies it states that any advertising that is focused against the LGBT community (and other minority groups) is not permitted. See the inconsistency?

 

So what's Google up to?

It makes me wonder if the Google advertising machine is more focused on profiting from their advertising than upholding their policies. I love the way Bil points out in his blog, what if there was a ballot measure to rescind interracial marriage? What would Google do if an advertiser had an ad in support of segregation? Chilling thought! And how about those LGBT employees at Google? How could they be feeling about their California-based company? Where’s the trust? Where’s the integrity?

            

What do you think Google is up to?

Who Will Rock My Vote?

As communicators, we are taught to know our audience and speak to them directly. We also are told (and in turn, tell others) that there is no longer just one audience—there is a beautiful mix of people in this world that have specific interests and appreciate being addressed directly.

One of the most important platforms for me is where candidates stand on issues important to the LGBT community. Yet, after just watching most recent of the last three debates between the candidates, only one direct LGBT-question was raised (same-sex marriage), and it was to the VP candidates in what amounted to about two minutes out of 270 total debate minutes. I’m not here to address their responses—that’s for you to decide (I personally can’t wait for Saturday Night Live this week…).

What we should talk about is how the networks, and for that matter, the Commission on Presidential Debates, need to bring these debates closer to home. I fully respect that it is hard to have a question that will resonate with every registered voter. But, remember the beauty that was the LOGO/HRC debate in August 2007? For one hour, the LGBT community had an opportunity to be directly addressed by the then-candidates for the Democratic ticket. It was a historic debate in a historic race. I’d love to see the candidates have televised debates that address all important communities directly. Imagine if Obama and McCain debated together in front of the Congressional Black Caucus on BET. How powerful would it be for the candidates to address Hispanic issues together on Telemundo? Similarly, come back to LOGO and address issues that are important to us.

There are so many voters in this country with issues that hit close to home. Whether it is the roller coaster economy of late or our respected brothers and sisters fighting for our country, candidates know that to get our vote, they need to speak to us directly. Tell us what we want to know, tell us what we don’t want to know, but just tell us and let us form our own opinions. It’s the same advice we all tell our clients. If you want to impact consumer behavior, know your target and know the best message to reach them.

I’ll leave the blog posting on “tolerating” our community for another time..

Are We There Yet? - The New Normal, Part Two

Earlier this month, I was the guest speaker at the regular Thursday breakfast meeting of PEN, the local gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. I talked about the power of gay and lesbian communications and my thoughts about what I do and how it’s relevant to gay and lesbian business people. During the Q&A, one of the organization’s leaders asked an interesting question: are we now so mainstream that we’re accepted and we don’t have to worry as much about being seen as the “other?” 

The question made me think of the "New Normal" post I wrote last spring contrasting the wedding on the ABC TV hit "Brothers and Sisters" with a local “news” story about ex-gays. My conclusion then (and at the breakfast this month) was this: we have a longer road to travel. We’re not there yet.

Sadly, this month has brought fresh, and much more troubling, evidence of this assertion. In DC, a gay man was savagely beaten outside a gay club earlier this month. He later died in a hospital. Just up I-95 in Baltimore, a gay man walking home with his partner last week was savagely beaten and is now in a hospital, reportedly in critical condition. 

And these are just the most recent examples. They’re the ones we know about. There are likely many more stories like this in other communities across the country.

Yes, despite the fact that Ellen is now the face of Cover Girl and her wedding received a splashy (and straightforward, if you will) cover story in People magazine, we’re not there yet. 

HIV in NYC: Show Me the Money

Welcome to my first blog posting on the Out Front Blog! And, actually my first blog posting ever…. I am an incredibly slow adapter to new technology, but have been reading this blog for a while and I am honored to contribute my two cents into the public domain about important issues in gay and lesbian communications and marketing. If you would like a refund on those two cents after reading, please let me know….

Back to the topic at hand, or on screen if you will. Last month, my colleague Ben Finzel posted a revealing look into the AIDS 2008 conference on August 12 and CDC’s announcement showing that HIV infection rates are rising among gay and bisexual men in the U.S. AP coverage of the announcement reported that “less than 1 percent of the $699 million reported global prevention spending targets men who have sex with men.”

Fast forward two weeks in August, and the New York City health department announced  that New York City residents are contracting the virus that causes AIDS at three times the national rate. According to department officials, almost 4,800 New Yorkers were infected with HIV in 2006, which represents 72 in every 100,000 residents, compared to a national rate of 23 per 100,000. Assistant health commissioner Dr. Monica Sweeney told the AP that these figures underscore the continued need to promote HIV testing and prevention. Completely agree that this needs to happen, but how can it happen when funding for non-profits, state health departments, and other community-based health organizations continues to dwindle as economic reality sets in and monetary support shifts to another cause or issue? We often assume that these organizations can carry the entire burden of communicating the preventive and treatment messages. While they are extremely effective at impacting perception and actions in their immediate communities, staff and resources are typically limited and there is only so much each organization can achieve in this important communications and awareness battle. Having worked with state and local health organizations on public health campaigns, I can absolutely testify that funding allocated for any health issue, whether it is HIV, cancer, or obesity, is sadly only a drop in the bucket for what needs to happen.

I’m not the only one who sees the need for increased funding for this cause. On September 3, The New York Times editorial board published its own assessment of the real numbers on H.I.V. in the U.S. and in New York. The editorial recognizes that the city’s department of health “distributes tens of millions of condoms annually, provides a needle-exchange program for intravenous drug users, tries hard to identify new cases and urges the sex partners of infected patients to get tested. But more is clearly needed.”

Clearly, indeed. Where can this funding come from? With our wallets targeted for so many different issues and causes (especially in this election cycle), perhaps the first step in funding solutions needs to come from the private sector.  Some of the big pharma companies have stepped forward to partner with governments and non-governmental organizations to develop a series of initiatives to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in the U.S. and abroad. I’m certain other companies are doing the same with this cause, but more, including those outside of the healthcare sector, should consider HIV-related funding a top priority for community and philanthropic initiatives.

Another step? Dedicated national network time devoted to the cause. On Friday, September 5, the three big networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) came together to devote one hour of primetime coverage to a joint initiative to raise awareness on cancer, called “Stand Up to Cancer.” I watched this. Having relatives who continue to pass away from this disease, it was both emotional and informative, encouraging the 10.4 million individuals who watched to contribute any way possible. The one hour of television raised over $100 million dollars. That works out to 10 dollars for everyone who watched. Cancer is an equally important issue and this was a great way to raise awareness, but what bothered me about this effort was the constant branding by each of the networks that devoting an hour of television, without commercials, was “historic.” Should this be the case? Should these networks not devote an hour each month to important causes, like cancer and HIV? Imagine the power of an evening on television dedicated to HIV awareness, with channels like Bravo, LOGO, here!-TV, and all of our LGBT-friendly media outlets expanding and tailoring their own promotion of the event.  Imagine the difference that could make.

Imagine is all we can do until we can increase funding to empower the New York City health department and the countless national, regional, and local coalitions dedicated to eradicating HIV from our communities. If this means I need to host a telethon next to my dear friends Katie Couric, Brian Williams, and Charles Gibson, I say bring it. HIV is ready for its close-up.

Mitchell Gold Tells Our Stories

I recently received an invitation to a book signing and reception for a new book edited by Mitchell Gold (of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams) about the struggles of "growing up gay in America."  The book is called "CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America." I haven't heard much about the book yet, but I was impressed to see that Mitchell Gold is expanding on his already extensive efforts to engage in the community by editing a book focused on telling the stories of our lives.

We've written a lot about corporate engagement on this blog (particularly lately) and yesterday Laura reminded us that words can hurt. I'm usually impressed when business leaders take an active (and genuine) interest in our community and Mitchell Gold strikes me as a solid example of a business leader who really understands the power of engagement and the impact of negative and harmful words and actions that too many of us have suffered in our lives. Of course, Mitchell is gay so his involvement in our community is personal. But I don't think that makes his actions any less powerful. Frankly, he should be involved in our community and the fact that he is speaks volumes about all of those openly gay (and not so openly gay) business leaders who are not and who profit from us but do little or nothing to help our community. 

Granted, storytelling is but one facet of communications, but it is an often overlooked tool. The personal stories of people we recognize and admire are often much more resonant with the public than one more press release about this or that program. When we humanize LGBT people's lives, we make connections with others and we put our experiences in a context that others can understand. 

The book features a foreword by Martina Navratilova and stories by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Congressman Barney Frank, actors Richard Chamberlain and Alec Mapa, LGBT community leaders Neil Giuliano, Jody Huckaby, Kevin Jennings and Joe Solmonese and religious leaders Bishop Gene Robinson and Mel White among many other dynamic and interesting individuals (although it seems heavily weighted toward men's stories). I haven't seen the book yet, but I'm already intrigued. I hope it's as good as it sounds and I hope it adds to the often underreported conversation about our lives.

Opinion trends changing? Can you tell?

The 7th annual national Out & Equal Workplace Survey has just been released. And surprisingly, most Americans are feeling more comfortable with their work cube mates sexual orientation. A huge 79% of heterosexual adults strongly or somewhat agree that how an employee does their job should be the basis for how they are judged as an employee, not their sexual orientation. Nice to see we are being viewed as more mainstream. Certainly our job performance should stand on its own and have nothing to do with our sexual orientation. Some interesting questions to ponder:
       

            - How well is your sexual orientation supported in your workplace?

- Would you agree that a majority of your co-workers don't care about your sexual orientation?

            - Are you fairly judged on your performance and nothing else?

         

Good results, but still some need for improvement? “It’s encouraging that heterosexuals appear more and more committed to ending these forms of employment discrimination and to extending equal benefits to all employees,” said Out & Equal executive director Selisse Berry. “Despite these recent strides, however, there remain far too few companies and jurisdictions that provide meaningful protections to all employees, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.  There is still much progress to be made in today’s workplace and in society itself.” A few things to consider:

         

            - Am I helping support my GLBT co-workers?

            - Is our communications open and welcoming where I work?

            - Is sexual discrimination not tolerated where you work?

             

The LGBT audience shares their views on discrimination. Almost half of LGBT adults hear anti-gay comments on the job. Two out of three feel they have faced discrimination at work. And one-third remains closeted at work. So, there's still some work to do. Where to start?

            

            - How about more public education on protection rights? Most of us have no idea

            if we can be fired from work for simply being who we are. Do you know?

            - Do state or federal laws protect us from being fired?

            - What can we do while in our jobs to make the environment safer and more

   comfortable for everyone?

   -How can we work with our HR and Internal Communications groups to create    this environment.

          

Some businesses have figured it out. They take their workforce and its diversity seriously. They have invested in employee education, partner benefits, even FMLA for GLBT family members. Some of those speaking at the 18th annual Out & Equal Workforce Summit to be held September 10-13 in Austin are from organizations we all recognize: AT&T, Clorox, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and others. Let's celebrate these businesses and the model they have demonstrated for many others to follow.

               

And be sure to check out Ben Finzel’s post from yesterday on the just released HRC Corporate Equality Index report. Ben shares important insights into this annual report that tries to measure corporations employment policies and community activities as HRC defines them. You’ll find some nice improvements in the number of corporations reaching the perfect “100” score this year. Other similar research results are also in on the LGBT consumer habits, posted by Steve and Echelon’s Equality Forum that Ben wrote about a few days ago.

Finding Mojo

Mojo has taken on a new meaning in media these days.  Mobile journalists, or “mojos,” are staff journalists who are not tethered to a newsroom desk but are free to roam about searching and documenting – and even posting – news from the field with a broadband connection and digital devices, including cameras, camcorders and laptop computers. 

Since the term was coined three years ago as code name for a pilot project for the News-Press, a Gannett newspaper in Fort Meyers, Fla, it has started now to take hold in community LGBT newspapers.  It is a natural progression for hard copy newspapers for a number of reasons, partially as outgrowth of the social focus on sustainability and cutting commutes, in an effort to get an upper hand in quickly posting online news coverage or, especially in these economic times, as a cost cutting measure to avoid expensive brick-and-mortar office overhead.

It’s not often that one tactic can provide multiple benefits of upping a company’s cost savings, social responsibility and competitive edge.

When I Grow Up

I read a recent article in the Advocate (June 17, 2008) profiling teens that was mesmerizing to me. Who of us wondered what we would be doing when we were growing up as teens? I guess we all did, but with the freedom to be ourselves? I love that today’s LGBT teens are more focused on what they want to do when they are grown up than if they can be gay and be out. Here’s a quick list of what I noted in this article:

   

1. LGBT kids today are not worried about being labeled
2. They are extraordinarily creative and comfortable being themselves
3. They are passionate about what they want to do
4. They want to make a difference in their world
5. They are community oriented
6. They have their friends and family strongly supporting them more often than not

All of this I think we can attribute to several factors. To begin, the fast pace at which our society has grown accepting of the LGBT community over the last 10 to 15 years. And these youth are encouraged by their schools, community, friends and family to be themselves at an early age. They are confident, hip and self reliant.  And they have successful role models today who are openly gay. I could go on and on. For more details behind what drives today’s LGBT teen check out The New Gay Teenager,

a book by Cornell University psychology professor Ritch C. Savin-Williams.

   

So, do our LGBT youth still need our guidance? Yes. Do they need our protection? Yes. Do they need our support? Of course.

   

That leads me to suggest the next time you talk with a LGBT teen ask them what they’re going to do when they grow up. And sit back and take note, I think you’ll be impressed.

Pride in PR

One of the most rewarding parts of working in public relations is conducting media outreach for clients or stories that can inspire the broader population and that, as a PR counselor, you can feel proud of and see results.

I first saw this power of PR when I was interning years ago at TV show “America’s Most Wanted” in the publicity department. Each week we would pitch local media to notify them of crimes committed in their area that would be profiled on the show. When stories ran, it attracted viewers who would then help lead police to arresting the criminal. It was not only PR for a TV show, but PR that benefited society as a whole.

I started thinking about Pride Month – as Ben explained in yesterday’s post – and quickly realized that so much of the gay and lesbian communications work that we do - especially the accounts and campaigns I have worked on in the past year – are not only LGBT marketing, but a fusion of LGBT and cause marketing. 

For instance, this year my media relations work took on an added meaning when Fleishman-Hillard’s UPS account team came to FH Out Front looking for LGBT media relations and counsel on announcing the expansion of their supplier diversity program to include gay and lesbian owned business, or when Community Marketing Inc. wanted to publicize the spending power of our community in the mainstream press, and when non-profit Commercial Closet Association looked for blog postings to drive traffic to their Images in Advertising Awards site.

These campaigns and the resulting media hits did more than deliver results to clients – they drove positive discussion about our community in the national press. Also, they recognized positive efforts by companies to include and reach out to our community in the LGBT media.   

Nowhere was this more apparent than Ernst & Young’s “Making it Real” campaign, which was recently nominated for a PRweek award. As we’ve discussed before, Ernst & Young met with other HRC 100 rated companies to compile a “best practices” guide for LGBT employee inclusion. FH Out Front, working together with the Ernst & Young Fleishman-Hillard account team, drafted press materials and secured media placements with national as well as LGBT press.

Why is this something to be proud of? I’d like to think that company decision makers see an announcement from UPS on expanding their supplier diversity program or the Fortune article featuring Ernst & Young’s best practices for LGBT employee inclusion and that this news might spur thoughts about changing their own policies in an effort to match these industry heavyweights.

Ernst & Young kicked off their Pride Month a few weeks ago with an address to employees and outside organizations by openly gay NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn on the relationship between advancing our community and Corporate America. As reported in The Advocate, Quinn explained that “Your organization helps us send [LGBT messages] to elected officials. When they hear that, it takes away the fear of supporting our community.”

As a gay & lesbian communications professional, I’m proud to say that I’m part of promoting these “messages” to advance not only our clients, but our community.

Earth Gay

Today is the 38th observance of Earth Day. As I’ve blogged before, environmental issues have not always been front and center for the gay and lesbian community. With so many more pressing, more personal matters before us, we haven’t often been seen (or considered ourselves) as ardent environmentalists.

That doesn’t mean we weren’t there, just that we didn’t often take center stage. Now, as consumer engagement in all things “green” has taken off in the past year, engagement and recognition of gay and lesbian audiences with environmental issues has also increased. I’ve talked in the past about the Greening of Gay Travel and other “green gay” topics.  But with this Earth Day, I think the two communities – environmentalists and gay and lesbian people – have now intersected.

The Advocate’s current issue is their first ever “Green Issue” and features “tips for green living,” profiles of “eco heroes” whose professional careers are devoted to “green” issues and a cover story on singer Rufus Wainwright and his efforts to engage his fans on environmental issues. But that’s just one example, retailers such as Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams include “green” messages in their ads aimed at our community. Carbon offsetters focus on our community as a target audience for their “green” products (and Jen Christensen writes about that in the latest Advocate too).

Kicking the Tires on GayWheels.com

I recently went to check out GayWheels.com, a website devoted to supporting the gay community and cars that we’ve highlighted on our blog before. I had never really checked them out as a consumer looking for car information, so I was surprised as I found myself drawn further and further into the site. They really are a great gay friendly auto resource. How? Let’s take a closer look:

1. they offer information about gay friendly car companies,
2. they offer gay oriented reviews of cars,
3. they show highlights and interviews from relevant, timely sources.

More on each…..
1. For more on gay friendly car companies I went to their section called gay friendly brands. Here you can find listed car companies with and without progressive policies toward their LGBT employees. Nowhere else have I seen such a comprehensive list. Listed is everything from a Volkswagon to a Rolls Royce, from a Isuzu to a Hummer, even a Maybach. So who’s missing from the huge gay friendly car companies? A short list; Acura, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Suzuki. Not sure what that says, but makes me want to do a bit more investigating.

2. Recent gays oriented reviews – they feature a link to CBS News LOGO from 4-10-08 at the NY Auto Show where a GM exec is interviewed about how they are targeting their hybrid cars to the gay audience and why. Check it out! I loved how they tied together our interest in going “green”, being sensitive to style and trends, and price. All coupled with the high disposable income the LGBT community has been known for. GM has us in their sights.

3. Highlights and reviews include nicely detailed analysis of cars, while not all customized for the LGBT audience they do provide a single source for my online auto research / shopping needs. I did love the review on the new BMW 1 series, newly introduced by BMW and written by GayWheels.com editor Joe LaMuraglia.

I hope we continue to see more customized marketing for gays, whether its cars or coffee we are influential consumers. This is a great one.

Size Does Matter: LGBT Businesses

It was Saturday morning. I woke up to frost on the ground and snow floating through the air. It’s mid-March, and as I stared out my window I thought to myself — "You’ve got to be kidding me. " Groggy and intentionally ignoring my friends’ request to get help for my caffeine addiction, I decided to throw on jeans and a sweater, slip on my Converse's, and hop in the car. First stop — a coffee shop … any coffee shop. I ended up at Kansas City’s only gay-owned “espresso bar,” and as the caffeine kicked in, I thought to myself — how many small businesses in this town are gay-owned, how do they impact our overall economy, and more importantly — why don’t I know about them?

Each year, the Human Rights Campaign releases the top companies for LGBT employees, recognizing those large private-sector employers for their commitment to a diverse and inclusive work environment. However, where are the statistics for LGBT-owned small businesses? The statistics for LGBT entrepreneurship are low, but there are presumably tens of thousands of LGBT-owned small businesses.

Small businesses (those with less than 100 workers) employ more than 41.8 million Americans, which is more than a quarter of America’s workforce and half of America’s private sector employees. Though these statistics are not exclusive to the LGBT community, they are inclusive of the power of LGBT businesses that are thriving and impacting local and national communities. Small businesses are undoubtedly a key driver in the U.S.’s economic growth and continues to have an increasing influence.

Last Tuesday, UPS, a Fleishman-Hillard client, announced an expansion of its supplier diversity program to include LGBT-owned businesses, in partnership with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). This opens doors to strengthen LGBT-owned businesses and UPS through the NGLCC’s network of 1.4 million LGBT businesses. Janice Mahlmann, a lesbian business owner, said in a recent interview with Diversity/Careers, “I’m a percentage of a percentage.” These entrepreneurs, like corporations, need recognition and visibility, a network of support, and resources for a productive, successful, and profitable model.

Providing tools and networking opportunities for corporate and small business partnerships is essential to sustaining and growth LGBT-owned small businesses, which ultimately leads to a stronger community and stronger economy. The NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative works to partner LGBT-owned business enterprises with corporations. Irwin Drucker, director of Gay and Lesbian Supplier Relations at IBM, says on the NGLCC’s Web site, “The NGLCC has a database of LGBT-owned businesses from all over the nation. IBM can say we need ‘so-and-so’ or ‘such-and-such’ and the NGLCC can connect us with a LGBT supplier.” These partnerships and networking opportunities benefit all parties involved — the LGBT-owned business enterprises, corporate parties, and supplier diversity councils.

For those small businesses looking for a network of LGBT in your communities, visit Echelon Magazine’s Web site for a directory of LGBT chambers, or visit the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

My Brand Crush!

   

I admit it, I love shoes. A true woman at heart. And I have to tell you I’ve had a brand crush on Kenneth Cole – shoe designer extraordinaire – for years. Not just his shoe designs, but his advertising has had me captivated, enthralled and proud for years. How can you not notice the incredibly well designed, simple, socially conscious statement bearing ads? Now, his latest ad which I just saw in the March issue of OUT magazine, has really set me on fire! Check it out yourself online at KennethCole.com.  It features two women’s legs in beautiful high heels with a gorgeous baby toddling between them. This full page ad immediately caught my eye! And even more what the ad says, take a look:

WE ALL WALK IN DIFFERENT SHOES.

GAY MARRIED COUPLE,
JOANNA AND NICOLETTA TESSLER,
WITH THEIR DAUGHTER, RUTHIE.

25 YEARS OF
NON-UNIFORM
THINKING.

This is part of a series of 11 ads designed to celebrate Kenneth Cole’s 25 year anniversary. What’s unique is he is featuring in these ads “bold, unexpected people of substance.” Like who? Like these two lesbian mothers, like Aimee Mullins an actor, paralympic athlete and president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and like Regan Hofmann the HIV-positive editor-in-chief of Poz magazine, among others. Go to KennethCole.com to see the ads and interview with some of these “unexpected people of substance.” I think you'll be impressed.

So how does Kenneth Cole get away with being so socially edgy? Because he sees it as the right thing to do, because he believes in himself and because he can. He was one of the first members of the fashion design industry to take AIDS to the public. That was in 1985. He continues to set the trends, even in fashion advertising.

Trendsetting fashion designs – smart socially conscious ads – humanitarian extraordinaire! What’s not to love? Let’s go buy some Kenneth Cole shoes today!

Transgender Executive

This weekend Nightline aired a segment on Megan Wallent, a top executive at Microsoft who transitioned from Michael to Megan.

Megan used to be Michael and supervised a staff of hundreds in her role as Manager of the Internet Explorer division of Windows. Wallent left Microsoft last fall to undergo the transition and reported back to work earlier this year.

She let the staff know that she would be “working full time as female after the first of the year" via e-mail and, according the Nightline segment, Megan’s transition was “unremarkable to contend with” and “unconfusing” for the staff.

The report focused largely on reaction from Megan’s family, but I want to spotlight how Megan’s employer, Microsoft, supported her through her transition, and realized that valuable talent should be retained at all costs.

On the company’s diversity and inclusion site, Microsoft announced the addition of partial coverage for transgender surgery to its existing coverage of other transgender-specific health benefits in 2005. In 2006 alone, Microsoft’s LGBT employee group, GLEAM, had over 700 members and earned a 100 on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, was listed as a HRC Best Place to Work, received the Outie award for Best Employee Resource Group and the President’s Award for corporate leadership from the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

GLEAM’s work and Megan’s high-profile transition have positioned Microsoft as one of the U.S. leaders in LGBT employee relations and a company that others should look to as an example.

One feature on Megan’s blog is the “crappy look counter” where she posts negative reactions from the public that she has encountered since her transition. While the public still clearly could use education on transgender issues, Megan found her return to work “uneventful” according to ValleyWag, a Silcon Valley blog where Megan announced her transition. It seems that Microsoft has done their job of making the workplace a safe and inclusive environment that attracts and retains the best talent.

Photo from http://valleywag.com/340222/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl.

The Letter T

As a society and as an LGBT community, I don't think we communicate clearly enough about transgender issues... even at the most basic level.

I think it's even tough for those who one would assume know how to handle and discuss the topic the best.

In fact, The Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) only Transgender board member, Donna Rose, resigned from her post last year over the language the organization chose to use with respect to its stance on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. There is certainly continuing dialogue on this issue between HRC and the transgender community (as Rich pointed out yesterday) but that's not the focus of this blog post.

Having said that, I was up late one night several weeks ago and stumbled upon an interesting documentary on TV about transgender men and women. After watching the program, it really got me thinking about just how complex the transgender issue is. A number of the transgender men and women in the documentary had blue collar jobs. I thought to myself, "You know, I work in a white collar atmosphere that is rather liberal compared to many industries and even we don't often discuss transgender issues." This aspect of the documentary inspired me to do some research into how corporations attempt to communicate with employees who are transgender. 

Having remembered that Ms. Rose had relinquished her board membership at HRC, I began my search on HRC.org.  I wanted to see what types of resources are offered by the largest LGBT organization. I imagine HRC would be the first stop for most corporations who want to learn more about transgender issues.

I discovered that HRC.org maintains a particularly robust section dedicated to transgender issues in the workplace. The page is entitled "Resources for Transgender Employees."

The language describing this section of the HRC Web site reads:

"Transgender employees can present unique workplace challenges. Transitioning employees – those who are moving outside the socially accepted standards of dress, physiology and/or behavior of their birth gender – often cannot avoid challenging community standards about what is gender-appropriate self-identification, appearance or expression. Furthermore, little legal protection exists for workplace gender non-conformity."

There is even a video series, specifically developed for corporate leaders, that features Donna Rose discussing transgender issues. It's great to see that her innovative work is still being promoted at heralded by HRC even though she decided to remove herself from the board. The introduction to the video series features Joe Solmonese, President of HRC, as well as Bob Berman, Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President at Eastman Kodak. The video featured on HRC.org was actually captured at Donna's presentation to staff at Eastman Kodak.

You can watch the introduction to the video series by clicking here or visit this page on HRC.org to watch all of the video installments.

I highly recommend watching these videos if you want to learn more about transgender issues from an employee and workplace perspective. I learned a lot from watching them.

The transgender community needs the support of its LGB brothers and sisters. We owe it to the transgender community to understand and care about their challenges. They may be a minority within the LGBT community but the essence of our collective struggle for understanding is embedded within the complexity of their particular challenge, in my opinion.

The truth is that no one in the LGBT community will ever truly achieve equality until the day that gender identity, sexual orientation, and every combination of the two is respected by society at large.

At the end of the day, sexual orientation and gender identity may not be the exact same issue.

However, it's important to remember that our LGBT minority status is ultimately based on the fact that our individual sexual identities don't fit into the "norm" as determined by society.

Some LGB members of our community may believe that gender identity has nothing to do with sexual orientation:

"I know what my sex is and I know what my sexual orientation is.  What does gender identity have to do with me?"

I think that view is too simplistic.

In reality, gender identity and sexual orientation are, in my view, inextricably woven together from a cultural and communications perspective.

That's why stereotypes exist, right? 

"All gay men act effeminate and all lesbians act butch."

Those stereotypes exist because of our society's long held views on gender identity (what is male and what is female) as it relates to sexual orientation.

Therefore, it seems logical to me that learning how to communicate effectively about transgender issues is a necessary and important step in our entire community's struggle for equality. We have to appreciate and tackle both intertwined issues -- gender identity and sexual orientation -- if we all hope to advance.

photo credit

2008 HRC Greater New York Gala

This past Saturday, the 2008 HRC Greater New York Gala was held at the Hilton New York.

A big congratulations to our client Ernst & Young, who received the Corporate Equality Award for their work for GLBT inclusiveness not only within E&Y’s walls through employee group bEYond, but for bringing the message to corporate America as a whole.

In a call to action for others in corporate America, Americas Area Managing Partner and Inclusiveness Executive Sponsor Steve Howe of Ernst & Young, was quoted during his acceptance speech as saying: "Tonight, we proudly celebrate this recognition and then tomorrow we get back to our continuing journey of building an inclusive culture at Ernst & Young. We have more progress to make. We challenge others to follow our lead, and I can assure you that we are going to continue our advances."

Also at the ceremony, actress and scene-stealer in Ugly Betty, Vanessa Williams was awarded the “Ally for Equality Award.” Check out her speech from the ceremony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh2TpOpTSOk. She talks about how she uses her celebrity status to make everyone an “ally for equality” and about her history with being inclusive of gay friends as well as how she raises her kids to welcome our community. She even noted that some of the best relationship role models for her children are gay couples that she is friends with.

Also at the event, Marriage Equality New York received the Community Equality Award and singer and Tony Award winner Idina Menzel as well as Mantryx Aerial Duo performed.

Media coverage in local NYC GLBT publications focused largely on transgender protesters outside of the event. However, additional visibility has occurred in recent days on GLBT blogs like Queerty when HRC released Vanessa Williams’ speech on YouTube (complete with an impromptu rendition of “Colors of the Wind”).

It also appears that they allowed attendees to take photos inside the event and as a result of the photos and video, my Facebook newsfeed has subsequently included multiple photo postings of NYC based friends who attended the event, most at a table purchased by their employer. (Some were even able to grab a photo with Becki Newton, Amanda on Ugly Betty). Others have posted links and videos of Vanessa’s speech.

This has not only spread the word about the event, but also highlights companies who are actively involved with HRC and gives co-workers the chance to share photos of their GLBT employee groups.

Ernst & Young even included coverage of Steve Howe’s speech and photos from the event in their internal daily e-newsletter.

With celebrities, Congressmen and policymakers, and a several tables purchased by large corporations including Citigroup, Pfizer, and Morgan Stanley, the gala was a visual representation of how each of these audiences is turning their attention to address and embrace our community.

Stupidity and the Superbowl

Another Superbowl, another set of stupid, offensive ads that condone violence against gay people. Sigh.

Last year, the manufacturers of Snickers ran an ad and launched an accompanying Web site that promoted violence against gays in a supposedly witty spot about two men working in a garage.

This year, viewers of the Superbowl were subjected to a Bridgestone ad in which the driver of a car tries to run over Richard Simmons and a promo for the Fox drama series Prison Break in which one of the characters is tackled by a football player after referring to him as “pretty.”

Why do advertisers think violence against seemingly "gay" people is funny? Why is violence an acceptable response to “difference?” How much longer will making fun of seemingly “gay” traits be deemed an effective marketing tactic? We should be long past this kind of juvenile behavior in any setting, even the Superbowl.

Does Bridgestone really think that making fun of Richard Simmons is going to sell more tires? Does Fox think that condoning violence against men who comment positively on other men will drive up ratings? In both cases, the answer is probably no. But by making a “memorable” commercial, both companies seem to be trying to generate “buzz” that will sell tires and drive up ratings.

The Greening of Gay Travel

I’ve written before about growing interest in environmental protection and climate change issues in the LGBT community. As I said in a post back in February, “To me, this interest is yet another signal that gays and lesbians are interested in many of the same things as everyone else: we care about the planet we live on, too.”

Last week at the 8th International Conference on Gay and Lesbian Tourism, I was interested to learn that our friends at Community Marketing are seeing more proof of that in their research, too. 

During a presentation last Tuesday, CMI president Tom Roth highlighted results of the organization’s 12th Annual LGBT Tourism Report regarding environmental issues (he referred to the results as the “greening of gay travel”). Tom reported that this year, 87.1% of survey respondents agreed with the statement “human behavior affects climate change,” and 49.8% of survey respondents agreed with the statement “I would be willing to pay to offset the cost of my emissions.”

I haven’t seen any figures about the number of gays and lesbians opting to participate in carbon offsetting or other sustainability programs in the travel industry, but I’d suggest that companies engaged in this space consider gay and lesbian travelers as a viable, and valuable, audience. If we’re willing to engage in environmentally-responsible actions when we travel, providers would be smart to begin to focus on offering us those choices. 

As the market expands and gay and lesbian travelers become more discriminating and demanding, it may be that non-gay service offerings such as the eco-friendly practices of service providers are the “next wave” of gay and lesbian outreach. As I’ve often said, we are sophisticated consumers and it may be that while we expect travel industry leaders to be gay-friendly and active in our community, we now also expect them to be eco-friendly and active in the global community.

What do you think? Do you consider the environmental impact of your travel? How much impact does the environmental profile of an airline, hotel, car rental provider or destination have in your decision to select one over another? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

P.S. Thanks to my partner Mark for the photo of the Rio Grande in New Mexico at the start of this post.

Light to Unite

We’ve talked this week about the need for continued communication around HIV and AIDS and how the media is rolling out special programming for World AIDS day tomorrow. Today I learned about an example of what corporate America is doing to continue dialogue on HIV and AIDS and raise money to combat the disease.

This year, Bristol-Myers Squibb will once again commemorate World AIDS Day by inviting visitors to the site "Light to Unite" to light a “virtual candle” that symbolizes support for those infected with HIV and AIDS. For each candle lit, Bristol-Myers Squibb will donate $1, up to a maximum of $100,000, to benefit AIDS Service Organizations in under-served areas of the U.S.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is not the only company donating resources and money to World AIDS Day. MTV Networks and the Kaiser Family Foundation are hosting a range of online and offline events internationally in addition to unveiling the winner of the “Change the Course of HIV Challenge,” where they asked college students to propose a viral, Web-based video game concept that educates 15-24 year olds.

It was also announced that Abbott, as part of its sponsorship of the “I Stand With Magic” program, an FH client that is part of the "Campaign to End Black AIDS," will host Cookie Johnson, wife of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, in a nationwide tour to educate women on HIV/AIDS. The program will be traveling to New York, LA and Chicago to provide free HIV testing and education in recognition of World AIDS Day 2007.

For gay specific campaigns, IBM partnered with HRC and Gay Men’s Health Crisis for research efforts to help battle AIDS using their World Community Grid on World AIDS Day in 2005. By downloading software from World Community Grid, you can donate your unused, idle computer time to power research on chemical strategies effective in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals. This unique program joins together individual computers, creating a system with massive computational power.

Instead of just donating money, these companies are prompting dialogue and consumer interactivity to raise awareness and involvement around the issue. All of these companies recognize the importance and critical need for corporate social responsibility initiatives around this topic and the tangible benefits of this PR – exemplifying another way corporate America is hearing the needs of the gay, and other diverse, audiences.

I hope you find time to visit Light to Unite before tomorrow and remember those people whose lives have been touched by HIV and AIDS.

Lesbians in Good Company

This Thursday the Austin American – Statesman reported the unprecedented House of Representatives’ approval to add gays to the list of protected workers. Coincidentally, the current issue of Curve lists its annual “Top Ten Companies for Lesbians” list. The ten companies listed are: American Express, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche, Gap Inc., General Mills, JP Morgan Chase, Merck & Co, Pepsico Inc., Price Waterhouse Coopers and Wells Fargo. I’ve included links to their diversity policies.

Some of these companies are loud and proud about their commitments to our community and offer, in addition to partner benefits, paid adoption leave, recruiting from LGBT and women-specific organizations such as Reaching Out MBAs and Financial Women’s Association. Price Waterhouse Coopers made a loud statement with a 30 percent increase in female partners in five years, an LGBT Partner Advisory Board and 11 LGBT Networking Circles. American Express has contracted Ellen DeGeneres for their ad campaign, “My Life. My card.”

So what does this say? To the companies: we are paying attention, and don’t forget that we gays and lesbians prefer brands that show support to our community.  To our community from the corporations: we continue to work to create a culturally dynamic environment for the progress of the LGBT and business communities. From the media: we are key in providing visibility and offering a “pat on the back” for the good work you do. This list enforces the role targeted media plays in building and sustaining corporate reputation.

Curve listed additional companies which scored 100 on HRC’s Corporate Quality Index. Scoring a 100 is a requirement to be considered for Curve’s Top Ten list. In this list, I am happy to point out Texas companies such as AT&T, Dell and Hewlett Packard.

Kudos to all of the companies supporting the LGBT community and including women- specific programs. There is still a ways to go, however. For example, Hispanic Business publishes a Top 40 list for Hispanics to work for. Although Curve listed additional companies who did not make the Top 10 list, I hope one day the number of companies on board is so high that Curve’s Top 10 list will be a Top 40, 50, or better yet, 100 list.

From 13 to 195

This week I was invited to attend the Fourth Annual Corporate Equality Index Awards reception for companies earning a 100 percent on the 2008 HRC Corporate Equality Index. Our client Ernst & Young hosted the event in their New York offices with a great view of midtown Manhattan (HRC President Joe Solmonese commented it reminded him of being on MTV’s Total Request Live). Beyond great hors’douvres, the event was a chance to witness first-hand the breadth and importance LGBT issues are receiving from the top companies in Corporate America.

The room was packed with mostly partner and VP level employees focused on sales and HR/diversity from the 195 companies that earned a perfect score on the Index. Apart from media clips, it’s rare to see direct results of communications efforts, but in the crowded room of over 300 RSVPs from the top companies in America, it was easy to see that increased attention has been given to earning and sustaining a 100 score as a result of communications efforts. Much credit has to be given to the HRC staff for raising visibility of the Index and proactively contacting companies to advise them on how to increase scores. Another key to the increased importance of LGBT workplace issues has been the work of communications professionals who have raised individual company profiles based on their HRC score and made LGBT communications part of CSR initiatives.

When this year’s scores were released, major companies (including FH Out Front clients) proactively conducted media outreach to LGBT trade publications to ensure inclusion in coverage of the Index. Persuading more companies to look into changing policy for inclusion on the Index, media are not only looking at companies that earn a good score, but those that are not active in LGBT inclusiveness, such as this 2006 Wall Street Journal blog that discusses a leading employer slow to start a LGBT employee group. As more and more companies earn positive press, others are now ramping up LGBT inclusiveness efforts.

The highlight of Solmonese’s speech Wednesday night for me can be seen in the HRC graph at left (from an HRC blog posting on the event) which shows an increase from 13 companies earning a 100% to 195 in only six years. Joe urged the attendees to not only sustain scores within companies, but to work together with the companies in the room to help get all of Corporate America up to speed.

The work that communications professionals from individual companies do on corporate LGBT inclusiveness is instrumental to creating a happy and healthy workforce, but it’s beginning to extend beyond recruiting and building reputation for their own company. As counterparts and competitors team up to discuss best practices, such as last year’s Ernst & Young "Making It Real" roundtable with HRC, Out & Equal, and other corporations, a call to action has been issued for the entire business community to keep LGBT inclusiveness top of the diversity agenda.

Generation (ga)Y

Whether like Justin (or Nathan, for fans of the British version) in Queer As Folk you nervously smoked a cigarette pacing up and down the gay strip trying to pluck up the courage to go to your first bar or like many of us you went along to check out the scene with your gay friends on the understanding that you of course were not in fact yourself gay, the experience of “coming out” is often inextricably linked to an introduction to this new social world.

The gay bar and club scene offers many things that many of us craved during what can be lonely years in the closet. It provides that much longed for acceptance, security, and perhaps most importantly of all a feeling of validation, that there are hundreds, thousands, of men and women out there just like you. It can often transform your life, give you a set of friendships you only dreamed about, and of course it gives you instant access to sex, and hopefully meaningful relationships.

Yet for many people it can be unfulfilling. Clearly some may never want this kind of lifestyle and reject the hedonism often associated with gay nightlife. They may enter into long-term relationships, while for others the internet offers access to both anonymous sex or dating without the need to frequent the gay scene.

There is another set of young out gay people like myself who enjoy the party lifestyle, but increasingly find the idea of existing in this gay bubble less appealing and frankly unnecessary.

Most of my friends are gay and we enjoy going out to gay clubs, but our social lives are not defined by the listings pages of the local weekly scene guide. We all have straight friends who may be happy coming to gay bars but we also want to mix with everyone else.

Last weekend I was in New York. I did not want to hit the gay bars, and was much happier going out with my friends to a cool straight club. We never felt intimidated or uncomfortable with being ourselves. Gay guys have been mixing in straight clubs forever but perhaps now more openly than ever.

As gays and lesbians come out at a younger age and are often more accepted by their peers at school and college, they feel less of a need to immerse themselves in the comfort blanket that the gay scene offers. It may be less than a decade on from when Queer As Folk first hit our screens but I think today’s Justin or Nathan would be more likely to be out to his friends and family even at that young age, and less likely to see the gay scene as the only route to find social acceptance.

After the Corporate Equality Index, What's Next?

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) yesterday released its annual Corporate Equality Index, the organization’s “in-depth analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors.” The big headline this year is the nearly 200 companies that earned a perfect score of 100 on the Index, signifying that their corporate policies are in line with the latest thinking on how best to address gay and lesbian issues in the workplace. The numbers are even more meaningful when you consider that in the survey’s first year (2002), only 13 companies earned this distinction.

There have been complaints and criticisms of the Index for its seeming “endorsement” of companies that some in our community do not feel are worthy of praise. And there have been many conversations online and offline about the relative value of such a designation. Does it mean anything? Should we care? 

In a word, yes. It means a great deal. As we seek to engage with companies that want our business and companies seek to engage with us, we need an objective measurement of how best to evaluate the relative value and merit of those companies and their actions. The Corporate Equality Index provides a clear, relatively simple measurement of just what companies are doing and demonstrates how well they understand the importance of equality in the workplace and in their outreach.

PFLAG Debuts Straight for Equality

PFLAG this week announced the debut of Straight for Equality, the organization’s new “national outreach and education project to empower allies in supporting and advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people” in homes, communities and the workplace. As you may recall, PFLAG’s Jody Huckaby talked about this new program in his Q&A with us earlier this summer. Although the program doesn’t officially “launch” until October 11, 2007 (National Coming Out Day), the site is up now and the organization is promoting its debut on their blog.

The project includes a Straight for Equality pledge and a list of “ten simple things you can do to change the world as an ally.” At first glance, it seems to be a comprehensive, yet simple, attempt to engage the mainstream population in actively supporting the gay and lesbian community. It sounds like a very good idea and I’ll be interested to see how successful PFLAG is in spreading the word about the program and actually demonstrating results in participation numbers and direct engagement of straight allies.

Our Allies

This week GLAAD announced a new public service campaign to fight homophobia by leveraging the support of openly gay celebrities and straight “allies.” Towleroad posted a first look at one of the public service announcements that can be viewed here.

The “Be an Ally & a Friend” series of 25 commercials features twenty-two famous faces from the worlds of TV, beauty pageants, music, and sports. To keep the campaign fresh over the next year, a new commercial will premiere every two weeks.

A campaign like this will help promote the importance of tolerance and bring attention to homophobic language and actions but, the project shines the spotlight on two positive trends – one is that a “gay agenda” has been incorporated into celebrity’s public relations and publicity tactics. Learning from celebs that have built up their careers by embracing gay followings like Cyndi and Cher, the straight celebrities in the campaign are both performing social responsibility and gay outreach. It’s encouraging to see that where celebrities used to shy away from gay issues, they are now out in front,

Rallying for a Cause - The New Frontier of Gay and Lesbian Auto Marketing

We’ve written a fair amount about cars and a lot about what corporations and other marketers should do to engage our community. Our friends at gaywheels.com have now given us an example that combines both of these issues: the first openly gay car rally team to participate in a transcontinental road race.   

Gaywheels.com is teaming up with Saab and social networking site Glee.com to sponsor Team G.L.A.M. in the 2007 Insurance Office of America Fireball Run. Gaywheels.com founder and CEO Joe LaMuraglia will run the race along with Evan Darling, a 14-year racing veteran.  The contest is called “The Race to Recover America’s Missing” and will involve assigning a missing child to each racing team. In the race, the team will be driving a Saab 9-3 convertible from Orlando, Florida to Los Angeles, California. The team is then assigned to distribute as much information as possible during the race about a missing child case assigned to them.

To me, this is an excellent, and new, example of the future of gay and lesbian marketing. While the “news” is the fact that this event marks the first time an openly gay team will participate in a transcontinental road race, the more important fact for me is the involvement of a gay team sponsored by a major corporate partner in a charitable event that is not gay-focused. This integration of gay and lesbian marketing into a “mainstream” event will reinforce Saab’s commitment to our community and demonstrate the importance of our community to their wider national audience. This kind of targeted engagement with multiple audiences sounds really interesting and I hope it will be successful in both raising awareness and doing good.

As consumers, gays and lesbians are increasingly skeptical of marketers and we demand more than just advertising or kind words from companies that want our business. Active engagement in our community – in any number of ways – is really the key to longer term success in gay and lesbian marketing. Partnerships that make history while also doing good are one example of new ways to conduct that kind of engagement.

What do you think? Does news of this contest make you more interested in Saab as a company? Would you consider buying a Saab now that you know about this race? What other ideas do you have for engaging our community? Let us know your thoughts.

Boy Oh Boycotts

As an FYI, a colleague forwards me the American Family Association e-newsletters to keep updated on the group’s work. This week’s edition claimed sales of all Ford Motor Company automobiles fell 19.1% in July as a result from a boycott of the company that began in March 2006 and was organized by AFA.

Looking into results of additional boycotts, I came across coverage of another July boycott – this one organized by gays and lesbians in Tennessee where two chains of grocery stores in Nashville removed local gay monthly newspaper Out & About from 34 stores, claming that the paper violated company policy against distributing publications promoting "political, religious, or other specific agendas."

A weeklong boycott against the stores that banned the newspaper cost the two companies more than $15,000, according to boycott organizers.

Perhaps because of the financial ramifications and bad publicity, the national chain met with Nashville gay and lesbian advocates, along with Jerry Jones, the editor of Out & About.

As a result of the meetings, eight of the stores where the paper has a high readership have returned it to newsstands, distributing it along side to other special interest publications for seniors and families.

This is the most recent example of the success of gay groups rallying for a cause and showing the power of gay and lesbian consumers. Earlier this year, as we previously reported, the condemnation of a homophobic Snickers’ Super Bowl commercial by gay rights groups and many others led to removal of homophobic images

Whole Foods: Some Good News and Bad News

Whole Foods as a company is having some serious business issues on the corporate side; however, Whole Foods Market is on the verge of  some very positive news on the marketing side as it prepares to open its doors next week in the newly opened Center on Halsted located in the heart of Chicago’s gay and lesbian neighborhood. 

With the new store location, Whole Foods becomes the first major retailer to join an LGBT community center in the United States.

The company clearly also has done its homework and is not worried that about it’s highly visible location will have a negative impact on its brand.  Research shows that most consumers don’t worry if a company they support is marketing to gays and lesbians.   

Actually, as the Chicago Tribune reported on Monday, Store Manager Tom Marciniak is mostly worried about whether customers will respond to the larger-than-typical selection of prepared foods in the new store.

He knows this store location is a good move and a good match for the brand.

Not Available In All Markets

Condom advertising is a perennial pariah on broadcast television and a New York Times story yesterday about a new ad campaign from condom brand Trojan is a depressing reminder of that fact. According to the article, Trojan has had a difficult time placing their new “evolve” television ad in one of their planned local test markets, despite success with some national networks. Apparently, while both ABC and NBC accepted the ads as part of their national advertising blocks in those markets, local affiliates for those networks in Pittsburgh blocked it citing the nature of the product being advertised. Ironically, ABC and NBC television viewers in Pittsburgh will still see the ad on their local affiliates during the national advertising blocks cleared by the networks. And all of the local affiliates in the other test market, Seattle, cleared the ad for airing.

According to the Times, both CBS and Fox blocked the ad for national use, with CBS saying it was not “appropriate” and Fox reportedly objecting to the idea that condoms prevent pregnancy. I’m a staunch defender of freedom of the press, but the situation described in the New York Times story smacks of hypocrisy.

Ad Council & GLSEN Making the Grade for LGBT Student Safety

This week Commercial Closet Association reported that the Ad Council will launch its first public service announcement targeted to combat anti-gay language in schools. The Ad Council is partnering with GLSEN for the project, which will target junior high school age students and highlight the rampant use of derogatory phrases such as “That’s so gay!” 

While details of the PSA broadcast and online campaign are still being worked out, the announcement comes on the heels of a UK Stonewall report that found that two-thirds of lesbian, gay, and bisexual public school students reported instances of harassment in school, and 75% of young gay students attending religious schools reported the same.

The numbers are even more frightening when the harassment is broken down by type with 92% of students experiencing verbal abuse, 41% experiencing physical, and 17% experiencing “death threats.”

One section of the report discusses how technology – particularly text messages and social networking sites - allow harassment to extend beyond the schoolhouse walls. Students reported that insults and messages are posted on message boards or individual profiles on sites such as Facebook and Myspace. It’s ironic and disheartening to see the same methods gay youth are using to connect with one another for support are now being used to continue ridicule. For communications professionals that are increasingly using these sites, it

DC Gay Pride - Corporations Come Out

Yup, that's me... Out Front blogger Pete Klaus!  This past weekend I took to the streets at the 32nd annual celebration of DC's Capital Pride parade and street festival.  I was particularly excited to see so many associations, corporations, and media entities taking an active role in reaching out to and communicating with the LGBT community this year.

I actually walked in the parade on Saturday on behalf of Ganymede Arts, DC's premier LGBT arts company whose goal is to foster social and cultural awareness of and for the LGBT community.  I should note here that in addition to my career as a strategic communicator for Fleishman-Hillard, I'm also a classically trained actor and have performed in several productions for Ganymede (formerly known as the Actors' Theatre of Washington)... including Jean Genet's Deathwatch, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses.  Anyhow, enough about me...

The street festival, which took place on Sunday, gave me the chance to stop by the booths and pavilions set up by corporate heavyweights including:

Accenture, Adams Bank, Alpha Drugs, AOL, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, FIGI Water, Hard Rock Cafe, HGTV (above, see pic of me playing their Plinkoesque prize game at Capital Pride), KPMG, Marriot, Northrop Grumman, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Southwest, Stacy's (pita chips) SunTrust, Travel Gay Canada, Wachovia, Yuengling, and Zipcar.

I have to say, the financial and consulting companies really impressed me in particular.  I remember when I first graduated from college and was considering a job with a well-known investment bank.  As I researched the company, I came across an article from a major daily newspaper that discussed the financial world being particularly unfriendly, in general, to LGBT employees.  True or not, that article's headline really discouraged me from pursuing the opportunity. 

To see these major financial and consulting companies out in force at Capital Pride somehow restored a little bit of my faith in the ability of people and society to evolve... and all it really took was for me to realize that they were, in fact, attempting to communicate with me (and us).  I'm even more impressed with those companies that share their support of diversity front and center, day in and day out, on their globally accessible Web sites.

Northrop Grumman's homepage actually has a dedicated section entitled "Diversity."  The page dedicated to diversity features a picture of and statement from the company's Chairman and CEO, Ronald D. Sugar.  One word: WOW.  PricewaterhouseCoopers also does a fantastic job with its dedicated diversity section, specifically describing its support of the LGBT community.  Way to go, PwC!

Below, just a few more pictures I took of the various corporations participating at DC's Capital Pride. Click the pictures to expand them to full size. Enjoy...

 

Orbitz Takes Off With LGBT Marketing

As we continue our month of profiling groups and individuals at the forefront of gay and lesbian communications, Orbitz.com has announced a LGBT charitable auction to coincide with Pride month.

The auction is their biggest online promotion to support LGBT and AIDS charities. Visitors can bid on travel auctions including trips to the Cyndi Lauper / LOGO True Colors Tour, stays at gay-friendly Hyatt resorts, and business class flights to Europe. Auction proceeds support charities including HRC, GLAAD, PFLAG, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Commercial Closet Association, and others.

This auction is the latest example of Orbitz’s sponsorship of 30 gay and/or AIDS groups and events. It is also one of the sponsors of this summer’s True Colors tour.

What’s great about these initiatives is that not only are they helping the company’s bottom line, but are also helping out LGBT organizations. The huge number of sponsorships must mean that Orbitz is seeing ROI, both from an image and from a dollar standpoint.
Orbitz can easily be seen as a model company for LGBT outreach as it recognizes the wealth of opportunity in marketing to LGBT consumers. Orbitz revolutionalized the gay travel industry by devoting an entire section of their site to meeting the needs of gay travelers.

Apart from their business model and goodwill initiatives, they create commercials targeted at the gay community and include realistic gay relationships in their larger marketing efforts.

Since 2001, Orbitz.com has made humorously inclusive LGBT portrayals a central part of its advertising to both gay and straight audiences. Most recently it was nominated for Outstanding Commercial at Commercial Closet Association’s Images in Advertising Awards. The company was also honored at CCA’s Corporate Visionary Honor Ceremony last November for inclusive